Archived News - 2004

21st December 2004

Bro Jim Arriving Home

One of the big events at the Senta this month was the arrival home of Bro. Jim.
The other was the break up for Christmas holidays which was delayed a week awaiting the arrival of Bro. Jim.
Bro. Jim arrived back in Vanimo on the 42nd. Anniversary of his first arrival in Vanimo, the 12th December. No sooner was he back that he started work on the new swimming pool which hopefully will be ready for the start of school next year.

     
Demolishing the old pool.    Formwork for the concrete.    Sieving gravel for the concrete.

  
Mixing the concrete.    Pouring the concrete.
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo.

The break up was a wonderful day of singing, signing, acting, eating and videos. It was a day of laughter and emotion for the parents who were so proud to see the progress their children had made and all that they have achieved throughout the year.

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At the end of the day before they all left for home, Bro. Jim handed out presents to all the children. The volunteers at the Senta felt particularly proud of 2 of their children who came to the Senta at the beginning of the year unable to walk but were able to walk unaided to the car which took them to the airport.

     
  
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All those friends and benefactors who contributed to the building of the hostel can rightly feel proud of these 2 children, Donald and Mary, because the fact that they are walking is due to the hostel where they have been living since they came to the Senta. Without the hostel they could not have got the help they needed because of the distance they live from the Senta.
Donald went home to the bush with his Mama last week when the Senta closed for school holidays. It was with much excitement that he took his first tentative steps just two weeks before, and he can now walk up to 25 metres. By 25 metres, he's usually very excited, and not quite having the balance to walk and clap hands at the same time, over he tumbles, and he gets up again laughing.

  
Donald.
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Another achievement is Appolonia, who has featured on many occasions on this site, as well as in the news letters, she has also managed 7 steps unaided and so next year should be an exciting time for her. Bro. Jim has promised to take her to a disco as soon as she can walk unaided.
It has certainly been a great year for all the children as they have all made great progress one way or another and this has all been brought about by the care, love, dedication and hard work of the volunteers.

     
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Whilst in Moresby, Bro. Jim negotiated the purchase of 2 second hand buses. He was hopeful of getting one new bus but it was well and truly out of his price range. Harry Soni managed to find a buyer for the Senta’s bus and so with the proceeds from the sale and money from the Support Group in Australia, Jim was able to get 2 reconditioned buses from Japan. Hopefully they will have arrived before the start of the school year. As soon as they come our old double cab Hilux will be sold and that should cover the cost of shipping.
Here is a photo of Harry giving the bus one last clean, before driving it into down one last time to sell. We are all eagerly waiting the arrival of our new bus.

Harry and the old bus

Some of the volunteers recently drove up to the Indonesian Border to drop off Harry who was heading across for a visit to Jayapura. It was also a good chance to spend up at the annual Indonesian/ PNG trade show and buy a few last minute Christmas presents.
On the way, we called in to see Kingsley and his Papa, Eddy. We were all very saddened when his Mama, Christine, died during the year. Christine was a good friend to a lot of people at the Senta, when Kingsley used to attend.
Kinsley continues his exercises each day with Papa, and he was very excited when we delivered him a big, orange exercise ball for him to play with.

Eddy and Kingsley.

All of the children and staff at the Senta would like to thank all the friends and benefactors of the Senta for making this year such a special year. Without your support it would not have been possible for the Senta to have stayed open.

     
  
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We wish everyone who visits this web site, and especially our benefactors, a very happy, holy, peaceful and relaxing Christmas.

Bro. Jim

19th November 2004

Another Evening with Bro Jim

Last night a dinner was held at the William Angliss Institute to thanks the Australian supporters of the Senta Bilong Helpim.
One hundred and thirty people attended and Brother James was the speaker. He thanked those who had kept the Senta running and gave an update on activities.
Chris Blackburn acted as MC and with the help of Leon the Auctioneer, over $1800 was made from the sale of the donated goods.
A big thankyou to Merrilyn Murnane and Pauline McKenzie for the organisation of the function, to Leon Gleeson for running the auction, to the staff of William Angliss Institute and to everyone else for turning up and supporting the Senta.

