Project MARC

Trip Logbook

June 2004

Nelleke's 2004 Trip Reports

 

~ First Report ~

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters,

Here we are once more, for the fifth year in Vanuatu, trying to make a difference in a part of the world where a small effort still counts.
Rivendel II is tied up to the seawall in Port Vila and we are ready to make our first escape to the outer islands tomorrow.

It struck me more than usual this time when we made our entry into what is called "a third world country".
Traveling from the USA via Fiji to Vanuatu, the airports became smaller and smaller, the equipment less advanced, the roads less and less maintained and it was painfully visible how the standard of living deteriorated.
The climate became gradually more and more humid and when we stepped out of the plane at Bauerfield airport into a drizzly tropical rain we knew that we had arrived at our "home away from home".
We have made it through the first mosquito bites and flu bugs and I am not screaming anymore when I have to share my bed with a cockroach or a gecko. At least we have no rats this year!

Vanuatu has unfortunately not made much progress as a republic. The country is politically unstable and the upcoming elections (July 6th) are not expected to produce a change for the better. The economy has further deteriorated which among other things is clearly visible from the very high prices. Store prices have once more gone up with roughly 30 %. We are deleting more and more items from our shopping lists simply because the price is too high. I have become a very careful shopper and spend hours in the supermarket comparing prices. A 16 oz can of vegetables is priced at $ 2, a pot of very ordinary jam at $ 4 and a very small jar of peanut butter one can obtain for $ 5. $ 2 for a liter of milk and $ 5 for a 1 lb tub of margarine.... Only beef, bread and rice are still cheap.
On top of this one seems to be discouraged to buy larger quantities as the pricing seems to indicate: 1 lb of flour 200 vatu; 2 lbs of flour 500 vatu..... however the margarine gets cheaper as it contains fewer ingredients:
1 lb regular margarine 500 vatu, 1lb cholesterol-free margarine 450 vatu, 1lb low calorie margarine 425 vatu....!!!????
Having learned about the rising prices last year, we tried to anticipate some of this and packed quite a bit of food preserves for the volunteer teams in the container. However, as I already indicated in my first little scribble: the container is going to be nearly 6 weeks late. After lots of research we learned that it had first been shipped to Korea, where it has been sitting for quite a few weeks now. From Korea it will be shipped to Brisbane and from there to Vanuatu, where it will not arrive untill the first of August, give and take a few days plus three or four days to get the container through customs. A big setback, as this affects the work of the first as well as the second team.

A week before departure Henk decided to write one last email to our volunteers for this summer. The topic was "flying by the seat of our pants...." and that's exactly what we will be doing for the next two months. All schedules will have to be altered and all tasks will have to be adjusted to the limited equipment and supplies presently available to us.
But as always there is a positive side as well and we are turning our project "sunny side up". Because we did not have to unload an entire container we had time to prepare Rivendel and give her all the attention she needed. She is clean and beautiful with her new hard dodger and she is ready to go to sea!
Henk and I have worked through the miscellaneous flue bugs and had the time to be sick for a few days. Moreover, even if the container would have been here we would have had nowhere to go with the contents because Siome, our main transport vessel, also did not make it in time and is not expected to be here untill next week!
So we are in no way disturbed and will make the best of it!

Our July team, consisting of Brian Renshaw USA, technician, Trey Oxford, med student, USA, Dana Overacker, technician USA and Rennie Malresres, med student and "ni-Van" (i.e. born in Vanuatu) is not in the least intimidated by the setbacks. They have worked very hard to make this month a "go" and they are ready.
We just hope for the weather to shape up. Maybe we arrived in the wrong season.... it has rained every day since we have arrived!

With all our love!

Nelleke.

 

~ Transition and Completion ~ 

(Second Report)

Sangalai Lagoon, Maskelyne islands July 19th 2004

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters,

So many impressions and so many changes this first month with the "quartermaker team", that I don't quite know where to start.

I quess one starts at the beginning so let me just do that:
As indicated in the first report, the container did not arrive and there has been no sight of our main transport vessel, the 75 ft schooner "Siome" from New Zealand, yet, so Rivendel II will have to transport the volunteer team this month. The team, with Brian Renshaw from North Carolina, Dana Overacker (Utah), Trey Oxford (Utah) and Rennie Malresres (Vanuatu) consists of technicians only, with Trey being a premed student and Rennie an advanced medical student. Their main task will be repair and preparation for the next teams.
Jake, our contact man from the Banam Bay area, has been in Port Vila all of June, with the purpose of taking a business class. To his enormous disappointment the class has been cancelled for lack of participation and the whole difficult trip forth and back from his remote island has been in vain. However, Henk and I are very happy to have had Jake assist us with the preparations. We buy a ticket for Jake back to Banam Bay on MV Santa Maria, a 40 ft rust bucket that hardly deserves the description "vessel". The Santa Maria is loaded with bags of cement, and stuffed to the limit with miscellaneous supplies for the islands. Besides all the cargo it takes "passengers". Between the cement and other cargo one can find a place on the deck to lie down and try to get some sleep.

We have asked Rennie, our niVan med student who has been invaluable already, to stay behind in Vila and be the relay man for Siome by using one of the Iridium satellite phones. Siome's crew will need instructions for building and other materials to be picked up from our storage area and from Wilco (The "Home Depot" of Port Vila). Rennie will then sail on Siome as soon as they have arrived and join the team in Ambrym.
Many supplies that are in the container have to be "double" purchased at Wilco at skyrocketing prices. Supplies are needed to make the intended repairs. We will have to put this team in rural "guesthouses" (read huts with a thatch roof and mud floor) this entire month as the food for this team as well as cots, stoves, gas bottles and utensils are also in the container.
Henk and I start laughing when we ask each other: "...do you have.....?" and our standard answer is : "yes, in the container" My "real" coffee is in the container, my new towels and the baking pans to replace last year's broken ones and so on.....
But the worst of all is the DUCT TAPE. Henk has sworn that he will never ever put his most important tool in any container again! This month "container" is a dirty word, but I already know that next month it will be the sweetest word I've heard in a long time!

