We held a Macmillan Coffee Morning in Ofasa Village, Coastal Region, Papua New Guinea on Friday September 27, 2013: is there a family that has not been touched been cancer? The School has lost both Dr Gina Burrows and Librarian Mike Morris in recent years. Fortunately, our (treatment is always a family affair) outcomes were successful thanks to a fantastic NHS and the support and assistance of Macmillan who help relieve the dreadful experience of radiation therapy. Ofasa and Pukari are unmapped villages (much of PNG remains accurately mapped) nestling amidst the sago swamps on the South West Coastal District. Our trip also took us to Alotau and Milne Bay - a port and interchange for the Trobriand Islanders, and Diocese of Mende in the Southern Highlands, where we stayed on a Roman Catholic Mission: the mission is relatively new (has barely celebrated its 50th anniversary) and taken responsibility not only for schooling, but running health clinics: despite the remoteness, HIV AIDS is now present in this part of the world for various reasons.
