ROTARY CLUBS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
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Rotary Overseas Medical Aid Committee (ROMAC)






The Mission statement of ROMAC is "Reaching Out to Mend All Children".

The purpose of ROMAC is to bring children from under  developed countries to Australia for the medical operations which will in some cases save their lives, and in some cases restore their bodies and provide them with a dignified life.

For more information, contact the PNG Coordinator David Conn
Medical Enquiries : Prof John Vince, POMGH


(Post Courier Weekend Edition Fri-Sun 09th-11th February, 2001)
Rotary restores Olascar’s sight
ROTARY’S Overseas Medical Aid for Children has given young Olascar Numbos every reason to welcome the start of the New Year.  Without their intervention Olascar’s future would have been very bleak indeed. Today he is a happy child with a good future in front of him thanks, to Rotary and all who helped save his life. Identified by Dr Martyn Pannekoek at Vanimo Hospital, arrangements were being made through the Catholic Church and the Knights of St John in Brisbane, to send him to Australia for treatment. Olascar had been receiving treatment for a cancer growing behind his left eye, but required specialised surgery not available in PNG.

PNG’s ROMAC chairman, Dave Conn, referred the case to Queensland ROMAC’s Stan Shneider and Dr Darrell Price for acceptance as a ROMAC case and was quickly given the go ahead to make the necessary arrangements for the child’s transfer.  The first week in November is not only Melbourne Cup Day but also Boroko Rotary’s major fundraiser for the year. So after doing his duties as MC at that function it was a quick dash to the airport to accompany Olascar and
Emma to Brisbane enroute to Canberra, to hand them over to the local ROMAC representatives, Bryan Mason and Des Roberts. On November 9, radical surgery was performed by Dr Tim Sullivan at the St Andew’s Hospital in Brisbane with
great success and within four days he was allowed home.

Olascar was accompanied by his aunt, Emma Numbos and both were cared for during their time in Australia by Rotary carers, Reg and Joan Carmichael. All costs for airfares and medical costs were borne by ROMAC.

It was a busy year end for Rotary, with Mr Conn also being involved just before Xmas in medevacing Rotary volunteer, past District Governor, Ray Lambert, out of Aitape to Cairns after he encountered serious problems with a dislocated artificial hip.


 

Post Courier
Weekend-Edition Fri-Sun 16th-18th February, 2001

Priceless gift for Chris

CHRIS Pirimui of Mainika village, Buin in North Solomons will probably neverforget doctors Andrew Heggie and Tony Holmes of the Royal Children’s Hospitalin Melbourne, Australia. They repaired the 12-year old jungle boy’s badlytwisted face and restored his dignity, something many of us take for grantedbut which is priceless. 

Chris, like most shy Papua New Guinean children will have great difficultythanking the doctors and the staff of the hospital in Melbourne. He will havebeen tongue-tied and simply surveyed all those beaming faces in a spotlesssurrounding with glazed eyes. But there is no doubt he will tell the stories ofhis extraordinary adventure with unceasing gusto for many years to his oldage. This is because the opportunity to travel to a land like Australia can be thehighest point in his life. Even if Chris does not ever leave his village or see Bukaairport again, his trip to Australia will keep him satisfied for the rest of his life.

There are many more people he will never get to thank because their paths onlycrossed once. There was Glen Ludemann of the Peace Monitoring Group whodiscovered Chris, Barrie Cooper of Rotary Overseas Medical Aid for Children(ROMAC), and Port Moresby based Rotarian and businessman David Conn. Letthe people’s paper thank all these messengers of peace on behalf of Chris,whose home-coming took place around Christmas when most of us haddeserted the paper on holidays. But a good story is never too old to tell,especially when it is about light shining in a dark place.

Chris Pirimui had a severe tessier which meant he had a cleft running up fromhis mouth and upper jaw which was disfigured through to his right eye. It wasa condition he would have been born with, and although he never had a visionin his right eye, his left eye worked perfectly.After discovering him in the jungles of Buin, Glen who is president of RotaryClub Kangaroo Flat Bendigo rang ROMAC founder Barrie Cooper on his satellitephone. Barry then contacted David Conn for the local arrangements. Davidasked Glen to get the boy to Buka by helicopter and ROMAC PNG took over andarranged for the transfer to Melbourne. Chris was accompanied by his uncleJoseph Puipui, an elementary teacher in Buin. They were in Melbourne for fivemonths.The surgery to Chris’ face lasted five hours first time and several minor onesafter that. Mr Conn said it was a very difficult surgery and a very involving oneto perform because it involved cutting Chris’ jaw in several places. Before thesurgery Chris was not in any life threatening situation but the operation gavehim some proper facial function and restored his pride. Mr Conn said Chrislooked vastly improved after the surgery. Although his right eye remainedclosed, the cleft had been repaired and he looked a normal good looking lad. Histeeth was also straightened. 

The total cost to ROMAC was in excess of K20,000. There have been otherROMAC cases. Olascar Numbos from Vanimo had the cancer in his right eyetreated at Brisbane which also involved the Church and the Knights of St John.Mr Conn said there were several cases pending transfer but others includedyoung Mark Maipakai from Gulf who was treated for scoliosis (bending of thespine), Bradley Bola from Central, Ipa Kenafori from Mendi with a brainherniating between his eyes, and Pape Minape from Pajiaka in SouthernHighlands with severe burns to his head. The most famous case is the BosinSiamese twins who were successfully separated.

The world is full of magic. A sign in an office underlined this somewhatpoetically: If you don’t believe in magic, you won’t recognise it. Put it this way.When you see a nice flower, you instinctively pull it to your nose to sample itsperfume. The flowers that ROMAC members pull toward them are not always the freshestwhen you look at them, but like everlasting flowers, the joy lasts for ever. Nowthat’s a special kind of magic, isn’t it?You and I get to hear such stories and marvel at the goodness of humanhearts, but the angels get more, they get a special room in the heart of Chris.


 
 
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