We have a good sail, Trey and Dana are not sensitive to seasickness at all and Brian (whose luggage has not arrived) gets away with minor queasiness. The weather is starting to shape up and it doesn't rain all day anymore when we arrive in Ranon (N Ambrym).
All is well here, only minor damage from the hurricane, and the Fire Mountain Clinic is thriving under the leadership of Rose, the nurse/midwife and Melinda her assistant. Both are happy and Rose confides that this is "a dream" for her. Overcoming her first shyness, she tells me that the reason she left the Nopul health center, where she worked for many years, was "black magic'. "I know you will not believe me" she says "but one day everything around me started to sway, my bed went upside down and my room was tilted" and I knew I had to go away. This place here (Fire Mountain Clinic), is good, no black magic here. I want to work here my entire life. The next day she writes us a letter of which the last phrase is: " I am a believer of the word of God and I'd say your work to us is like fulfilling part of God's word. Your presence with us is like a comforter for a neglected child"
Needless to say that those words are a sign of God's grace, a blessing for our soul and an encouragement to go on.

The next day we visit our friend Chief Tokon Sam. Lengkon, his son, is the recipient of a sponsorship (thank you Jerry and Doris!) to do a correspondence course for secondary school. Tokon signals me to come to the hut of his oldest son. Minutes later he proudly he comes out with a four month old baby girl: "Nelleke" he says proudly, "it is my firstborn (grandchild) and I put your name on her". This is Nelleke # 3, but I still have tears in my eyes and... she is adorable!
A visit to the schools to find Charles Lengkon (adopted this year by the Orchard Mesa church in Grand Junction; thank you Anouk!) is also a happy event. Charles, who was also sponsored last year has become a top student with very good grades. Charles was also the child with the "lizard skin". We started treatment with Lamisil (thank you Peace Corps volunteer/teacher Allison for your dedication). Charles has completely cured, his skin is normal, but what is even more important: Charles now has friends, he was treated like a leper, nobody wanted to play with him. What a success story!
Not such a happy story is the visit with Lottie, who went for surgery to New Zealand last year. The tumor on her arm has been removed and has not returned there, but clearly the cancer now has spread to other parts of her body. When we visit Lottie in her hut, she is in good spririts, but can no longer walk and has to spend her time in her hut right next to the church. Lotties father Ruben asks me to pray with them, which I do with a heavy heart.
I am asking you to pray for her, for peace, for patience, for a miracle.....

On the way to go to church in Fanrereo Henk trips on the steep and muddy trail because a log gives way. He is not hurt but very dirty and because we are only minutes away from the church, he decides to clean himself and grabs a big leaf out of a rainforest full of a thousand different kind of leaves and starts to vigorously rub his arms clean. Minutes later he experiences extreme pain on the skin and it gradually becomes worse. We learn later that he has used a leaf with a similar effect as the "poison ivy". This one is called "nangalat". Today, three weeks later, his skin is still sensitive.

No other patients for us here, healthcare has been restored and the only work to do for the team is to make major repairs to the Nopul health center where nurse practitioner Joseph has worked all these years. Lights are installed in all the rooms, the roof is repaired and the water system replaced. We have brought a repaired SSB radio for Joseph and for the first time in years he can be "on line" with his colleagues in other health centers in Vanuatu. Shelves to store the medication and a new stethoscope complete the overhaul and we leave a thankful Joseph with a big smile on his face. The team has worked very hard and accomplished a lot, but they are a little dismayed about how little they get accomplished in a day compared to what could be done in one day had they been in the Western world with shops, transportation and communication readily available. They want to do more!
Siome has arrived in the meantime and on Saturday everybody (except for us once more because we want to spend the day with Lottie) climbs the volcano.

A short five hour sail brings us to the next Project MARC base, Banam Bay, Malekula.
Here, not all is well, and many changes have taken place.
This place, already the poorest of the poorest, has been devastated by the cyclone.
100 mile per hour winds have destroyed most of the roofs, torrential rains have triggered large mud slides from the high mountains, causing the death of one woman and the injury of a few others. Little Nelleke (#1)'s hut has been destroyed together with all her belongings and clothes. Most people underwent the same fate, while they fled to seek shelter in the only concrete building (the church) the ocean swept over the villages of Fartapo, Sason, Lambul and Lanfitfit, filling in many of the huts with mud, destroying roads and rivers in its violent course. They were afraid, I can still see it in their eyes when they talk about it. But nobody complains, I yet have to meet the first person to come to me and say: "I lost my house....."
Chief Augst takes us to Aulua where we see more devastation. In all the villages the water system has been ruined and none of the already few taps ais producing water any more. In the place where the proud white painted church was standing, now remains a pad of concrete and a bunch of scrap wood. No complaints; a mere gesture with the hand says: "there it was, now it is gone..."
They worship under the trees, next month they will start rebuilding, but nobody has any vatu's... The high winds have swept the coconuts out of the trees prematurely and it will take a while before a new crop can be processed, the same is the case with the bananas, the yams and the taro.
They will fundraise Chief Augst says..... the new church is going to be made out of concrete....

