S/V Hoku Pa'a Photos - Tabuaeran Part III, March 2006

...click on the small photos for larger versions...

Tabuaeran has three medical clinics, each staffed by a nurse who lives nearby or in the clinic itself. Here Nurse Nukai examines and treats a child.	The Kiribati government provides very little support to the far-away Line Islands, so the medical staff make do with very limited supplies.	A few wonderful folks donate their time and supplies to help the islanders. Carlton, seen with Nurses Nukai, Arote and Rena, has brought a huge load of medicines and eyeglasses to distribute.
The three clinics now have a much better stock of medical supplies. (yes, the crooked shelf later was fixed)	Carlton brought several hundred pairs of eyeglasses donated through the Lions Club, which we distributed over four days at sessions held near different villages.	First we screened each person who came to a session for their distance vision, using the 'E' eyechart. Some had excellent vision, but many were nearsighted in one or both eyes.
If Bjarne's screening showed problems with distance vision, the patient next saw Carlton who used a Refractometer to get each eye's prescription.	The patient then went to see Barb, who sorted through the hundreds of glasses to find the pair most closely matching the prescription, and that fit well.	It often took a bit of persistence and sometimes an interpreter's help to find the best pair of glasses. Barb had a toolkit with which to adjust the fit of the frames when 'out-of-the-box' didn't suit.
Rena and Carlton in the Aramari village clinic. Carlton is sporting his new lava-lava, made and embroidered by Rena.	We also distributed reading glasses. Rena in the background is trying on a pair.	Well, how does that fit? Tiigi-roi?
Another project was installing VHF radios, antennas, and solar panels to power them, at each of the clinics so the nurses could confer.	Nukai is speaking with Arote, using her handheld radio with newly-installed outside antenna. Thanks to Gordon West for making and shipping the cable and antenna so quickly!	Barb's wearing her new Kiribati-style blouse, made by Nurse's Assistant Teburenga.
The happy gang of nurses and volunteers who helped out with the eyeglass session at Aramari Clinic.	Another group of generous folks, Water For Life, stayed two weeks on Tabuaeran to build rainwater collection systems. Nukai stands in front of her new cistern that will supply clean water for the clinic.	Here's what some of the local wells look like (not all are this bad); the water they provide is brackish and occasioanlly contaminated.
In between some of the 'work', we sightsaw. Three locals offered to guide us on an hour-long bike ride that ended at this fantastically-shaped coconut palm!	We don't know what caused it to almost tie itself in a knot, but all of the adjacent trees were straight, so it wasn't the wind.	Goodbye, Tabuaeran!

S/V Hoku Pa'a 1000 DeCosta Pl. Victoria, BC Canada  V9A 6Y3

Go Back to Homepage