The second week of outreach was a big week of sailing. The initial schedule was for clinics to run all week on Woodlark Island however due to the wind and rough seas we were unable to sail to Woodlark over the weekend so instead we detoured to Kiriwina Island which was a very beautiful stopover. It is a blessing to be able to work in such beautiful places and admire Gods wonderful creation. We were able to do some swimming on Sunday and ran clinics on the beach on Monday.
Monday night we sailed to Woodlark and it was a rough night! After a very rocky ride everyone was tired on Tuesday and we had a few less people to run clinics due to sea sickness. Despite this it was a busy day at the clinics and it was only through Gods strength everyone was able to be seen and it turned into a very successful day. This first stop was not so scenic: murky crocodile infested waters and mozzies. After a fairly quiet couple of days we then sailed further around the island (which was another very rough sail) and anchored in an absolutely stunning location of white sandy beaches and the clearest bluest water we have ever seen (and Ben even saw a 2 meter wide Manta-ray). Despite the beauty it was more of a beach than a bay which made unloading the boats quite a challenge, virtually getting out in waist deep water with the waves wetting you through while carrying our gear overhead to keep it dry. Quite an adventure.
We spent the last few days at a few different villages and Angela was able to do some more in-services to health workers which was very rewarding. Another highlight was having the Ophthalmology team on board. The clinic was able to do 67 surgeries to restore people’s eyesight while reaching a milestone of the 1000th eye surgery that has been done on the ship.
Over the weekend we sailed 18 hours back to Alotau and had our celebration dinner on Saturday night. Our week between outreaches this week was again a time of restocking the ship as well as training for the leaders. A lot of the leaders and YWAM staff have now just changed over for the next outreach as they generally alternate 3 months on and off the ship. So it was a sad week as a lot of the friends we had got to know well headed off. Speaking of which we only have one more outreach and it is only 7 days long and we too will be leaving the ship for the next chapter of our trip.