Dr Elizabeth

  
Dr Elizabeth outlining the objectives.    Brother Jim speaking.
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Thank you to everyone who helped to make "Another Evening With Bro. Jim" dinner the success it was and it was great to see so many at the dinner. Numbers were certainly up on other years.
People came from far and wide to attend the evening including Sydney, Adelaide, Bright, Portland, Geelong, Ballarat, Seymour and Rye. It was great also to have so many from Papua New Guinea attending the dinner.
There were many people who missed out on buying cards and so we are having more cards printed. If anyone still wants them please ring Irene Carman on 9727 5923, let Irene know the number you want and the address for which to send them.
Another item which was in demand were the bilums and many missed out on them. If anyone is still interested then arrangements can be made through Irene and she will see that you get them.

Bro. Jim

  
Leon running the auction.    Brother Jim drawing the raffle.
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo.

6th November 2004

Joanne arrives back.

Joane and her father Andrew arrived back in Vanimo last Sunday 31st Oct. There was great rejoicing among family and friends when they saw Joane and the change in her condition.
Joane is certainly a very lucky girl. When she left Vanimo in October she was a very sick and lifeless little girl but when she returned she was full of life and just so happy.
Joane has many people to be thankful to for giving her a new lease of life. First there was Dr. Dorothy Radford who first examined Joane in Vanimo and then arranged for her surgery at Prince of Charle's hospital in Brisbane where she then took Joane under her wing. To get Joane and her father to Brisbane, Air Niugine came to our aid and the sales manager, Mr. Darren Stocks, arranged return fares for Andrew and Joane. To show his appreciation, Andrew has named his new born son Darren.
The next to give his services was the surgeon Dr. Peter Pohlner. Peter has operated on all the children (5) with heart conditions that we have sent down. The hospital fees were taken care of by Doctor Con Aroney. This was by no means a small contribution as Joane was in the hospital for several days and had several tests during that time. Then of course were our long time friends and benefactors Arend and Kay deWeger. Arend is a member of the Wynum-Manly Knights of the Southern Cross and was the instigator, through his group, of the Vanimo Project. This project was started to fund the treatment of children from the Vanimo area who needed to travel to Brisbane for surgery. As well as the funding, a net work of carers was set up to look after the children and their guardians during their stay in Brisbane.

  
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Arend and Kay were both at the airport to meet Joane and Andrew and they had with them the first carers, Iubu and Steve Kelly, who would look after Joane and Andrew during the first week. Iubu drove Andrew and Joane to the hospital for their first appointments and then when Joane was admitted to hospital. Iubu then made regular visits to the hospital to visit Joane and also to take food into Andrew who was staying at the hospital. After the Kellys Joane and her father then went to stay with Bernard and Maureen Culey, mother and father-in-law of Mathew Hayden. Bernard and Maureen have been carers for most of our children and as usual took good care of Joane and Andrew.
For the last few days of their stay, Joane and Andrew, went and stayed with Arend and Kay who, like the other carers took great care of them showing them the sites of Brisbane and thoroughly spoiling them before putting on the return flight to Moresby.
All of these people have been so generous and have given so much of their time in seeing that Joane and the other children have been given a new chance in life.
When you see the results, it is well worthwhile.

4th November 2004

Introducing Bradley!

Bradley is from a small village called Bwani, which is 1- 2 hours’ drive inland from Vanimo. Bradley and his family are staying with his Uncle in Vanimo so that he can attend the Senta. Bradley’s Papa Cliff has died. Bradley got malaria when he was 3 months old, and he never learnt to walk.
His dream is to walk, and when he can walk, to visit family in Madang. Madang is a beautiful town, which is famous for the hundreds of flying foxes which fly around at dusk. This is where Bradley gets his nickname “Flying Fox”.
Sister Jo from Wewak assessed Bradley a couple of weeks ago, and she thinks that surgery may be able to straighten out Bradley’s legs which would allow him to walk by himself one day – with a lot of hard work and exercises. His legs have become stronger and his muscles longer with daily physiotherapy since he started coming here two months ago, so the surgery we hope, should really help him. Here is a photo of Bradley with his leg splints

Bradley with his leg splints.
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3rd November 2004

Wish list for 2005.

It was never intended to use the web site for appealing but it has been suggested that people need to know our needs if they are to help and so the wish list.

