The Narrabri Rotary Club has enabled a nurse from the Solomon Islands to undertake a rare training opportunity at hospitals in the Australian bush.
Leaving the tropical rainforests and volcanic mountains of her home island ‘Malatai’ far behind, Emmy Tutua recently completed a month long training program on the dry slopes and plains of north west NSW.
She worked at Narrabri and Tamworth hospitals, gaining experience in maternity, paediatrics, community health care and aged care.
While Emmy specialises in maternity and paediatrics, the concepts of community health and aged care do not exist in the Solomon Islands.
She accompanied a midwife from the Narrabri Hospital to conduct antenatal check ups in communities around Wee Waa and Pilliga, but the challenges faced in remote areas of Western NSW pale in comparison to the conditions in hospitals on small island villages.
Where she usually works there is no electricity, limited medicine and basic instruments.
In cases of emergencies, patients are transported in a small 20 foot boat which takes several hours to reach more sophisiticated hospitals on larger, nearby islands.
While the conditions are vastly different on ‘Malatai’, medical principles remain the same, and Emmy has gained valuable experience.
In soft, broken English, she described her desire to expand her knowledge in the medical field.
“In Solomon we have less facilities, and I just wanted to see what’s happening elsewhere so I can have a broader idea and go back and improve on what we have,” she said.
“We haven’t got aged care, and also the machines here, we haven’t got anything like that in the Solomons, in the big hospital they have, but in the communities where I work there are no machines, especially for taking pulse and blood pressure and temperature.
“I would like others to come out to experience how you work here.”
The project has been several years in the making for Narrabri Rotary Club, but the stars aligned when International Rotary were able to link Emmy to a host branch.
President of the Narrabri Rotary Club, Bruce Pyke, said it was a rewarding experience for both Emmy and Rotary.
“Training is a big issue over there, they get some basic training but it’s really worth while for them to come out here and get some training in our hospitals,” he said.
“I think the principles are very much the same, their equipment is much more basic obviously, but the knowledge is valuable wherever you can apply it and I think the extra knowledge she picks up here she will use over there.
“There are a whole range of opportunities that Rotary can be involved in and this happened to be one, she put her hand up to get some extra training and we decided it was something rotary could help with.
“She’s married with three children, so it’s a big thing for her to come over here for a few weeks.”
Narrabri Rotary organised Emmy’s accommodation in the nurse quarters at the Narrabri Hospital, and covered the cost of travel and food during her stay.
Another Sydney based Rotary Club covered remaining costs such as her airfares.
Rotary member, Wayne Wheeler said Emmy’s time in Narrabri had been particularly valuable.
“There was a baby in here yesterday with a bad chest infection and she learnt two or three new skills, so she was tickled pink with herself,” he said.
This year Narrabri Rotary also initiated the building of a small medical facility in the Solomon Islands.
Mr Wheeler estimates the 20 metre by 90 metre building will cost over $100,000 to build.
While Narrabri Rotary submitted the project proposal, International Rotary covers the majority of the cost.
Previously, Narrabri Rotary also helped a small school in Vanuatu replace the roof which had been damaged by a nearby volcano.