But good things have happened here as well. In January the government has, upon our frequent request, sent a nurse. We had hoped for a female nurse, but a male nurse is better than no nurse and we count our blessings. The government has told us that they can do it on their own from now in these areas and that they want us to go on to new neglected areas ( in September we sail to the Torres Islands up North).
We try to explain this as good as we can in a meeting with the chiefs of all the villages. The next morning, when we land our dinghy on the once white but now brown colored sand beach, a delegation of the village Lambul is waiting for us at the beach. Chief Vanu and Chief Bob, accompanied by all the men of this small village, make it very clear to us that they don't want us to go to the Torres, they want us to stay here. They have approved for us to stay on their land and Project MARC is the best thing that ever happened to them. We are both very touched by this heartwarming gesture and assure them that we will try to keep supporting the area as long as we can. After the meeting Chief Vanu very shyly asks if I have a blanket : his old mama is so cold during the night. Due to the arrival of the nurse, unfortunately there no longer is a place for our star aidpost worker Wilton in Shell Beach Clinic, but we can easily find a different place for some one with his talents. Wilton is not too happy about this development of course, but he understands.
This also means that we can no longer pay the salaries of the aidpost workers and the committee we have installed. Under the Vanuatu health care system the aidpost workers are the responsibility of the nurse. The committee has been discharged already and we are in the process of creating new jobs for all our faithful helpers (more in the August report).
That also means that Jake is no longer the chairman of the committee, but we already have put Jake (and his fiancee Lucy) to work. The government has requested additional help for the women's programs in this area and we plan to do that using our popular workshops as a tool. The planned the women's nakamal will be built next to the clinic with the permission of the nurse. The men of two neighboring villages have already started the work on the cement floor and as soon as the container has arrived we will bring the prefabricated roof that was purchased in the US. In August three young female doctors will teach these workshops using the new nakamal.
However the volunteers can no longer stay on the clinic grounds.... So we have urged Jake to build a small preliminary guesthouse where teams can be hosted, similar to the guesthouse in Ambrym. Jake is enthusiastic and so is Lucy and not in the least so are we!
Lucy and Jake will cook the meals and see to the comfort of the volunteers. This will provide Jake, who is hoping to start a tourism business eventually, with a small income and experience. To our delight Jake has found a class he can attend this month in Lakatoro, he is very excited to start his :"How to start a small business" soon. (Thank you John and Anne).

Another walk with Chief Augst takes me in the opposite direction to Raparsivir to visit the school there. The beloved headmaster Andrew has left and as my good friend Nellie tells me, the people have cried for days..... Grace thank you for the sponsor, I will have to make some small changes here, but I know that has your consent!
I visit my friend Nellie in her hut in the bush and while I sit down on the mat ( I try the island style of sitting, but my ligaments do not stretch enough, ouch....!) one of Nellie's daughters comes in with a radiant smile on her face and a new baby in her arms. "Nelleke" she says, I put your name on her. Wow this is going to be confusing, let me count: this is Nelleke # 4.
On the long way back I talk with the old chief Augst (he doesn't know how old he is but he was born in 1932). I try to discuss a problem with him. I have to find a mechanism to distribute baby blankets in the villages. I did not have time to distribute 100 baby quilts last year..... Thank God, that sure was for a reason! How wonderful to have blankets for all small children, now they have lost almost all their possessions. I suggest that we talk to the pastor or the elder of each village and ask them to distribute the blankets (and T-shirts). Chief Augst stops dead in his track, plants both his feet firmly on the trail and says: "de elda?, de ELDA!!!???? all he do is pray long Papa God and then he keeps it himself". I giggle ... so much for that idea!
"You go long me", he says "yumi (we) give...." Alright then I will go with Chief Augst tomorrow and we'll see what happens!
Now he is on a roll. " pasta, elda, gavment olgeta no gud" . "Yu mas be gavment" he says pointing at me "Nelleke mas be gavment mo ol i gut tumas." (pastors, elders, government they all are no good, Nelleke has to be the government and everything will be very good)
Then he starts to laugh and slap himself on the knees and looks up to me with a dear smile. My friend... I am sooo touched, I don't know what to say. For a Vanuatu man (Chief Augst is a well educated, dedicated and smart person) to say this is proof that this "white woman" has been accepted.
The next morning we handle according to plan. Chief Augst gives instructions as all families have gathered in the village nakamal. Instructions are as follows: you have to be quiet, and you have to sit down or else you get nothing. Clear and concise. All children get blankets, all men get a T-shirt and all women get towels and sewing kits. The look in the eyes of the children is priceless. I am very well aware that I am not Santa Claus, I am only the very privileged person who is allowed to facilitate. Thank you all women of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City who have made all these treasures and thanks to all those who have donated clothes (too many to name, but Annette you have been my biggest T-shirt donor, thanks!).

Another great thing is that the Rural Training Center for which we started to make plans last year has already started. Elder Kalwat is using the old Presbyterian Mission school to teach carpentry and electrical skills. Roughly 50 young men are enrolled but because of the cyclone nobody can afford to pay the school fees and the teachers cannot be paid. We can help out a little bit right now and will do more next month. Now that medical care has been reestablished in this area, we will focus more and more on education and economics.
Our volunteers are surprised how little can be done in a few days compared to the US where stores are within reach and electricity and water are readily available.
But they are looked at as heroes for all the repairs they do!

Last stop already. Our picturesque setting in the Maskelyne Islands.
Siome takes the lead with the volunteers and Rivendel follows during the night and early morning. On the small almost uninhabited island of Sakao where our Coral Bay Clinic is built, awaits us a big surprise. The few families that live on this garden island Chief Willie and his wife Rachael, Karlo the carpenter and his wife Alice and Esther, aidpost worker trained by Project MARC, have worked like mad during the time we were in the states. They have built new huts on the beach and flowers and plants enhance the setting. They have finished the Coral Bay Clinic into details and even added an extra patient waiting room using the cement we had one of the copra boats drop off there last year.
Two of the trained aidpost workers, Esther and Vincent, have stayed in the clinic and kept operating it. The average number of patients they have seen per month exceeds 100!

