Betty, age 17, joins a medical mission in Papua New Guinea

A week ago, Betty was squeamish about getting a needle. Yet, last week, Betty joined a medical team on a motor yacht called Golden Dawn. She will be on the boat for two weeks. The boat left Kavieng, Papua New Guinea (PNG) to visit villages on New Hanover Island. The team includes doctors and nurses from New Caledonia, local nurses from PNG, and the boat crew including a wonderful PNG chef named Steven.

Buoyed by the group’s energy, expertise and support, Betty has performed eye exams, distributed books and eye glasses, read to a classroom and assisting the nurses and doctors. She is also learning about water and how to build bamboo toilets.

Leading the medical mission is Marine Bayer. She is a nurse, mother, author, and France’s first female combat helicopter pilot. A story in Vanity Fair describes Bayer’s role in coordinating a helicopter rescue of hostages on a cruise ship called Le Ponant.

Bayer founded AidOcean, with the intent to help disadvantaged people. The motor yacht, Golden Dawn, is chartered by AidOcean to reach people in remote areas on PNG.

Golden Dawn, Betty sleeps in a bed in the cockpit

This is AidOcean’s second visit to PNG. The PNG 2023 mission will last six weeks. However, the medical crew that is on the boat now will leave after two weeks, and a new team will arrive.

The vaccination rates in PNG are among the lowest in the world. In PNG, leprosy, elephantiasis, polio and malnutrition are present health concerns. AidOcean is bringing medical care to people who would not otherwise have it. For local people, the risk to travel is great.

Local people travel long distances (sometimes hundreds of miles) by ‘banana boat’ to buy supplies, food, and fuel.

Travelling by banana boat in flat seas to a nearby destination

Sometimes the banana boats run of fuel, sink or meet with pirates who seek to steal their goods. In 2022, AidOcean encountered a drifting banana boat with ten people aboard, including 4 children. They required food, fuel and water. This sort of situation happens regularly. As recently as a few weeks ago, 14 people were lost at sea.

Betty is learning new things everyday. She is visiting people where fresh water is a concern. People rely on rainwater and when that runs out they resort to using water that may be contaminated. The need for eyeglasses is so great that, this week, more people asked for glasses than could be supplied. The distribution had to be prioritized so that school teachers received glasses while others had to go without.