OPERATION PLES DRAI PAPUA NEW GUINEA DROUGHT

THE PNG AND AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCES WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE PEOPLE OF PNG DURING THE 1997 – 1998 DROUGHT

CARING FOR KOSIPE

THE Mission station of Kosipe in the Goilala district of Central Province is one of the saddest cases of the drought and frost which have devastated most parts of Papua New Guinea in recent months.

When dry conditions led to an environment ripe for fire no one in Kosipe, which is 110km North of Port Moresby and supports more than 1000 people, could have guessed the destructive power of an out of control fire could have on their community.

This week, Medics from the PNGDF Health Centre based at Taurama Barracks in Port Moresby, learned just how damaging the fire, which swept through the settlement in July, was.

After hearing about the destruction of more than 800 buildings and homes in and around the station the Medics were deployed to Kosipe, in Australian Army Black Hawks from the Townsville-based 5th Aviation Regiment, to provide medical checks to those people remaining in the area.

According to Bereina Diocese Brother, Phillip Kiso, most of the people who lost their homes have been forced to leave their communities and are dependent on the hospitality of family and friends .

Those who remain are too small or too weak to travel and depend on drought relief supplies for their survival.

"The frost combined with the drought have really hurt this place. We are very grateful that the PNGDF have come to just look at some of the people here and show that people on the outside do care for them," Br Kiso said.

Food supplies are carried into Kosipe, on foot, over an arduous route from Waitape which is more than a six hour walk away.

PNGDF Medic Corporal Noel Damar said most of the people have been surviving on Pandanus nuts, which brings on dysentery, but even these meager provisions were scarce due to the fires which continued to rage in the hill tops.

"I’m glad we got the chance to have a look at these people. We were able to give them a bit of advice and we even treated a few minor problems. Fortunately we’re trained very well and it was nice to make a small difference," Corporal Damar said.

The people of Kosipe still have a long road to recovery. Children are under nourished and poor personal hygiene complicates the effects of the frost, drought and lack of adequate food.

Most homes, with the exception of a few close to a mountain stream which runs through the station, were destroyed along with the mission house, church, convent and other administrative buildings.

By: Captain Chip Henriss-Anderssen - November 10 ,1997

Caring for Kosipe Picture Gallery.