The next day we sail Rivendel into the small, reef-studded Sangalai anchorage. This is a first for us and I am a bit nervous. The sail from Sakao island to the island of Ulivio where 1000 people live, is only an hour, but the reefs are everywhere and without a local guide it is impossible to know where to go. We have the very best guide available: Chief Willy personally shows us the way and helps navigate Rivendel safely through the very narrow opening in the reef (the opening between the reefs on either side is only roughly 100 feet). It is raining and the waves are pretty good size and with only half an engine ( the heat exchanger gave out) to negotiate, this is a nerve-wrecking experience. I am much relieved when we are finally anchored in the small Sangalai lagoon.
The cyclone has caused minor damage here as well but life goes on. Here it feels like the hustle and bustle of a working community. Big concrete houses are being built and the Presbyterian community is building a large new church. The villages here are highly organized and do a lot of planning. This is the island of the sailing canoes, fishing is a good source of income and so is the copra.

In the dispensary where we have rendered primary care so often, when the nurse had left, we meet with Lydia, the new nurse practitioner. We are delighted that this area also has a nurse now . However Lydia complains that she is not busy enough and also that the government doesn't want to give her a boat with outboard engine. She needs the boat to go home in the weekend to see her husband and her children but also to visit the many small islands in the Maskeleynes that are under her care.
At first we are flabbergasted that she apparently gets fewer patients than our aidpost workers in the Coral Bay Clinic. When we investigate this later it turns out that many people prefer to make the two-hour trip in their wooden canoes to our clinic instead of seeing Nurse Lydia within walking distance, because the Sakao clinic the charges only 20 vatu and for nurse Lydia they have to pay 50 vatu...... Just imagine an American family making a two-hour canoe trip across rough waters to save 30 cent.........
Anyway, this is a problem. Of course, we don't want to create competition for the nurse. Moreover, she has threatened to leave if the situation doesn't change.

Another couple of meetings follow with Chief Willie, Chief Kalmid and the clinic committee , to gather facts, get impressions and a feeling for the direction we have to take for this area. These meetings are followed by endless brainstorming between Henk and I on Rivendel. It all results in some terrific plans (we think) and maybe more of a transition towards education and economic support to wrap up in these areas.
We will make sure that the price of the Sakao clinic will be raised and make some other stipulations so that nurse Lydia will have her patients back. A visit to the fiberglass factory (a project funded by the Australian government) results in the buying of two fiberglass hulls for the project MARC catamaran. I have named the catamaran "Flying Angel II" after our very first mobile clinic catamaran (in your honor Jim!)
Here too the building of a Rural Training Center will start soon. The cement has been delivered and we will build on the remnants of buildings made by the Americans in World War II. Henk has found a fantastic name for the training center that has inspired us as well as chief Willy. The name chosen is "SPIRIT" (South Pacific Institute for Remote Island Technologies). MARC volunteers, local teachers and passing by cruisers will be the teaching staff and the subjects taught will focus on the sailing skills of this area: sail making canoe building and repair and outboard engine maintenance are on the roster.

We conclude our stay at the Maskelyne islands with a lunch in the hut of Chief Willie and his wife Rachel. While we are munching on our lap lap Chief Willie presents his newly adopted baby daughter to us: "This is Nelleke" he says, "we put your name on her".
And so I present to you: Nelleke # 5 and my hart is swelling with pride!


Henk and I are thankful everyday. The Lord has used us and let us be His tools.
The collapsed medical infrastructure has largely been repaired and we are on our way to try the same concept in our newly designated areas.Our initial task has been completed, but we will not leave these three areas completely without any support for the future.

We are back in Port Vila. The sail back was mostly wonderful, but right in the neighborhood of Moso island where "Survivor" is being filmed right now, the wind picked up to 30 knots, when we plowed through the building seas with reefed sails only one thought came to my mind: 30 knots... what would 100 knots be like......

Fair winds and following seas!

Nelleke.

 

~ Maintenance & Development ~

(Third Report) 

 

Ranon Anchorage,
 

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters,

Back in Port Vila we learn that the container is further delayed than thealready announced delayed arrival date of July 30th. It is moved up to August 8th. Again we have to change the entire scenario of all volunteers, Martha and Allen on Siome and us on Rivendel.
More building supplies and more food has to be purchased, as it is now clear that the August team will also largely be without necessities and food.
Instead of staying in Vila to unload the container Henk and I decide to first go to the islands following the team on Siome and then return by the 10th. We are not very excited about this hectic and exhausting schedule but have not much of a choice. We are surprised how far we have been able to stretch the few supplies we do have. Whatever can be recycled has been, including paper towels and napkins. We even thought about recycling the toilet paper but that turned out to be too messy.....
All 6 volunteers plus a movie team from the Utah based Neways Corporation, one of our sponsors, are supposed to arrive on July 29th. They all appear to have changed their travel itinery and arrive on the 28th instead; a "surprise present" for my birthday!
On the 29th we have a very productive meeting with the Director General of the Ministry of Health. Last month' meeting was a little tense and revealed an atmosphere of: thanks for all you have done but we can do the rest ourselves.... no "waetmen" (white people) needed.....
So we were pleasantly surprised that something appears to have changed.
Project MARC receives extensive "Thank you"s and kudos from the Director General and whatever structural changes we want to imply will be approved by her, with the only limitation that the provincial manager Rosie Silas, also approves.
We celebrate with coffee and pastry from the French bakery!

