Last week Motivation Australia’s (MA) Claire Ibell spent time on the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, providing support to our partners at the Northern Provincial Hospital as part of the Pacific Mobility Device Services (MDS) project.
Northern Provincial Hospital is Vanuatu’s second largest hospital, and has a great MDS team working hard to provide individuals with wheelchairs and walking aids. Claire joined John, Charlie and Johnny from the MDS team as they assessed an elderly gentleman, Jean Dominic, and provided him with a wheelchair after a recent fall left him with a very painful right leg. Jean Dominic was very happy with his new wheelchair which will allow him to move around his house and yard more easily.
The team also made preparations for a new 40 foot container of mobility devices which is due to arrive at the hospital in the coming months. The container has been generously funded by the Vanuatu Skills Partnership, and supported by the Vanuatu Society for People with Disability (VSPD). MA has assisted partners in ordering and finalising the shipment of equipment, and we are all very excited about its arrival. The new equipment will allow the Northern Provincial Hospital MDS team to meet the needs of many more individuals who require a mobility device.
MA would like to thank the Northern Provincial Hospital MDS team for their time and support during Claire’s visit. We would also like to thank Vanuatu Skills Partnership for generously funding the new shipment of mobility devices; and our partners in Vanuatu including VSPD, the Ministry of Justice and Community Servicesand the Ministry of Health.
The Pacific MDS project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP). Thanks to ANCP, we are able to support mobility devices services through the Northern Provincial Hospital, along with other locations in Vanuatu.