Wanakipa Health Centre has doubled in size thanks to MAF flights that delivered building supplies. But the remote clinic also relies on the air link to bring in essential stocks of medicine.
Story by Aquila Matit
One of Wanakipa’s schoolteachers, Kapo Kapia, knows a Mission Aviation Fellowship flight to remote areas can mean the difference between life and death.
She recalls the time her 12-year-old daughter Emelda was seriously ill with malaria in April 2020 and a MAF medevac transported her for treatment from Wanakipa to Tari.
“My daughter was diagnosed with malaria, and the bacteria went into her skull,” Mrs Kapia said.
“She almost lost her life. I prayed to God, and I rang MAF. For all of us here, MAF works to help us, it’s a big deal.
“We congratulate MAF because they are the only ones helping us to find small services such as they have in the towns. We get that through MAF’s service.
“I want to thank MAF for this too. My child had a bad condition, she should have lost her life, but MAF came.
“God has given knowledge to you people for healing and teaching we received. God has brought MAF to this ground. MAF, you have made it, and my child is now alive.”
People like Mrs Kapia, living and working in Wanakipa, an isolated community with no road access, are delighted at the growth in their local health centre.
Eric Lomba, the Officer in Charge of Wanakipa Health Centre, explained how MAF’s support had played a vital role in expanding the service.
“From 2022 until now, 2024, we’ve seen small changes come about through the health centre that remained open,” he said.
“MAF does very significant work for me with regards to the health centre. I have an extension building that has been constructed. The Hela Provincial Health Authority spent 750,000 Kina, and the building materials came through MAF from Mount Hagen.
“I appreciate MAF because if MAF was not there, this building, the extension to the health centre, would not have been able to be constructed. The people are happy we now have a labour ward and enough space to treat other patients with critical conditions.”
MAF pilot, Bridget Ingham, flew the materials for the extension of the health centre.
“And you can see that the health clinic has basically doubled in size because of the loads of materials we brought in,” she said.
Mr Lomba described the isolation of Wanakipa and the challenges in receiving support for further operations, clinical matters, and the supply of materials and medicine.
“This place is like a nomadic land, in that the people habitually move seasonally. When they prepare a garden in one place, they move, and the community moves with that mentality,” he added.
“So, the place is very remote, it’s hard to reach, and service comes in every few months. Our way of getting assistance, there’s not one form of road access, just air transport and just MAF - that’s how we live.”
So, the place is very remote, it’s hard to reach, and service comes in every few months. Our way of getting assistance, there’s not one form of road access, just air transport and just MAF - that’s how we live
The health centre’s normal operations continue as MAF flights bring in the medications to treat patients from the isolated community.
“For our drug supplies, I get them through MAF,” Mr Lomba added. “Malaria is common here and we treat this disease, but we only receive four boxes of tablets when its finished. So, I think that in terms of health, MAF is there and helps me,” he explained. “Therefore, I can save lives in this remote community.
“A father we wanted to send out, MAF responded, they came and got him. We sent him on a medevac. He went to Tari, stayed there, and died there. And thanks to MAF Tari base, we chartered a MAF aircraft again, and they brought our body back again.”