Pacific Area Humanitarian Senior Couple Missionary Conference

Hans Sorenson, Pacific Area Welfare Manager, teaching us at the conference

Humanitarian missionary couples from around the Pacific gathered in Fiji for a conference. We came from Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu, and our supervisors from New Zealand. We learned so much. Discussing difficulties in the field and ideas from the other couples on how they have handled them was valuable. Their ideas can help us work through our challenges.

Day One:
Each country prepared a mock AWCM presentation to "Elder Cardon" for a current project we are working on. Tonga presented "Breath of Life" for 2 newborn ventilators. I will write further about this project when it is approved. It was fun to hear of projects others are working on, which can stimulate our thinking of new projects as well here in Tonga.

John McLean, Callum Blair, Riki Tukukino, Richard McLean, Rob Gordon

Pacific Assist was introduced to us. They are combining with Furniture for Schools to deliver other needed items to the Pacific islands. Currently they have secured electric hospital beds that can be delivered to the islands for the cost of shipping. Some of these are on the water at this time bound for Tonga, and we are expecting 200. Pacific Assist will also look for other hospital equipment which could be used in Tonga, as well as the other nations of the sea.


Hans Sorenson, Pacific Area Welfare Manager, gave a presentation on Tourist versus Local. This was very to the point. We are the tourists, we will be leaving. We have to be sure to have the Tongan viewpoint in our projects. They are the ones who will remain and will benefit from our projects. An example was made of a group of women who had to walk a mile or more for clean water. A project was implemented to bring water to the village so they would not have to walk so far for water. The new water facility was not used. The walk to the water source was a social need of the women. We need to be sure to have the input of the Tongan people in any project we propose.

Day Two:
We visited the Rehabilitation Hospital in Fiji and the Prosthetics Department. Dr. Dean Clark showed us around the prosthetics facility. He and his wife were humanitarian missionaries in Fiji before the Camerons. Dr. Clark is a podiatrist, and he concentrated on getting prosthetics in Fiji. He was successful.

LDSC has developed a prosthetic leg that is superior to the one provided from India. It is lighter, more flexible, and can be provided at a fraction of the cost in the States, $200 versus thousands of dollars. What a blessing for the Fijian people. We hope to be able to discuss these options with the new prosthetist who will be starting in Tonga in January. Hopefully we will be able to get a similar program here in Tonga with the aid of Dr Clark, the new prosthetist, and Ministry of Health.

Dr Dean Clark

 Arthur Perry (Tahiti), Luisa Vaifale (NZ), Silongo Simani (Tonga), Pinto Katia (Kiribati), Riki Tukukino & Richard McLean  (Pacific Assist)

We were taught by Diabetes Fiji. They have a very active group. We need to try to get Tonga's Diabetes Association more involved. We were also taught by a Seventh Day Adventist doctor. The healthy living standards for SDA are very similar to those of LDS. When this doctor was shown our Healthy Living Manual, Hans told him "Sorry it is so LDS oriented." He responded, "Sorry it is so SDA oriented." We will be contacting the SDA here on Tonga to see if we can partner in some projects related to diabetes and healthy lifestyles.

We visited the emergency container in Fiji. Monte enjoyed discussing the needs and uses of equipment in the container with the other men. Fiji said they did not even open their container with the floods post Cyclone Gita. The government and other agencies were on top of things so LDS Charities did not need to provide this time, but they are prepared when needed. In Tonga, we used all our tarps and plastic, and our chainsaws were in constant demand.

Day Three:
We made a keyhole garden for the Samu Masiuala family who live near The Pearl, the resort where we stayed. We walked across the bridge to their home.  Sam Williams, Pacific Area Farm Manager, had already delivered the materials we needed to build the garden. Samu was very pleased with the new garden space. He promised to plant the vegetables within a week. These will provide good nutrition to his family. The garden is right beside the home for easy access to vegetables.

Luisa Vaifala with Samu Masiuala and his children

           

Sister Debra Roundy (Vanuatu)

We stayed at the Pearl Resort, about an hour from the airport in Suva. We did not have a chance to do any shopping in Suva or traveling about the area. Our days were packed with learning! We loved the conference and feel we can implement some of what we learned into our mission in Tonga.

Fiji Suva Temple

We did however go to the temple with the Camerons (Scott and Pam from Carstairs, Alberta) who serve in Samoa on Wednesday night before the conference began. We shared the cost of a taxi, $150, so we could attend a session at the Suva Fiji temple.

Elder and Sister Thomson with Silongo Simani

Silongo Simani is our Country Welfare Manager. Silongo has much experience in materials management and has many contacts that will be helpful to our humanitarian team.

Silongo recently took over from Faka'osilea Kaufusi. Brother Kaufusi is staying on as a volunteer and will continue to work with us. He also has many local contacts who help us with our work. Kaufusi was sick for nearly the whole conference so we did not get a picture of him.

Don/Ralene Bills, Hans Sorenson, Sam Wiliams, Luisa Vaifale

I have to include a picture of our New Zealand team. They made this conference possible. Hans and Elder and Sister Bills are our supervisors. We have a question and they answer it. They are a wealth of information. It is to them that we present our projects. They go over the projects and present them to the area presidency for approval. They make things happen! We love them.


Sam Williams is the area farm manager. Luisa Vaifale is the administrative assistant. She runs the office! We have a question, she gets the answer.