Part of the August team are Katherine Lawrence, Charlotte Hall, Joanna Flynn and Kate Callcutt all young student doctors from London England, Anthonie Houlding student doctor from New Zealand and Kenneth Murphy, lawyer from the USA. Shane, Steve and Angie from Springville Utah make up the Neways film team.
Both Siome and Rivendel leave on schedule on the 30th. Everybody has their first share of excitement as Siome has appeared to have been hit by a whale underway. Fortunately no damage has occurred. Joanna, Katherine and Charlotte are dropped of at Banam Bay. We stay with them for a few days and are very happy to see that the simple small "guest house" is nearly ready and that the girls are enthusiastic about their environment. Novice guest house operator Jake has made a window in the hut that looks out over the blue ocean and the white sand beach. The second day we walk up to my friend Nellie in the bush to deliver a scholarship for Julia (thank you Sandra!) and have a pleasant afternoon tea at her hut in the bush.
We also deliver a sponsorship to the new headmaster of Aulua school on behalf of Joke and Ruud in the Netherlands. He wants us to purchase a new battery so he can get his solar panels to work again. We have in the meantime taken care of that.
For those volunteers who worked in Banam Bay during the past few years the following amazing news: the stingray wound of old Rowen's foot has finally closed after 30 years, thanks to your good care! Moreover, Lily Rose is now five years old and going to kindergarten, her tuberculosis is cured and she has grown big!
Jake is engaged to Lucy and plans to marry her as soon as he has the bride price (about $ 500) saved up!
Wilton is at the moment no longer working as aid post worker, but a new aid post is being built in Lanfifit for him, the village is sooo excited!
The name of the nurse in Shell Beach clinic is Colin and he is a very pleasant person who is immediately ready to support the young doctors with their work and to learn more from them.
The girls seem to be very excited with their task to maintain and further develop the women's programs, educate the local midwives and deliver primary care to the far villages in the bush. The nakamal is being finished while we are there!
The Neways team goes onshore to get the shots they want and when we come out of church on Sunday, the entire village is lined up for a picture and shouting: "Thank You Neways"......

Anthonie and Kate are dropped of in the Maskelynes where Kenneth will later join them. They are the "malaria research team". Other tasks for them are to further train the village healthcare workers, improve the Sakao Clinic and start building the new catamaran, Flying Angel II.
When we arrive in Sakao the hulls of the catamaran have already been joined, the sail of our old dinghy is up with flying colors and eight people are in the catamaran to bring us a very sick young girl. Henk administers the necessary antibiotic shots and advises further transport to Lamap hospital, with the new catamaran...
Fortunately the girl has a speedy recovery and a few days later she is allowed to return to her home. A joyful first task for Flying Angel II!
The next day is a dark day, when we receive the news about Lottie Reuben; she has passed away in peace in her hut next to the Fanrereo church. It makes us sad but also thankful as she was freed from her suffering and taken into the Lords arms. Thank you, all of you who have supported her and prayed for her.

The day afterwards we have some more bad news. A canoe with our friend Tom Nombong in it visits Rivendel early in the morning to deliver a message. Rennie, our niVan student in Port Vila, has called the only phone in the Maskelyne islands. The message is: "the ship with the container has shipwrecked, the container now comes on August 17th"
The shipwreck sounds frightening (the company who sent our container has insured the contents for only $ 2,500 where as the actual value of purchased items alone is more like $ 25,000!) but the fact that there is a new arrival date makes us hope that "shipwrecked" may mean that the ship had engine trouble or something else and that a different ship has to be used.
Oops, that changes everything again and once more we have an emergency meeting with Allen and Martha, who are - thank God - always willing to make more changes and keep still smiling! All right then, Siome will go back to Vila to put their crewmember Fred (Thanks for all the great help Fred!!!) and the Neways movie team back on the plane. There is no longer a reason for Rivendel to go back to Vila and we will stay in the Maskelynes to start the building of the rural training school and help the malaria team. The plan is to go back to Vila around the 10th and try to sneak out for a few days for a belated birthday present: a short flight to Ambrym and a hike on the volcano.
Ship's horns are blown as a last farewell and both boats go their way.
Ours through the treacherous entrance of Sangalai Lagoon, with the team but without the help of Chief Willie this time.
All goes well and by nightfall the team has found a home in Malogs Guesthouse, a wonderful small place that to our big surprise turns out to have a flushing toilet and a shower and Rivendel is securely anchored in the narrow lagoon.
Without many of the special supplies from the container, doing the malaria research is difficult, but Kate, Kenneth and Anthonie do the best they can and the science teacher Almonso is very enthusiastic about all of this. Catching the mosquito's (without the for that purpose acquired mosquito trap) is the most difficult task. One of the students of Sangalai school finds the solution: a giant spider web does the job. The next day the work is hindered by rain. It poors the entire day. I admire the team for keeping up their spirits. In the meantime Henk and I get lots of things accomplished by making arrangements with the local dispensary nurse in Sangalai, NP Lydia. Lydia will be offered the use of the catamaran so she can visit the outer Maskelyne islands, which are under her supervision but presently out of her reach for lack of a suitable boat. It will also give her the opportunity to go home to her family on the weekends.
