MAF has installed an extensive solar lighting system in a health centre in the remote Carteret Islands of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. Nurses who once used torches to help bring children into the world now have bright electric light for their life-giving work.
Story by Matt Painter
“I’ve been here for ‘donkey’s years’,” said Louisa Kumis, one of the Carteret islanders, a true local.
“I know exactly what the needs are on the island,” she said, explaining that a solar and radio installation by MAF is one “the main improvements and developments that has happened to the community.”
Louisa was outside the health centre on the evening that the lights were switched on for the first time, when village locals gathered in anticipation.
“They saw the lights and said, ‘Oh my gosh, now we can see the city lights around the hospital. What we normally see in town, we now have it on the island!’
“Everybody was just amazed and happy and so excited to see it,” said Louisa.
For Sister Bernice Kumis and the small team at the health centre, lighting their facility for basic functional work has long been a challenge.
“At first, when I came here, there was no lighting,” said Bernice. “I found it really hard. For two years, I’ve been using the torch for the mothers when they are in labour and give birth.
“For me, it’s something that I really feel embarrassed about, because when you use only the torch, you can pick a wrong thing in the dark.”
Karlos Sarunic was one of the MAF team that installed the game-changing solar lighting system. Having lived on the island for a week, he experienced the lack of light first-hand.
“In the bathroom at the back where there’s a toilet and shower, there was no light,” he said. “So, at nighttime, it’s pitch black.
“The main rooms in the maternity ward now have lights. Now they can have a plug-in steriliser. They’ve got 240-volt outlets and can get some basic medical equipment.
“There’s at least one guy on the island with asthma for whom they don’t have an actual oxygen concentrator. But now that that’s a possibility – they can actually get one.”
Karlos is passionate about the standard of work that MAF provides.
“We’re not going in, ticking a box and leaving,” he said. “What you’ll see in the work is absolute attention to detail and sustainability. These are not people that go out and just slap some solar panels on a roof to tick a box to say, ‘Cool, that’s working for now’. They put meticulous attention to the safety and sustainability of what’s being installed.
“In particular, Nason Lukio and Noah Siso put in an amazing amount of effort and attention to detail.”
Noah, a trainee technician, is often impacted during these solar and radio installs.
“I feel blessed to be part of this team,” he said. “Because when I go out and I see how people live, it’s really hard. My thinking turns to people in towns who have many privileges.
“But these people in remote areas are not like us, they don’t have this chance. They are unprivileged in areas of communication, lighting – this sort of thing. I can learn some things from this; learn to appreciate these people more.”