Arriving at Kapuna...

I met a man on the plane into Port Moresby who was very excited to welcome me to PNG and who seemed impressed I was headed for Kapuna. He repeatedly told me how remote it is, how isolated, how remote, how he's never been there 'cos its so remote....etc. I got the picture - I was headed for the wops! After a good night in Port Moresby (didn't see much of it really), I was back at the airport for my flight to Wabo - the closest open airstrip to Kapuna at the moment. Once we eventually left it was awesome to get a bit of an idea from the sky of the size of PNG - big! 7 million people the man from the plane informed me, highest mountain is over 4000m and of course, more languages than you can poke a stick at. I did try out a bit of pidgin which worked well, but everyone seemed to speak such good english it didn't come naturally for them to slip into Pidgin with me.

So, arrived at Wabo - an airstrip in the middle of the jungle and was met by Ps Michael and his wife Ester, a local couple who were to be my escorts down the river. There's not much i like more than hooning down a river in a boat so I was feeling very at home as we loaded into a banana boat and set off. I had heard it was an 8 hr trip but they reassured me it was only 3-4 hours......when it started getting dark and we still weren't there I figured black mans time works here just as much as it did in Vanuatu! But, my boys had me covered and as it got dark out came the spotlight, and we kept speeding into the night! At one point, heaps (maybe hundreds) of flying foxes were circling above us coming out of the jungle, just as the sun was going down, and a few crocs started poking their heads above the water!! My local guides were very good at spotting the crocs, and filling me in on all the activity along the river (different company bases who are mining, or who want to build a hydro dam....etc). Pretty much an awesome way to start this adventure!!!

 Other river traffic on the way down the Purari River. I was in a banana boat...

 Ps Michael with the juice, Skipper behind and Warwick beside Michael. Ace croc spotter!

Far right is the kindergarten classroom, patient kitchens in the background and one of the wards on the left.

Eventually some lights started appearing on the banks of the river and we turned up a side creek which led us into the Kapuna grounds. It was awesome arriving at night with lots of lights guiding the way in. Kapuna is way bigger than I imagined - it is just a hospital but quite extensive. There are wards, a TB ward, girls and boys dorms for the nurses and nursing students, family kitchens organised in language groups for family members of patients, a church, classrooms for children (3 levels) ,a discipleship training area, office, library and a bunch of houses for everyone. So much bigger than I thought. Electricity for only a few hours each night. It was great meeting people who i have been in email contact with and making connections of people we all knew from NZ. Great crew here.

I have been given a day's grace to get settled before getting into work tomorrow. Still not sure what that is exactly so that will have to be in the next update. I am feeling daunted though - the village Ps Michael comes from has a school with 100 students from grade 1-8 with only one teacher. Many other schools in the area have buildings but no teachers so have closed down. Eek! There is LOTS to do!

So, I need some prayers that I will have something useful to offer these guys and that I settle in well to the lifestyle here at Kapuna. I think I am going to be fine!!