Headmaster Jack Enrell is very happy with the school adoption (thank you Claire!) and the requested laptop plus laboratory supplies we have purchased with the money. Roline is the student he has selected to receive a scholarship for secondary school, she is already enrolled in the school in Lakatoro up North. (Thank you Teri and Layne!).
That night we set up for a movie, using our famous bed sheet. The movie selected is Robin Sip's project MARC documentary ("Roving Doctors") which has the story of Kalsal, the little boy from the village of Peskarus that died last year. Kalsal's parents are anxious to see the movie. They cry when they see their son on the white screen, but they are comforted and honored by Robin's documentary which is dedicated to Kalsal.
More than two hundred people come to watch that night and the school children laugh and are sooo excited when they recognize themselves on the screen.
Having accomplished all of this Henk and I walk back to Rivendel to get soaking wet during the dinghy ride. It rains the entire night and the next morning the wind in the narrow, reef-infested anchorage starts to pick up to 25 knots. We realize that there is no getting out of this rat hole with this kind of weather and that going back to Vila is now out of the question. We are up the entire night trying frantically to keep Rivendel of the reef. We are on a very old rusty anchor chain (the new one is in the container) but so far the anchor is holding. By the end of the day our propane runs out (same story, the spare tank was given to the docs in Banam Bay, because the new ones are in the container). I really feel bereft. Being up all night is one thing but not being able to even make a cup of coffee is kind of tough, but we keep our spirits up even when the next day the rain changes into heavy downpours and the wind keeps increasing. At night time the wind is well over thirty and another anxious night follows. We are fully dressed and have our passports packed, just in case. It takes only one weak shackle and we are on the reef. That night the wind increases to 50 knots. Alan calls from Siome at 3 a.m. in the hollow of the night (an unexpected storm, he says, nobody has seen it in the forecast). Alan and Martha, in Port Vila harbor, have to leave the anchor in the middle of the night and move to a more protected place inside the bay.
The next morning the wind is down into the thirties, but daylight reveals Rivendel only meters away from the reef. We realize we have to get out of here. We wait a few hours and when the wind is down to 25 knots we make our escape through the roaring waves in the small opening. We sigh with relief when we make it through without any damage.
Too early though, the hard wind has swept up the waves very high and when we go through the narrow passage back to Sakao we almost come to grief when a big breaking wave first cuts away the dinghy from the boat, snapping the steel cleat of as well and then tries to throw Rivendel onto the reef.
To make a long story short... we have been incredibly lucky. We are still here and so is Rivendel. I burst out in tears though when hours later, while we are safely moored of in the quiet anchorage of Sakao Island, three fishermen triumphantly come motoring in with our dinghy.... It was swept onto the reef, fuel tank, oars and everything else has been found back and the only damage is a small hole in the front air chamber. A big thank you prayer rises from the depth of my soul.
In the Sakao clinic is a full tank of propane and our friends here bring us fresh bread and vegetables. After a warm meal, a cup of steaming hot coffee and a stiff drink, we go to sleep and try to forget about everything.
The next day we feel sort of dazed, maybe it is a bit much to sail a boat and try to manage a project like this at the same time. Furthermore, although neither Henk nor I put much stock in superstitions, it is sobering to think that we twice may have come closer to losing Rivendel than ever before in just the past 20 hours while the calendar showed Friday, August 13th.....
When we have recovered somewhat, we leave to make a surprise visit to the girls in Banam Bay, mainly to tell them that they will not receive the contents of the container as promised. All is well here with the team with the only setback that Charlotte appears to have been feeling ill most of the time with poorly defined symptoms. I urge her to seek medical care, which she decides to do the next morning.
Now we are on to Ambrym, with good news for Rose in Fire Mountain Clinic: she can stay there for the coming years, all has been approved and as you guess: to finally climb the volcano. I can't believe we really get to do this and though the hike (14 mile with almost 1 mile vertical) is tough and it rains the entire day, I am so thankful to be able to do this, it is fascinating.... Henk and I both do well and make it to the top with no problems. We do not get to see the lava, but we get to look at the enormous smoking cauldron, can smell the heavy chemicals and hear the volcano roar.... The guide is coughing badly from the fumes and wants to return as quickly as possible.
We are down early, for the simple reason that we cannot take a break anywhere because of the constant heavy rain. Our feet are a bit sore from walking in soggy shoes and socks but we are happy and proud, I have my birthday present!
The next day we have dinner at the guesthouse and show the Project MARC movie there. It is still raining so heavily that I think we must have accidently landed in the wrong season here... Robin I wish you would have been there to hear the reaction from the people. Judging by his loud laughing, Douglas liked the kava drinking shot the best.
(For those volunteers interested: Freddie got married, his wife's name is Anita!).

