"Community Collaboration Triumphs: The Olgeta Foundation's Journey to Deliver Hospital Beds to Papua New Guinea."

In a remarkable demonstration of community spirit and collaboration, the Olgeta Foundation is still navigating through significant logistical challenges to facilitate the delivery of the donated hospital beds to Papua New Guinea. This effort was made possible thanks to a generous donation from the Brisbane Royal and Women's Hospital and the invaluable assistance of Del Cole and her organization, 'Someone Who Cares.

'However, the donation presented unique challenges. We grappled with issues related to the collection of the beds, storage solutions, and delivery logistics, the hospital assisted where they could assisting with delivering the beds to us over a week and this collaboration with them was a great experience however there is much more needing to be done to get the beds to PNG. Immediately what to do with so many hospital beds being released to us in a short period of time? You could say there was definitely a time there when we were getting desperate for solutions.

The real turning point came when Craig connected with Del Cole, the director of 'Someone Who Cares' – an Australian non-profit organization. This small, dedicated team, comprising of Del, Davin, and Roz, is known for their two decades of dedicated service in aiding Papua New Guinea and other Pacific/Asian nations through donations to schools and hospitals. They stepped in to offer a helping hand.

Craig De Wit with Del Cole, the director of 'Someone Who Cares'

In an act of extraordinary generosity, they provided a truck for transporting the beds from the hospital, when the hospital couldn’t, as well as collecting from afar nearly two tonnes of donated bed linen and helping to wrap and package it, they assisted with purchasing containers, and gave us priceless advice along the way. This contribution was not just logistical but also significantly enhanced the overall success of this part of the project. We are very thankful for the help by these amazing people.

The other challenge was to fill 40ft containers with the beds, each weighing 145 kg, and we desperately needed help. Our young PNG ambassador, Murray Thistlethwaite, took action and called for assistance via social media. We were overwhelmed by the number of young people who turned up to help which included Sonia Thistlethwaite, Alida Thistlethwaite, David Thistlethwaite, Kieran Maskelyne, Ryan Maskelyne, Tatiana Belapuna, Howard Yanda, Francis Ikupu, Frank Kabalu, Haresh Ramanan, Isabella Asnicar, Mary Kowas, Conila Kuk, Sean Lamur, Ju-Ho Lee, Alorah Puritau, Ruth Kawale and our boy’s Julien and Alex de Wit,  their friend Jenco (the Gentle Giants) and many others.

Even Murray’s Aunty and Uncle got involved! Further Craig’s niece, Jana and her husband Lachlan Walker allowed us to store the containers on their property whilst we loaded them with the beds. A heartfelt thank you to every one of you.

The success of this endeavour would not be possible without so many people coming together to help make it happen, hence our Foundation name “Olgeta” a pidgin word literally meaning all together.

Now we will be focusing our efforts on shipping the containers to PNG and planning distribution to the outer islands where these beds are most desperately needed.

The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH)donates 197 hospital beds to the Olgeta Foundation

The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) has chosen to donate 197 hospital beds to the Olgeta Foundation LTD for delivery to Papua New Guinea. This significant contribution stems from a collaborative effort between RBWH and the Olgeta Foundation, led by Dr. Ken Thistlethwaite, the Medical Director of Hyperbaric Medicine at RBWH and the Director of the Olgeta Foundation.

This donation of hospital beds addresses a critical need, particularly in remote villages where healthcare infrastructure is lacking. Currently, patients in these areas receive treatment on woven mats on the floor, underscoring the urgent need for proper medical equipment. This act of generosity not only underscores RBWH's dedication to global health but also reflects the personal commitment of charitable organizations such as the Olgeta Foundation.

The 197 hospital beds are poised to make a significant difference in enhancing the quality of care and medical services available to the local population in Papua New Guinea. Collaborations and acts of kindness like these play a crucial role in bolstering healthcare infrastructure and providing support to communities in need. This initiative serves as an inspiring example of the positive impact achievable through partnerships between healthcare institutions and foundations committed to improving global health outcomes.

Moreover, this act of generosity not only delivers tangible support in the form of essential medical equipment but also signifies the broader commitment of healthcare institutions and charitable foundations to the advancement of global health. The effects of such collaborations extend beyond the physical donation, fostering hope, well-being, and a sense of community support in the recipient regions. Initiatives like these indeed serve as inspiring models for the positive change attainable when organizations and individuals unite with a shared goal of fortifying healthcare infrastructure and contributing to the welfare of communities in need.

First two weeks of the AidOcean Mission 2023 in collaboration with Olgeta.

The night of the 17th of October, Golden Dawn arrived in Kavieng from Port Moresby a journey of nearly 900 nm and was warmly welcomed in a traditional manner by the Malagan People of New Ireland. The region of the expedition would be to the north of Kavieng and concentrate on the circumference of New Hanover, also know as Lovengai.

The first two weeks of the AidOcean 2023 Expedition concentrated in the region of Puas to Taskul as shown on the image.

One of the main purposes of the program was to carry out the routine immunization of children under 5, for most of the first two weeks many of the vaccines were not supplied to the New Ireland Provincial Health Authority, we hope future programs better organization will mean more efficient use of our services.

The vaccines include:

• PENTA ( Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b)

• M/R Measles & Rubella

• Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)

• Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV)

• Pneumococcal conjugate Vaccine (PCV)

• BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) against tuberculosis

• Tetanus

The routine medecine includes :

• Vitamin A

• Albendazole

While AidOcean could not perform 100% with the lack of vaccines much work was carried out, checking heath records was one of them. What was noticed… many more children than recorded in dire need of Immunization, Puas region alone over 1000?

AidOcean made some exploratory expeditions up some river systems and found there were a number of hamlets where there were children 3 years of age and under, which are not even recorded in health records.

Other health services carried out by the volenteers

3 Women Obstetric consultations, 20 control pregnancy consultations, 37 Birth control implants and 10 removals

50 Medical Consultations and 2 emergency surgeries carried out. Two of which were carried out at night in banana boats alongside Golden Dawn.

400 eye tests and 270 pairs of glasses given out

187 Dental consultations by the local dentist from NIPHA and 55 tooth extractions

19 villages covered in Puas Region of New Hanover.

20 Schools visited and 100 books given out supplied from Buks Bilong Pikinini

Four Agroforestry projects were worked on, it’s likely we will do more of these educational sessions in years to come as it will help the villages to maintain gardens and not continue slash and burn techniques and hence preserve the natural habitat and environment.

What has been abundantly evident to the AidOcean team is toilets and where villages are toileting is a major health issue and contributing to health issues and possible spread of diseases such as polio. Either too close to water ways or in some cases using the waterways as toilets.

The team have decided that here too a major change and education is needed to make pit toilets and this too will be a priority moving forward. Bambooloo has become the famous catch phrase.

Water quality checks have been carried out and educational’s on making filters to adjust the ph as well as how to make filters with charcol to improve drinking water quality.

The Golden Dawn returned to Kavieng to change out the Volunteers from AidOcean as well as the Health Workers from New Ireland Provincial Health Authority.

The mission will continue over the next month with more updates to follow.