Robert@PNG

I had the privilege today to travel out to Koko Village in the Unggai District of the Eastern Highlands with Das and Andy from the Clinton Foundation. Today was the kickstart of the Aids Testing and Counselling program that the Foundation are rolling out into the Eastern Highlands and if successful ultimately to the whole of PNG. The program is currently being piloted in three villages with Koko being the remotest. I say a privilege because I had the opportunity to travel with a team of doctors into a PNG village and observe first hand  their work. Medical help and Health services in general are scarce for the PNG village person, some folks have to literally walk for days to the nearest Aid Post or Hospital. So to watch the response by the locals as they welcomed the medical team and began receiving treatment was an absolute treat. Together with the standard services such as: general medicine, paediatrics and obstetrics there was also the opportunity for locals to take a voluntary HIV/AIDS test.

With the village located at around 2500m above sea level the views were absolutely stunning. PNG hospitality was at its best with bilas, singsing and plenty of speeches. The day was a relaxing one for me as I had plenty of opportunities to just mingle and interact with many of the locals. I basically had a ball.

For Das and Andy from the Clinton Foundation it was a very rewarding day after many months of hard and at times frustrating work. (We had the two of them and their son Shanti around for a traditional “mamboo” dinner last night).

In total I managed to snap approximately 150 photos, most of which will eventually get posted to the: Koko Visit (8/6/07) photo album.

To give you and idea of the the spectacular views from Koko….