Altogether, it was a good month. Taking the setbacks into account, the teams have still accomplished quite a lot.
Weather-wise and boat wise this is not our month though. It has rained practically all of August and for our trip back to Vila the Southeast winds have popped back into to the 20- 30 knot range, hard on the nose. The ocean has turned into a giant washing machine and both Rivendel and Siome have an exhausting trip. Back in Vila we discover a big leak in our main water tank, apparently caused by the heavy slamming we have done.
But today the sun is out, the container has finally come in, the missing papers to make it through customs have been retrieved from the USA (Cees and Darlyn, thank you we don't know what we would have done without your tireless efforts!!) and I hope we will have a very fruitful, peaceful, nice-weather, no-boat-problem month in the Torres Islands. I think we deserve it!

Love

Nelleke.

 

 
~ Evaluation & Primary care ~

(4th report)

 

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters
For those of you who have followed the story: the containership "M/V Southern Moana" was thrown onto the reefs North of Fiji. Fortunately, the ship's cargo has been saved and our container is delivered to Port Vila by a different vessel and finally arrives on August 20th, more than two months later than the original target date. After the proper paperwork for the container has been submitted, it still takes five agonizing days until we can cut the lock and start the distribution and sorting out of the contents. One reason for the delay is that most people on the wharf have gone home with the flue!
The 6 trainee doctors from the September team (the brothers Sam and Ben Moon plus Matt Miller from New Zealand, as well as Ilana Buelles , Claire Phillips and Nick Cooper from England) arrive early and we are very thankful for their willingness to help. We have exactly two days to empty the 40 foot container. Approximately 1/3 of the contents is transported with local trucks and quickly loaded onto S/V "Siome"; Skipper Allan has offered to make an extra run to the islands with the sole purpose to drop off supplies. Ken Murphy, August volunteer will go with him and will be picked up by small plane from Lamap in order to catch his flight back to the States. Another third goes to the hospital in Port Vila and to the School of Nursing. Tomas Tokolole, president of the local LDS church has generously offered our project space to store the last 1/3 of the container until we have time to sort that out in the beginning of the month of October.
Rivendel finally sees her new chain, her new sail and the new solenoid to make our propane stove safe again, but unfortunately there is no time to replace either the chain or the sail and after numerous tries the new solenoid appears to malfunction. The hole in the water tank has been fixed, which required the entire fore cabin to be ripped apart, the aluminum water tank with a 100 gallon capacity to be cut open and a layer of epoxy resin to be applied as a liner. The "only" remaining problem is that the water is now undrinkable because of a heavy "epoxy" flavor.
In the meantime Dr. George Kornreich ENT surgeon and third time volunteer with our project has arrived with his wife Peggy, they will be on board of Rivendel this month and are helping where they can with the container and with getting Rivendel ready to sail.
S/V "Ranui", a 70 ft ketch from Auckland, New Zealand owned and skippered by Liane and Richard has arrived in Port Vila as well. This is Ranui's second season of volunteering with Project MARC; they will host the entire team of student doctors as well as supervising, experienced ER doc John McIntosh with his wife Elisabeth, both from Australia.
Siome is back on time from their quick drop of run to take on Rennie Malresres our ni-Van (native Vanuatuan) medical student plus ni-Van village health workers Vincent, VoiVoi and Welton for the trip to our new destinations: the Torres Islands and the hard to negotiate West coast of the large island Espiritu Santo.
Allan comes back from his short trip with a great story: in Banam Bay he has, among other things, dropped of 20 of the bicycles. As mentioned in the August report these bicycles are to provide some income for the people and a committee to rent the bicycles out has been installed. Because of the hurried trip Allen and Ken only have time to drop the bikes on the beach at the end of the day and quickly go on to the Maskelynes while it is still light.
From a safe information source, we learn that the next morning, the bicycles are all gone from the beach and Chief Augst in charge of the "bike bizz" has one heck of a time to pluck the bikes out of the bush villages....
Siome and Ranui leave with their teams and instructions from "dokta Henk" on September 5. Rivendel follows a few days later (we still haven't managed to get the water drinkable and I have inherited the flue from the people on the wharf) on September 8.
Our Dutch neighbors Ellen and Jan from SV Witchcraft solve our water problem by donating a filter that takes care of the ill taste and I have recovered enough to be on my way again. We stop over at Ambrym, to meet with Pam Hilbert the Park City dentist who is working in the Fire Mountain clinic for a week with her husband Robert. It makes me proud to see how many people have come to use her services. We now have a dental chair and Pam has her own room with light, to treat her patients.
News comes over the radio that "dokta Henk " has a bad case of malaria. At first we are a bit confused until we understand that this is a baby named "Dokta Henk" in Banam Bay.... Baby Dokta Henk has in the meantime recovered fine with good treatment of the Project MARC doctors.
On to the Torres islands now, exciting to sail to a new area! We need to make an emergency sail repair when just underway, right below Pentacoste Island, then have a great trip, and arrive two days later in Picot Bay of Hui island, the most Northern part of Vanuatu and not that far from the Solomon islands. It feels like we are near the end of the world, this is definitely the most isolated part of Vanuatu. The medical teams on Ranui have already gone to work and are treating many patients in the aid post of the largest village of Yugavigamena. When we arrive there the next day (on Siome, the anchorage is just too small to contain three boats) we are anxiously awaited by the Chief and aid post worker Margaret.
Henk and George visit the aid post and give instructions and Peggy and I go to the small school. We are pleasantly surprised: this island, remote as it is, is "self contained". The aid post is clean and the aid post worker more than capable. The school is wonderful though they have practically no supplies. All children here are going to school without exception. When I ask about the school fees, the teacher laughs: nobody in this village has any money, the copra boat only comes once per year and for the coconut crabs (picked up by a small plane from a neighboring island) they get largely paid with flashlights and batteries.....
So, if nobody has any money, why charge school fees....? The headmaster gets a salary from the government and the other teacher works pro Deo! I am impressed. The entire village shows good care: people are clean, they speak English very well and they are relatively healthy. A meeting with the chiefs produces a proposal for the government requesting a boat.
With a boat they will be able to go to the island of Loh. Loh has a store, an airstrip and a clinic. At the moment they make the 4 hour crossing over open sea by canoe. One family has lost three sons during these extremely risky passages. We promise to forward the proposal to the government. All of the students, doctors and skippers make personal promises to send some of the most needed supplies later on by plane. That is all Project MARC can do to help the people on this unearthly beautiful island. There is no need to make major improvements to the health care infrastructure here.
A beautiful farewell luncheon is prepared for us and there are the usual presents for Henk and me. Peggy and George have brought a large number of brand-new children's T-shirts. They are distributed in the school making for a smile on each little pretty face. Liane has made the women very happy by bringing laundry soap, fabric and rice for the people and though we know we will probably not be back here we are thankful to be able to give just a little bit of help.
Peggy and George and Henk and I are starting the long walk back to the other side of the island where we have left Rivendel in Picot Bay in the care of the yacht S/V "Journeyman".
Before we leave, Peggy and I decide to snorkel the reef in Picot Bay on a windswept afternoon. After we have tied up the dinghy to the sharp coral and get into the water, both of us pop up at the same time with a big smile on our face: this is incredible, by far the best reef we have ever seen!
