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MIX IT UP: ABMT Ashley Stoll helps mix some concrete as HMAS Manoora’s crew work at the hospital in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Photo: ABPH Paul Berry |
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Volume
49, No. 5, April 6, 2006
In two physically exhausting yet satisfying days, sailors and officers from HMAS Manoora (CMDR Charles McHardie) provided some much needed assistance to Vila Central Hospital and the Shekinah House Project.
HMAS Manoora stopped in to Port Vila, Vanuatu for three days on her way home to Sydney after participating in the Exercise RIMPAC 2006.
Four teams worked tirelessly to mix and pour eight concrete columns, dig trenches, lay pipes, make up reinforcing cages for cross beams, weld supporting poles and render concrete pillars.
When picks and crowbars proved inadequate, a jackhammer was hired to dig through lumps of coral to form the trenches.
Overdue maintenance to the hospital included repairing a leaking roof, replacing a ceiling, sink plumbing, and repairing an autoclave.
Manoora’s Chaplain took some time out from digging a trench to visit the children’s ward. Smiles lit up the ward as the children shyly received a souvenir koala and some confectionary kindly donated by sailors.
The Shekinah House Project will provide free accommodation to assist families from remote or outlying islands of Vanuatu with the financial burden of obtaining specialised medical or surgical treatment for their children.