Our big drive for next year will be for a new vehicle. We currently have 3 vehicles which are used daily for the picking up of the children. Two of those vehicles have passed their used by date and are costing a lot to keep on the road. We would like to replace those vehicles with a bus that would carry 15 - 20 passengers. Ideally it would be nice if we could get a bus that would cater for wheel chair patients, you will see from the photos the difficulties we have in getting the patients into a utility, perhaps we could get one from an institution that may have one that they no longer want or is no longer big enough for them. Otherwise we would be looking at a Toyota or Mazda with a high top.

Our other need is for a new swimming pool. At the moment we have an above the ground pool with a plastic liner and that has sprung a leak. If we were to replace the liner it would probably be necessary to replace the framework as well as it is badly rusted.
We have only had the pool for 4 years and would probably only get the same time out of another of its kind and so we have decided to build a concrete pool and tile it. We have not yet worked out the cost but we would hope to build an 8m x 4m x 1.5m pool. The cost of course would be much more than a pool like the one we have now but it would be permanent.

     
Helping Bradley into the Ute.    Glum faces around the broken pool.    Helping Willy into the Ute.
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If there is anyone who would like to contribute to our list we would like to hear from you even if it is with a wheel for the bus or a bag of cement for the pool. Funds for both items will be kept specifically for what they are given.
If you are interested in donating, please email Pauline,

6th October 2004

One step at a time…

Mary is now walking by herself!
Mary and her brother Rodney first attended the Senta in early 2003. Their Papa had heard about the Senta via the "bush telegraph" and walked them for hours to Waromo from their home in a bush community, Watipe. At Christmas, they walked home again (well, Mary was piggybacked the whole way.)
In June of this year, they returned again, this time on Dovair, the local mission aircraft, and now staying in our hostel. Mary and Rodney both have intellectual and communication delays, and Mary has hemiplegia. This means that her left arm and leg are weaker and have less muscle control than her right side.

     
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When Mary came back in June, she was able to stand for short periods of time. Now it's October, she's growing taller and fatter…and is able to stand by herself and walk unaided for 15 steps. Hopefully by Christmas, she will be able to walk right around Watipe - with that big grin of hers.

6th October 2004

TV News Item

On Sunday night there was a short news item shown on EM TV, the national TV channel, about the Senta. Monday morning, about 8.30, I got a phone call from the Chairman of Airlines PNG, Mr. John Wild. John was very impressed with what he saw and heard and realised then that those who need help in and around the main centres are usually catered for but for the likes of us, we just miss out and so he has committed Airlines PNG as a dedicated sponsor for 2005.

Obviously we are delighted and it is with a sense of relief that we know we will have a regular monthly income from Airlines PNG. Their web site for any potential travellers to PNG is www.apng.com There is to be more exposure for the Senta on Tok Piksa, our current affair show, on Friday night and who knows what might come of that.

22nd September 2004

Swimming Pool

Disaster happened today when our swimming pool sprung a leak. I have been expecting it for some time now as the liner was very crinkled and brittle. I am not sure what the normal life expectancy of a liner is, ours lasted for 4 years.

I am just not sure now what to do about it. The pool is a vital piece of equipment for our children but I have noticed that there is also quite a bit of rust in the framework and so I am toying with the idea of building a concrete pool. A concrete pool would certainly cost more than a new liner and probably even more than a replacement Clarke pool but at least once it is in there would be no more worries.

I will consult a pool expert and find out just what is involved and the cost of tiles etc. If we are going to do it now is the time as we would be able to get the tiles up in the container which will be packed and shipped later this year. When I have the information I will publish it on the web and people might like to help by buying a tile or a bag of cement or anything else we will need.

21st September 2004

Christine's Funeral

On Saturday the 18th of September, all the volunteers from the Senta went to Wutong for the funeral of Christine Tanfa. Christine was the wife of Eddie and the mother of 3 children, the eldest of who is Kingsley, one of our handicapped children.

     
Eddie and youngest daughter Elizabeth.    Casket just arrived from Wewak.    Eddie the husband.
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Christine was admitted to Vanimo hospital with severe stomach pains. The doctor found that she was haemorrhaging badly and so rushed her to Wewak where she died as a result of the bleeding which was caused by a blood disorder.

