Two months ago, a team of volunteers in Madang started preparing to climb Mt Kanagio on Karkar island, in the efforts to raise funds for the Madang Provincial hospital and Gaubin Lutheran Hospital.
Dr. Sammy Thomas of Madang provincial hospital said both hospitals are in dire need of medical equipment and other needed facilities and funds raised will assist the hospitals.
‘Friends of the hospital’ is a group of volunteers who got together to raise funds for Madang provincial hospital and Gaubin Lutheran Hospital on Karkar Island.
On Sunday, the volunteer group including EMTV’s Madang Correspondent Martha Louis climbed to the top of Mt. Kanagio. Martha recounted their quest.
We set sail on two boats for Karkar island last Saturday and arrived around 12 pm. We got on a truck and made a two-hour drive to Gamok village.
Gamok is the remotest village on the island and is located at the foot of Mt Kanagio which has the island’s highest peak, 1370 meters above sea level.
We were warmly welcomed by the villagers who hosted an appreciation ceremony. For the villagers, this was their first time to have guests in the village.
At 3 am on Sunday, we set out for the climb with 11 guides.
We walked at a normal pace in the first 15 minutes of the journey but our ability to endure the climb was tested as we ascended further. It tested our stamina and willpower to either give up or keep going.
Amongst us were three police officers, Madang’s senior provincial magistrate, including Dr. Sammy Thomas of Madang provincial hospital and Dr.Charles Kalana of Gaubin Lutheran Hospital.
Along the mountain track, we split into groups based on our own speed and physical fitness. The first group reached the summit at 8:30 am. The second cluster made it to the top at 9 am, and the rest of the volunteers all made it to the top by 11 am.
The 24 of us reached the summit and raised approximately K38,948.00, excluding personal donations from families and friends.
The Friends of the Hospital group was set up in 2020 to raise funds for Madang provincial hospital’s Cancer unit and Cardiac unit at the Accident Emergency unit.
They did the Mt Wilhelm Climb, raising K54 thousand kina which was used to purchase vital medical equipment for the two units at the provincial hospital.
