Medical Missions

To begin, this post is not for the faint of heart. If you’re squeamish, don’t read this.

               

In the Wahgi Valley in New Guinea live a people known as the Kudjip. The Kudjip number about one hundred thousand, and six nurses, two medical assistants and several “doktor-boys” are assigned to help them all with their medical care. The doktor-boys run small aid posts through the valley.

               

The first task of these officials is to educate the people in basic health care. The people of the valley apparently love the white bandages the missionaries provide to them, so they will frequently arrive with small sores so they can decorate themselves with the bandages. However, when a person is really ill, they wait until the patient is nearly deceased and then come to the clinic for help. But if the relatives realize the person they brought is unlikely to recover, they won’t let the ill person stay in the clinic, but take him back home where they sacrifice pigs  to appease the evil spirits that are making the person ill. Because of that practice infectious diseases are spread quickly and easily.

               

One of the other problems among the Kudjip people is the lack of hygiene. They don’t use soap and water (which doesn’t sound too bad) but rather cover themselves with pig fat to keep warm.  But they won’t wash off the old and dirty pig fat before applying new. This can lead to all kinds of serious infection, and scabies are common in that area. WARNING: DO NOT GOOGLE SCABIES.

               

Violence is common, and superstition is a way of life. Pregnant women go into the bush and make little houses for themselves where they stay until the child is born. There’s no sterile environment so infantile and maternal mortality rates are high. The tropical climate is rich with malaria and tropical ulcers, and the banana leaves the people use as bandages only help provide a dark, warm, moist environment for bacteria to grow. Without the medical mission work, many more people would still be dying of things that are quick fixes and lives would go to waste.