     
Saying goodbye.    In the haus krai.    Procession leaving the church.
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Christine had been bringing Kingsley to the Senta for many years as he was severely handicapped as a result of cerebral malaria.
We hope to be able to continue to help Eddie in taking care of Kingsley.

  
At the grave.    Decorating the grave.
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13th September 2004

Workshop Update

Progress on the workshop has been slow but steady. The holdup has been the timber or lack of it. We are getting it in dribs and drabs but I am hopeful it will all be very soon as time is running out. I am due to leave for holidays on the 8th October.

  
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12th September 2004

Andrew and Joane Tilapi

Today we farewelled Andrew Tilapi and his daughter Joane on the first leg of their journey to Australia where Joane will undergo heart surgery at Prince of Charle's hospital in Brisbane.

  
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This trip has come about from the visit of the doctors a month or so ago. Joane was seen by Dr. Dorothy and diagnosed with a condition that needed attention in Australia.

The Wynum-Manly branch of the Knights of the Southern Cross are always there ready to assist with the costs involved in these cases however this time they only have to find carers to look after and transport Joane and her father to and from the hospital and doctors appointments. The hospital and surgical costs are being met from a trust fund set up by Dr. Con Aroney and the airfares are being covered by Air Niugini.

     
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo.

We are extremely grateful to Air Niugini and their marketing manager Darren Stocks, who arranged for the ticketing, for helping the Tilapi family in getting Joane and her father to Brisbane and giving Joane the chance of being able to live a long and healthy life.

22nd August 2004

National Disability Conference

Harry and Karen recently were participants at the third annual National Disability Conference, which was held in Lae. The week's conference was attended by approximately 75 people from throughout PNG - adults with disabilities, politicians, therapists, health workers, national physiotherapy students and program / centre managers.

Everyone was involved in discussions and presentations regarding national disability plans and a lot of emphasis were placed on networking amongst each other. A lot of people were very interested to hear about the Senta Bilong Helpim. It was a long and interesting week, which helped develop new ideas for the future of our Senta, and taught us more about the "big picture" of PNG.

These photos show Harry receiving his certificate of attendance from the Oro Province Governor, and Karen with some conference attendees, awaiting the early flight back to Vanimo.

  
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo.

21st August 2004

Special note of thanks:

I would like to thank the Liliana Foundation for their very generous and ongoing support of our Senta Bilong Helpim.
We have just received another grant which covers the cost of transporting the children to and from the Senta each day, provides their daily food and any health or educational costs.

We were put in touch with Liliana by Dr. Martijn Panneok who spent 2 years working at the Vanimo General Hospital. Martijn also had a great interest in the work of the Senta.
If you wish to know more about Liliana then you can visit their site www.lilianefonds.org They are engaged in helping disadvantaged children in many parts of the world.

Bro. Jim

21st August 2004

Wheelchair Donations

We have recently had a couple of donations of wheelchairs. The first was from the Cairns branch of St. Vincent de Paul Society. They sent a chair for Chris Kelly. This is Chris on his old wheelchair.

How he did manage I will never know as he had to balance the chair on 2 wheels and doing that and propelling himself at the same time was a great feat of balance.

Harry unloading the chair.    Assembling the chair with Chris helping.    Transferring from the old to the new.
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St. Vincent de Paul came to know of Chris and his need for a chair from one of their members, Burnie Gough, who worked in Vanimo as a lay missionary a couple of years ago.

Road test.    Sign of approval.
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Chris was absolutely delighted as the chair came as a real surprise and it is not often that he would get anything from anyone and so he is extremely grateful to Burnie.

The second donation came from the Huon Gulf (Morobe Prov. PNG) Rotary Club as a result of a visit from Lionel Melville. Lionel works for the International Schools in PNG and when he visited the school in Vanimo, he also paid a visit to the Senta. The Huon Rotary Club sent 2 wheelchairs for children and the first recipient was Marion Seau. Marion has undergone several operations both here and in Melbourne to remove a tumour from her spine and corrective surgery on her legs. The surgery was not entirely successful and Marion will never be able to walk.

A sad Marion.    Marion is so happy.    Marion test driving her new chair.
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo.

