Lynn's Progress Report

Report from Lynn in Papua New Guinnea:

The official launch date for the immunization campaign was April 1 but nothing really launched. Nineteen of the 20 provinces are still in the planning stages.

The National Department of Health (NDOH) conducted a meeting with health officials from the 20 provinces last Thursday and Friday (3rd and 4th). Provinces are like states in the U.S., each with a governor. The meeting was a follow-up from a September, '07 meeting wherein all provinces were encouraged and challenged to start their campaigns in the first quarter of '08. Only one of the provinces, an island province, started its campaign and it started in March. The other provinces were instructed to come to the meeting prepared to submit their campaign dates. The dates for the National Capitol District (NCD), the area in which the Church will be serving, are going to be June 2-July 4.

I met with Priesthood leaders from the mission and the two Port Moresby districts last week. Brother and Sister Ward from Public Affairs were also present. The stake presidency from the Port Moresby Stake was unable to attend so I met with them this week.

I have reviewed a proposed organization with President Funake, chairman of the PNG Welfare Council, and with Brother Stebbings. They are both in agreement with the organization. A Specialist/Coordinator is being called who will be working with the local health officials in coordinating the Church's role in the social mobilization effort. He will be the liaison between the Church and the health officials. He will also coordinate our activity and report to the Welfare Council.


The letter of introduction of the Church was finally sent from NDOH to health officials at NCD. We will be meeting with the NCD people early next week to discuss what their plans are for social mobilization and to discuss how we can help.

The jingle was translated into Pidgin and Motu. Six Primary children practiced singing it this past week. We went to a recording studio today and produced five versions of the jingle and messages to cover broadcasts for the entire country. We invited the chairman of the NDOH social mobilization committee to drop by the studio and meet the children. He did so and was very pleased with what had been produced so far. He is a former radio broadcaster (20 years) for NBC here in PNG. We will deliver the recordings to selected radio stations next week. I was soooooo proud of our Primary children and the members we used for voice over messages. I thought they did a great job as amateurs in a professional business--the recording business. They tried to teach me Pidgin and Motu but some people are a little dense and I'm on of them.

Things are still moving alog--slowly, but in the right direction

Fish and Chips at Manley Beach

You can't visit Australia without going to the beach and having fish and chips. It was a beautiful day and an unbelievable view.

Jill on the Sydney Harbor Bridge

A popular thing to do in Sydney is to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Jill decided to do it. Here she is enjoying the view at sunset.

Koala Bear

Isn't she cute?

Ecidna

This is an Ecidna which is also called a spiny anteater. They have long noses to help reach down into termite hills for bugs. Their babies are called puggles.

Tasmanian Devil

This is a Tasmanian Devil. He kept running around and around, just like in the cartoons.

Baby Kangaroo

This mother kangaroo has her baby in her pouch. The baby is called a Joey. She let us get up close and feet her and pet her. She loves ice cream cones.

Mom and Jill at the Botanical Gardens

Here we are at the Botanical Gardens in Sydney looking across the harbor to the bridge and the Sydney opera house. For $165 you can walk up to the very top of the bridge. We decided not to do it. Instead, we spent a lovely day at the botanical gardens and then took a tour of the opera house. It was rainy for a while and then the sun came out. By the time we got home our feet were very tired. What a great day. Meanwhile, Dad is in Papua New Guinea working on getting the measles song translated and recorded this week. Things are going very slow there. He was scheduled to come back on Tuesday, but had to change his reservation and stay a few more weeks. Gotta get it done before he leaves.

Welcome to Sydney

Jill arrived on Sunday morning and it was two hours before she came out of customs and immigration. I was very glad to see her. She stayed awake for church (all three meetings) and right up until evening. The next day she was all adjusted to Australia time and we started having fun.