The next leg to the West Coast of the big island of Espiritu Santo (called "Santo" by locals) is a treacherous part of the trip: it is upwind, the trades are still stronger than normal and the marine charts of this area are unreliable. All three boats come to Hayter Bay on the island of Tegua the next morning for a meeting. Here we are: Ranui (Maori for "rising sun"), Siome (Japanese for "two currents coming together") and Rivendel (Elfish for "last safe place on middle earth") where there is still good food, good music and peace......
We have a wonderful meeting, cramped together in Rivendel's cockpit and decide on leaving as soon as the weather permits. Richard will get a weather forecast and we will go from there.
Early afternoon the forecast is for 20 to 25 knots of wind from the southeast.
Ranui and Siome both decide to go (they have large engines and can power against the waves and the wind if necessary). Rivendel decides to wait and make a decision the next morning. George has been weakened by seasickness all through the trip and we don't want to take unnecessary risks. The next morning the forecast calls for 17-20 knot SE and we decide to give it a go. Via the Iridium satellite phones we are in contact with both the other boats and Richard reports "no wind" at the top of Santo.... From Siome no news.
The 18 knots we never see, from the start it blows around 25 and Rivendel has a hard time, especially when the waves are becoming monstrous and very confused. Midocean and midnight we have another break in the sail but are again successful to make the repair. We are very focused and very tired, Henk and I being at the wheel almost constantly. George is very seasick, no wonder with these conditions. After 36 hours of beating into big seas, we are about twenty miles from the tip of Santo when the weather further deteriorates: the wind is picking up to 30 and the sea is a wild one with high crashing waves. We can no longer safely proceed and risk the chance for more damage. Although this is tough for everyone ‘s morale we decide to turn around, run with the wind, reduce sail further and simply sail back to Tegua. What has taken us 36 hours of constant bashing into high seas, takes us only 12 hours to "fly" back. Just when we are ready to anchor at first light, the engine develops a problem and we have to once more run out to sea under sail. It is still blowing 25-30 knots and our morale is below zero. Within 45 minutes Henk has repaired the engine down below (a blockage in the fuel line!) and when we finally anchor we are exhausted.
Later we hear from Richard that Ranui only saw "no wind" for a short period of time and then also got hammered by strong winds and big swells. Siome reports a similar story. Both vessels go further down to end up in the anchorage of Wusi village where there is good shelter from the winds but the ocean swells are still so high that the Red Baron, the project's dinghy, has trouble landing in the surf, taking some of the young doctors a bit out of their comfort zone. They too are exhausted from the trip, the rolling anchorage (no sleep at night) and the risky situation.
From there the vessel crews and field teams nonetheless do their work, evaluating several villages in the bush higher up in the mountains and finding conditions here that we have not encountered in Vanuatu before. Virtually no medical treatment here because of the long distance to the nearest aid post and some 60-70% of the children do not go to school because of the same reason. Bad water and poor hygiene are the cause of too many young children dying from infections and diarrhea. Moreover, the numbers of TB and malaria cases are alarmingly high and so is the percentage of STD's.
Besides carrying out community health evaluations, using special questionnaires designed by us, primary care is provided as much as possible. In a few days time, Project MARC teams treat more than 300 patients here, sometimes staying in the villages overnight by using the camping equipment that we have purchased for these situations. As hoped, our ni-Van volunteers play an indispensable role because of their familiarity with Vanuatu customs, languages and lifestyles. All vessel crew and field teams are doing an incredible job. We have been incredibly fortunate this season to have so many capable, dedicated and gentle team members!
All indications are, however, that we have only uncovered the tip of the iceberg here. Provided our colleagues at the Vanuatu Ministry of Health agree with our evaluations and assessments SW Santo is likely to become an area where our teams will be working the remaining four years of the MOU. If so, we will need to adapt some of our proven logistic tactics for purely vessel-based operations to start including some land-based transport tactics as well. Fortunately, Phase II of our Operational Plan provides for the use highly mobile medical clinics, the first prototypes of which are already under construction at the Hope Alliance headquarters in Salt Lake City .
Throughout the heat of Ranui's and Siome's battles in SW Santo, Rivendel is alas stuck in the Torres island group, waiting for the wind to go down, but it never really does. Although we are staying in regular contact with Ranui and Siome via the Iridium satellite phone Henk and I are thoroughly frustrated by the fact that we are unable to accompany the field teams in SW Santo ourselves. Moreover, George is still not well and is rightfully concerned about not making it back to Vila in time to catch his flight. Using the Iridium phone we are able to make reservations for him and Peggy for a small plane leaving from the island of Loh. Loh seems to have a guesthouse and a phone. In case the plane cannot land because of bad weather (George and Peggy are both pilots!) we have a backup plan: Harold, the pilot who flew Kalsal to the hospital last year, is willing to come and pick them up from Loh.
We sail to Loh the next morning and drop George and Peggy off by dinghy. The locals (only 70 people on this island) are very excited to see them and immediately offer to carry their bags and bring them to the "airstrip".
We can only hope the plane will come...
The rest of the story can be put into a few words: seven days of a constant 25 knots and towering waves. Little sleep, little to eat, black squalls and white squalls, but neither of us really minds. We've become better adapted and our bodies feel strong. We have a feeling of great accomplishment when we finally sail Rivendel safely into Port Vila harbor.
Skipper Richard's comments: could be the roughest seas Ranui ever sailed since it was the first time ever that our TV came flying through the cabin.......
Skipper Allan's comments: first time I've seen the propeller out of the water....
During this last month a second group of some thirty eye patients and caregivers were transported on Siome, this time from several anchorages on Ambrym island to the Central Hospital Port Vila, unfortunately also under very rough conditions with most of the patients getting seasick. Allan and Martha (plus Jean-Paul!) deserve a medal for accomplishing this! Nearly all patients do undergo eye surgery for the cataracts or pterygia which are threatening them with blindness and are, while I am writing this, back on their island.
I am finishing this report at home, back in the mountains of Utah. Both Siome and Ranui are underway to their New Zealand homeports again.
Rivendel II has been taken out of the water (she rests in a special cradle during the cyclone season) and is waiting for our return next season. We miss her already and when I look out of the window I not only see the trees move but the deck too.... It is tough to be a landlubber again!
Nelleke

PS I:
If you would like to see the actual Project MARC evaluation report for the Torres Islands and SW Santo, please do not hesitate to ask for a copy.

PS II:
Our special thanks go to the assisting vessels and their core crews:
First of all: "Siome" and "Ranui", without your invaluable support none of us could have accomplished what we have this season!!
SV "Siome", Allan, Martha and Jean-Paul: thanks for the many trips and for transporting and caring for the eye patients
SV "Ranui", Liane, Richard, Katrina and Semya: thanks for hosting the medical team and for spoiling Henk and me
SV "Makalii", Cam and Marilyn for providing specialist care
SV "Aju" Fons and Louisse for collaborating with Project MARC while preparing to provide medical care in Olal for a year
SV "Witchcraft", Ellen and Jan, for the water filter and for transporting school supplies to Ambrym
SV "Journeyman" for babysitting Rivendel
SV "Siddiqui" for moral support and weather information
SV "Shadowfax" for repairing the radio in the Fire Mountain Clinic
SV "Alice Colleen" for providing weather info and installation help with the SSB radios in the clinics
SV "Cormorant" for your continuing willingness to help Project MARC