She is normally a very sad looking little girl and one of the photos depicts that sadness but her face broke in to a beautiful smile when she was given the chair which will make a huge difference to her life as she will gain a certain amount of independence in so far as she can propel herself in the chair.

Organisations such as Rotary, St. Vincent de Paul, Knights of the Southern Cross and Lions do so much to help people in need and our Senta is certainly blessed in having their support.

21st August 2004

Workshop Renovations

You will see from the photos, that we have been producing furniture in very cramped and very wet conditions. Whenever it rained the floor was under water and so we have decided to renovate and improve things.

Old workshop from afar.    Demolition work started.    Where to put everything in the meantime.
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The container has been relocated to one end and raised 600mm, a job that I was concerned about, however it went fairly well, apart from it being hard work. Now work has started on the rest of the building and hopefully, supplies permitting, we will be in the new workshop within a couple of weeks. This will enable us to take on more work as we have been knocking back some jobs that I did not think we could handle due to the cramped conditions.

Starting the heavy work.    Many hands making light work.    Almost there.
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We have approached a Rotary group to see if they will fund the roofing materials and they seem quite positive and if it is the sort of project they are interested in it will be a big saving for us.

2nd August 2004

The Doctors Visit

When the Doctors came to visit. Photos here.

29th July 2004

Visit to Ossima

Friday, the 23rd of July was a public holiday here in PNG for Remembrance Day but as the doctors were still here and they were going to examine the children on that day, we, at the Senta, held our holiday on the Monday. For quite some time now the deaf children have been wanting to visit Ossima and, as we had not had any rain for a couple of days, I thought that it was a good chance to go.

A big following to see us off.    Our Ossima friends making sure we get across safely
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The road was atrocious but it was dry and so was passable. My fear was that there might be rain while we were up there and it would have been a nightmare of a trip home, but we were lucky. The kids had an absolute ball and they were just so excited. Some had never seen cows before and none of them had seen them at close quarters and so it really was exciting for them and no doubt a little frightening. There were no crocodiles there but it was still exciting for them to see all the crocodile pens. They were able to hold guinea pigs, another animal they had never seen.

At the cattle yard.    Who is afraid of who.    In with the guinea pigs.
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The locals made a great fuss of the kids and the school children gave them a lovely welcome as well as a heap of presents in the way of fruit and vegetables. On the way home we stopped at a small waterfall and they all went in to wash off the dust and to cool down. They cooled down very quickly indeed as the water was colder than any they had experienced before. All in all it was a great day and one the children will remember for a long time. They are still talking about it at the Senta each day and rush to look at the photos on the computer as soon as they get there each morning. I also enjoyed the day. Just seeing how much pleasure the children got out of it was a great buzz for me. These children have not had many opportunities for outings like that.

Just so many gifts of food.    Washing off the dust.    Hungry and tired.
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19th July 2004

Container Donations

Photos of some of the donated goods that were shipped to the Senta last year in the container. Click here.
And some new movies on the Media page.

     
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Photo 1.   All that remained of Sissano Government Station office building were the foundations and part of a concrete water tank.
Photo 2.   Although the waves were much lower east of the Yalingi River, Lambu and Teles villages were almost completely destroyed. Here the houses were on low sand ridges less than a metre above high water mark and within 100 m of the water's edge.
Photo 3.   Part of Warapu village after the tsunami

I will never forget my experience working at the airport, unloading the injured as they came in by plane or helicopter and then transporting them on the back of open trucks to the hospitals. Few words were spoken; there was an occasional moan but otherwise silence. They were too stunned to talk and too shocked to cry. When they were able to talk there were some amazing stories of survival.

The hardest part was to see the children suffering and many not knowing if there were other survivors from their families. And yet, time is a great healer. The tragedy and the trauma of it all will be with those who survived for the rest of their lives but they are getting on with their lives even though their whole life style has had to change. Before the wave they were coastal dwellers but now they have had to move quite a way inland. New villages have been built along with schools, aid posts and churches.

  
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Photo 4. The church at Sissano built by German Divine Word missionaries in 1926, photographed in 1963.
Photo 5.   The site of the church after the tsunami. School buildings 400 m from the water's edge remained standing, though damaged.

