PAPUA NEW GUINEA’S QUIET HEROES

Garry Juffa (R) with some public servants. 

By Gary Juffa

Papua New Guinea’s true heroes are the loyal hard working public servants who toil away in some of the most difficult conditions on earth to serve their people. Criticized by many in Papua New Guinea, including leaders and the general public, the negative perception of their services are certainly no secret. 

Certainly bad apples abound. No doubt. Civil service anywhere in the world has its own share. Of course there are instances when one feels like they are hitting their own heads with a hammer when one deals with civil service in Papua New Guinea. The danger of acquiring stomach ulcers and suffering stress related ill health just interacting with PNG public servants is very high. There is much nodding and sounds of agreement for sure from readers who have all at one time or another fought the temptation to scream and become violent although there are many stories of those who simply could not hold back and destroyed property or some poor public servant. 

Wastage of time, lack of lateral thinking and consideration, laziness and shabby presentation and appearance are disgusting aspects of the civil service that we have all at one time or another confronted when dealing with the public service machinery. 

But let us look beyond that and you will find some real heroes. It can be done when one removes the obstruction of narrow mindedness that all humans invariably possess (yes, look hard enough, you will find it there, hiding in plain sight, usually next our good friend Ego!), I put my hand up, guilty as charged, firing off at the hip sometimes without first analyzing the facts. For this I have paid the price many times but I am still unlearned although I am striving to correct this horrible habit. 

"Hard working public servants??" Incredulous tones are heard! "Rare creatures!" you say automatically but yes, they are there. They are those who work quietly away with little or often no recognition, toiling to deliver the best possible service they can muster with the challenging circumstances they are forced to work in. They live in atrocious conditions, earn a paltry meager sum and are forced to accommodate their children in dingy settlements or remote villages with no potable water or electricity. 

We all know of these heroes. These are the real heroes of Papua New Guinea. The heroes who save lives, who deliver some form of public service that whilst perhaps inadequate in some instances, is something that simply keeps this nation afloat. It is easy to look at what is not being done by those who are supposed to do it, but let us look at what is being done by those who sometimes possibly do not have the means to but do so! Somehow this nation that was dismissed by many upon obtaining its independence by not a few “developed” economies including its former colonial administrator, manages to move along because of these people, these humble civil servants, these true “heroes”. 

I met a few of these great guys recently in Popondetta. Doctor Matupi Apaio and Doctor Paki Molumi who are surgeons living and working in Port Moresby are two of my “heroes”. Their story is remarkable and heartwarming. It is a breath of fresh air to hear their stories of true humanity as opposed to the deluge of bad news we are inundated with in our lives daily in Papua New Guinea. Not content to wait and serve patients in Port Moresby, they were instead flying around PNG and meeting them in their provinces and treating them. In many instances, providing a new lease on lives for many souls, giving them precious time with their loved ones. They are part of a team of 20 Papua New Guinean surgeons based in Port Moresby who are expected to serve the population of Papua New Guinea’s 7 million. With only 3 operating theatres and an operating allowance of one day per surgeon, the turnover of cases is perhaps the most inefficient in the region, perhaps even the world. When the operating theatres are being used (and they are always being used) surgeons and patients wait anxiously. Surgeons are hopelessly frustrated and patients sometimes die waiting. Numerous efforts to highlight the need to increase the number of operating theatres to the powers that be appear to have fallen on deaf ears. 

I met Doctor Apaio and Doctor Molumi at the Girua Airport Popondetta, making their way back to Port Moresby last week. They were standing there in a small group speaking softly and smiling their great smiles as they awaited their flight no doubt satisfied at the joy of giving, giving time and services and saving lives. And no wonder! They had just saved 18 souls in Oro Province. 18 patients who would others wise have had to travel to Port Moresby and stand in the long queue of Papua New Guineans who are referred to Port Moresby for surgery, at great cost to themselves and family, waiting to be operated on in one of 3 theatres at the Port Moresby General Hospital, the nation’s major Hospital serving a population of 7 million, with only 20 surgeons who have only a day each to perform a procedure. Many die waiting to be treated. The operating theaters are always full. 

Unwilling to engage in these inhumane and impractical wait for the cumbersome PNG health care system to work, the Doctors had developed a concept of travelling out to Provinces to treat patients in their local Hospitals rather then wait for them to come to Port Moresby to stand in the “queue of possible no return”. They have even drafted a policy proposing that this effort be funded and promoted by the Health Department to save lives, ultimately this is supposed to be the primary purpose of any Government. This simple and brilliant life saving policy has been apparently ignored - dubious projects and scams seem to be more important than PNG lives that could be saved by some more operating theatres. Undeterred, these innovative PNG surgeons have persisted in keeping with the oath they signed to save lives and have come up with some funds even paying for some expenses themselves, to travel around Papua New Guinea and save the lives of their people. 

I am sure you will agree without hesitation, that these are true heroes. 

I am most grateful. They saved 18 of my people. 3 of which were certainly destined for the afterlife but have now received a new lease on life and they will be able to be around for loved ones for some time longer. 

Next year onwards, I am pledging to fund at least 4 trips every quarter so that these great heroes, may come to Popondetta and join our own local hero Doctor Gunzee Gawin Popondetta General Hospital CEO and his team of local heroes who work in the Popondetta General Hospital (often with little thanks) to treat my people who I do not want travelling to Port Moresby to stand in the “queue of possible no return”.