Sephreid’s training as a community health worker in Papua New Guinea
In the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea, young people are trained as community health workers (CHWs) thanks to MAF. One of them is Sephreid Kuri from Duranmin – and he knows this training saves lives.
“I want to train as a health worker in order to support my family and my village,” says Sephreid. “Jesus too came to this earth to serve people and heal them – I want to carry on his mission.”
Duranmin lies in a remote region near the Kenu River – reachable only by a 12- to 15-minute flight, or after a two-day walk from the district centre of Telefomin. The CHW school there offers a two-year training course for students from various parts of Papua New Guinea. Many depend entirely on MAF flights to get to school.
Head teacher Maggie Dunn stresses that the training goes far beyond medical knowledge. “Our students learn to take responsibility in their home communities and to serve with expertise and dedication.” Training local professionals is crucial above all for remote areas like Duranmin: many government staff leave these regions because living conditions are too hard.
Sephreid sees for himself the changes MAF makes possible. “My forefathers travelled only on foot. But since there has been an airstrip and MAF has been flying, there are shops, a health post and a school. I was able to learn to read and write – and now to become a health worker. MAF is more than transport: it is a life-saving service. I pray that God blesses this mission, so that even more people are reached in the most remote regions of Papua