On Friday there will be a special report in the Post Courier newspaper and if you want to know more about the developments in the last 6 years your should visit the web site Post Courier. As with a lot of tragedy, good often comes out of it and this time, as far as we at the Senta were concerned, was no different.

When Pauline McKenzie heard about the tsunami, she rang to see if she could help in any way. Pauline had been a nurse working in the Vanimo Diocese in the mid sixties and, although Bro Jim had visited her on a couple of occasions when he was on home leave, she had more or less lost contact, that is until that phone call, a call that Pauline may regret, at times, making. Since that call Pauline has been working at supporting the Senta in any way she can. She is responsible for the Senta Support Group which she set up in Melbourne and which brings in the funds so necessary for the Senta to keep going. It would not be exaggerating to say that without the help of Pauline, the Senta would not be where it is today. For Pauline it is a labour of love for, although she had very little contact for so long, she never lost her love for the people of Vanimo and it was that love that prompted her to make the phone call to help out in any way she could. That is not one way love either. Pauline touched the lives of many people when she was here as a nurse and they remember her fondly.

With thanks to this article, for the photos. All photos copyright their respective owners.

14th July 2004

Vale Solomon

Today we heard the sad news that Solomon passed away at the hospital. Solomon was a bright little chap and was everyone's favorite and it came as quite a shock to hear that he had died.
When we closed for the holidays, 2 weeks ago, he was in fine form. He will be sadly missed.

Solomon.   Solomon and Mama.
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14th July 2004

The Canoe.

We are always looking for ways to make money at the Senta and so we are now trying our hand at making canoes. This is a trial run and we will keep this canoe for the Senta.
Already someone has suggested that we try to sell the canoes in Jayapura as there is a big demand. We will take photos of the finished product and advertise over there to see what amount of interest there is.
There are more images of the canoe being built and tested, here.

Very light to carry.   Heading out to sea.   Finishing the artwork.
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30th June 2004

Karen teaching.

Everyone working hard.   Karen and Florence.   Karen running an inservice for the volunteers.
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30th June 2004

Woodworking photos

The boys collecting off-cuts.   A full load saved from the fire.   Trying our hand at boat building.
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Taking shape.   The boys hard at it.
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25th June 2004

One Legged Soccer

The kids were playing one legged soccer today, a game they really love. The able bodied must use a crutch and play on one leg in a way that the others, or at least some of the others, can play with them .

23rd June 2004

Daily Routine

Each morning, once the kids arrive they run or sit around for a while and the volunteers catch up with each other and any gossip…I mean news. Then we all gather for a prayer, a song and then it's teeth brushing time. Lots of water, lots of spitting and lots of shiny smiles by the end.(There are two movies on the media page, here.)

After that, the physically disabled kids have individual physiotherapy. The volunteers have been trained in basic physiotherapy skills and have programs for each of the kids. My job here is to review all of the kids and upskill the volunteers. They are learning new exercises, new stretching techniques, hydrotherapy skills, splint making, basic anatomy and pathologies.

     
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger photo.

During physio, the deaf kids and those with intellectual disabilities have classes which are run by volunteers who have been trained in sign (Auslan). Then all of the kids have language and maths classes (in small groups), a few more activities (music, sensory play, gross motor activities/ games/ aerobics), time in the pool for games and hydrotherapy then it's home time at 2.30pm.

Karen

22nd June 2004

Media update

There are some more(old) photos in the Media section. These are from 2002 and the Second anniversary of the Senta. There is also a new movie entitled, "Brusha brusha brusha !!"

20th June 2004

Hostel.

The hostel has not been going for very long and already we had to turn one of the rooms, which was being used for a store room, back into a dormitory.

  

Mary Upe, and Mary's brother, Rodney.
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Karen Borschman is flying out to the out stations to assess some of the applications we have been getting and where there are more than one from a village, trying to see if we can get by with one guardian instead of one for each child. One very remote village about 40 minutes flying time from Vanimo, has 7 children with disabilities who want to come to the Senta.

  

Linda.  Timothy, our oldest patient, with Rodney.
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Those that are already living at the hostel are enjoying the attention they are getting at the Senta and what is also a very big help for them, is the fact that the community of Waromo are making them feel at home. They are welcomed anywhere in the village and are given copious amounts of food by the people.

