Speak Out April 2013_FINAL_lo-res

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Speak Out April 2013 25
Feature
Iwonder how familiar you are
with Papua New Guinea (PNG),
Australia’s nearest neighbour?
In 2009 when it became apparent
that my husband Geoff and I would
be moving to Papua New Guinea, I
found so little in my speech pathology
journals that I gave away most of my
speech pathology texts and packed
my easel and oil paints instead.
We were making our move so that Geoff
could take up a role with Mission Aviation
Fellowship, a Christian mission that flies
tiny planes to PNG’s most remote bush
settings in the mountains and swamps of
this rugged young country.
To my surprise, from the first
week on, I have been receiving
invitations to offer my expertise.
As an older therapist, I have very
general experience, and practice
at making do with few resources,
which has been an advantage. I
volunteer at the local provincial
hospital, ‘living’ in the Physiotherapy
department. Physiotherapists are
trained at the Divine Word University
in Madang. I visit the wards and run
two outpatient clinics a week, one
in conjunction with the regional ENT
doctor. My caseload includes CVA,
voice, TBI, cleft palate, stuttering,
laryngectomy and ABI. I participate in
the early intervention group, and the
Physiotherapy student training that this
also encompasses.
It is a privilege to be involved in
teacher training. In this country of
841 languages the challenges of
bilingual education are enormous. I am
finding my online masters in Applied
Linguistics very helpful!
The Cued Articulation course I
previously ran for teachers in the
Victorian Education system has
proved useful. I combine it with
a phonological comparison with
the regional vernacular languages,
which allows the teachers to identify
the phonemes which will present a
phonological awareness challenge
to their students. We then work on
Phonological Awareness strategies
and games for those phonemes. I have
delivered this course here in Mt Hagen,
my highlands home, and in Buka, on
Bougainville.
Because services to those with
disabilities are few, networking is
essential. This month I joined the
ENT team and Callan Disability
services in a provincial hearing
screening exercise in rural health
centres. Each day we saw over 80
patients (190 on one day) and were
very aware that this was just the tip of
the iceberg. Of those 80, most have
experienced chronic otitis media and
no longer have intact ear drums.
The needs here in PNG for speech
pathology work amongst PNG’s
citizens are enormous. I often wish
for some students to share the load!
There is now an enthusiastic young
therapist in Port Moresby and
another pilot’s wife expected this
year. Perhaps one day I can go back
to my oil paints!
Jennifer Boer, L.A.C.S.T, ., CERT IV TESOL
Speech Pathologist
Change of scenery – speech pathology work
in Papua New Guinea
“In this country
of 841 languages
the challenges of
bilingual education
are enormous.”
Different perspective: Clockwise
from left; Jennifer with her oil paints;
catching a flight out bush for a
follow-up consultation for cleft
surgery; a highland dancer; a group
of local villagers.