We docked in Port Vila – Capital city of Vanuatu.

Ready to be turned away – for our attempts to deliver pain killers, surgical equipment, bluey pads, chord clamps and diarrhoea medication.

We were not turned away.  I suspect, in no small part thanks to the kindness of our Captain and Crew.  Someone may have suggested that it would be worthwhile to allow us to do the medical supply drop.

I have nothing to corroborate these suspicions, however…

We arrived, we followed protocol, and we were warmly welcomed.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking from this point.

We arrived:

And after arriving, our customs official called us a van.

We waited for a short time in the rain, to get whisked away to our destination, while all the other passengers battled with bartering and taxi drivers that caught their attention.  Our driver, William, came to the door and took us to the hospital.

And we delivered the donated supplies.

It was AMAZING!

 

And we made some new friends.

 

And we got to be a part of the very first day of a few lives… An awesome, and special experience that we’ll all cherish forever!

 

And life begins, much the same as it does in every other corner of the world… with a bit of weighing, a bit of APGAR: (Devised in 1953 by Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to assess the health of newborn children, immediately after their birth) and a WHOLE LOT OF LOVE AND CARE!

 

 

 

This wee man won his Apgar… 

In summary.

Not everyone gets a chance to experience this, and it was an honour and a privilege to be welcomed into this, the most intimate moment of most people’s lives.

Thank you Midwives for Vanuatu, for giving us an opportunity to be a part of it.

I hope with all my heart that there are people out there who want to help this cause to thrive, evolve and meet the ever changing needs of this amazing nation of Vanuatu.

Best 35th Birthday adventure ever….