     

Relaxing after a meal.  Preparing the evening meal.  Ruth and her son, Oliver.
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19th June 2004

The Many Hats of Bro. Jim

Bro. Jim shows his versatility at the Senta as you will see by the photos. Sometimes, due to the bad roads, the local buses break down and people are not able to get to the hospital. Instead they come to the Senta to Bro. Jim. If he considers the case too serious, he or Harry will take the patients to the hospital.
His day is also busy with carpentry work, making furniture for sale, doing any maintenance required on the generators or other odd jobs that crop up such as installing security lights.

Jim the Doctor.  Another happy patient.  Jim the Carpenter.

Jim the Mechanic.  Jim the Electrician.
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15th June 2004

Claire Byrne.

Claire recently paid us a very welcomed visit. It was almost as if she hadn't left, she was right back into things from the time she arrived.

      Harry welcoming Claire.    Welcoming party.    Phiona saying goodbye.
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It is 14 months since she left us but certainly does not seem that long. The 2 weeks that Claire was here also went very quickly and she was so busy in the Senta and catching up with her many friends in the villages and the town that she hardly had time to draw her breath.
Claire was pleasantly surprised at the way all the programs that she had put into place before she left us 14 months ago and had nothing but praise for the work of the volunteers.
Claire was also a big help to Karen who had just time to settle in and find her feet prior to Claire's arrival and had a heap of questions for Claire. Many hours into the nights were spent with Karen picking Claire's brain.

It was great to see you again Claire and we await the next visit.

Website

There has been a change in the managing of our web site; Andrew Murdoch has kindly relieved Paul Greene who was finding it very difficult to find the time.

I would like to thank Paul for first of all setting the site up and for keeping it going under difficult circumstances.
Paul spent many hours in getting it up and running, as it was something new to him and a learning process. It was undertaken when Paul was running his farm and because he was so busy during the day he worked of a night on the site. Unfortunately Paul and his wife Dianne were facing extreme difficulties because of drought and all their cattle had to be hand fed which became a real financial burden and so Paul was forced to go back to work as a mining engineer in PNG, a job that he thought, and hoped, that he had left behind for good. Paul is working in a very difficult area and is facing all kinds of problems with the landowners who can be quite aggressive and there have been times when Paul's life has been at risk. Keeping the web site going became just too much.

I have known Paul for a number of years. I first met him when I called on him when he was manager of the Freida River mining project. On that occasion I called on him asking if he could help us out with the use of a helicopter to transport food to isolated villages that were suffering badly from hunger due to a drought. Paul responded immediately and moved tonnes of rice and fish for us.

The next occasion was when the tsunami hit the Aitape area. Again I called on Paul and again he responded immediately with no fuss and a minimum of questions. His quick response undoubtedly saved many lives. Paul came with the chopper and worked on the ground, in the swamp, recovering the injured and loading them onto the chopper. That chopper moved over 400 people before any other help came to the area. Since that time our friendship developed and I am certainly proud to be able to call Paul a real friend. He is big and ugly, has only one eye and likes to come across as a fierce and aggressive mining man but I know the other side of him and he has a big soft heart of gold. Thanks Paul.

Thanks also to Andrew for taking on the job of managing our web site. In the short time it has been running, the site has been a great benefit to the running of the Senta and people have responded very generously to our needs. The invitation for any feed back, positive or negative is still there, and I am sure that Andrew would appreciate your comments.

Bro. Jim

February 2004

The hostel is nearing completion and certainly would have been finished excepting for the fact we are once again held up. This time we are waiting for two plumbing fittings that are needed before we complete the lining and the tiling of the bathrooms.

News on the generator.

The generator has been repaired and is awaiting shipment from Lae and so it should be up and running in about two weeks. Many thanks to all those who responded to our call for help in getting it repaired.

Bro. Jim

27th November 2003

Mr Philip Tiong, the Vanimo Forest Company Director, visited The Senta today.

He reaffirmed his commitment to helping the Senta and as a demonstration of VFC's support is generously supplying the timber for the new hostel. Thank you for your kind support Mr Tiong and Vanimo Forest Company.

Bro. Jim