From bilums, to betelnuts, here are the fascinating things I learned about culture, life and veterinary medicine from my time as a Volunteer Vet in Papua New Guinea.
In early 2020, I visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the first time, to join the local RSPCA on a high-volume spey and neuter project. The campaign was named ‘Operation Wanted’ to reflect the fact that every animal in a community should be wanted, and cared for as such. (Veterinary Professionals can read more about volunteering with the RSPCA of PNG here).
Performing surgeries outdoors in the dusty village of Hanuabada was a truly unique experience! Here are nine interesting take-home lessons I picked up from my time in PNG.
1) You can set up a vet clinic ANYWHERE.
The spey and neuter campaign took place in three different locations within the infamous village of Hanuabada, on the outskirts of Port Moresby. Incredibly, Hanuabada is home to more than 15,000 people, yet has no running water or electricity. Many of the homes are built on stilts, with wooden walkways stretching far out over the ocean. Dogs and cats could be seen roaming free amongst the chaos of daily life, alongside the occasional pig or hen.
Despite the few amenities, the RSPCA of PNG came prepared. Each morning, we would set up a number of tents, which were allocated as the reception tent, the surgery tent, the recovery tent and more. The RSPCA brought all their own equipment and a generator, which was needed to power the electronic weigh scales. Otherwise, we performed surgery electricity free- using TIVA anaesthesia (Total Intravenous Anaesthetic, not gas), manual patient monitoring and sunlight instead of surgical lamps.
We brought our own water too, as well as soaps and surgical scrub, to ensure everything was kept as sterile as possible even without plumbing. And as for bathroom breaks, we just had to hold on until the day wrapped up around sunset!
Despite the challenging conditions, we spayed and neutered over 130 animals in 5 days with just 2 or 3 vets! Which goes to show, you can set up a vet clinic anywhere if you come prepared (and you have lots of helpers!).
2) Very few westerners ever get to visit the village of Hanuabada
The stilt village of Hanuabada is one of the most unique places I’ve ever visited, and yet I quickly found out that I was very lucky to be allowed inside the village at all. This tight-knit community is the largest village of the conservative Motu tribe, and is not considered a safe place for outsiders to go without the express invitation of the locals. This campaign was the first time that the RSPCA had ever formally visited the village, so despite all the planning, we didn’t know exactly what to expect.
Our mobile campaign had to set up in the exact locations prescribed by the village leaders, and be gone by a set time each evening. I was warned not to wander away from the area, to dress conservatively, and to keep valuables hidden.
Despite these precautions, once we were set up we felt very welcome. Curious children gathered around to watch the commotion as we tried to examine dogs that had never been handled before. Smiling locals came to show off their new puppies, and everyone had a story of how their mixed breed dog was actually a German Shepherd or a Poodle. It was lovely to see how the common goal of caring for animals could bring people together, even when the majority of locals would never had met a vet before.
3) How to understand basic Pidgin English
Due to its tribal history, Papua New Guinea is a country with over 800 native languages. Although each of these languages are different, many are referred to colloquially as Pidgin, or New Guinea Pidgin, which is a simplified combination of tribal language and English.
While it would be impossible to understand a new language in just a few days, I found that some Pidgin words were not as foreign as they sounded at first- once you really stopped to listen!
For example, when I booked my flight, I booked with a relatively unknown airline called ‘Air Niugini’. It was only when I was on the flight that I realised that this was actually PNG’s national airline, and that Niugini was in fact the Pidgin word for ‘New Guinea’! In retrospect, it sounds really obvious that the name translates to ‘Air New Guinea’!
I also picked up a few other key phrases. ‘Haus dok sik’ translates to veterinary hospital (think ‘house dog sick’), ‘solwara’ meant ocean (like saltwater), and ‘yu orait’ which means how are you (like the british greeting ‘you alright?’)
So the longer I was in PNG, the more I learned to sound out the words I encountered, which made understanding a lot easier!
4) Everyone in PNG carries woven bags
On my flight to PNG, I found it a little odd that all the other passengers, who were mostly middle aged men, were carrying their passports and possessions in colourful string bags.
It was only once I’d arrived in PNG that I realised that these were called Bilums, and that they are a national symbol, as well as a huge part of everyday life.
Bilums are traditional hand-woven bags, and are used to carry just about anything, from groceries to babies (who are swaddled into a hanging bilum to allow them to nap). They are carried completely unironically by everyone and anyone, even featuring heavily in some PNG pop-star music videos that aired on local TV.
You could buy bilums from stalls and street corners almost anywhere, as well as the overpriced ones in the airport. They are a point of pride for many locals, and it was nice to see a place where men were allowed to carry handbags without ridicule!
5) Everywhere is a school (or a playground).
Papua New Guinea has a very young population, and children were everywhere during our campaigns in Hanuabada village. As soon our vehicles pulled up in the mornings, little faces began peeking from the windows of the wooden houses as we set up, then soon, whole families crowded around to see the spectacle of the dog doctors.
Once the surgeries started, it became even busier, with children sneaking into the tents to watch wide-eyed as we started the operations. We had to have someone on child watch, to ensure that they weren’t getting too close and were staying safe! The kids had lots of questions and were delighted when the team brought out animal-themed pictures and pencils for them to colour in. Lots of kids brought their own pets to the campaign to get them treated too!
The kids also had a great time running riot around the tents, laughing and screaming when a dog suddenly barked at them. Once, they even started playing street hockey right next to the campaign, resulting in the manager getting hit in the face with the makeshift hockey-puck! After that, they were asked to give us a little more space.
6) Listen to the locals about how to stay safe
I’ll be honest, my mum was NOT delighted when I told her I was planning to go to Port Moresby. Immediately, she thought the worse and recounted anecdotes about muggings and violence against western travellers.
All the stories made me a little apprehensive- was I really planning to go somewhere dangerous?
However, my fears turned out to be unfounded, as the local team at the RSPCA took excellent care of me during my entire stay in Papua New Guinea.
I never felt in danger during my time in PNG, and had many positive experiences interacting with the local people. But as ever, when travelling to a new country, particularly one without a developed tourist industry, it is essential to be sensible and have local expertise.
The RSPCA team knew that I was in a new environment and took great care to ensure I was well supported, and well advised on personal safety. The team organised for me to be picked up from the airport, arranged my stay with a local ex-pat family and ensured I never had to go anywhere alone.
Even so, I was a little taken aback by the level of personal security that was normal for expats in PNG. Westerners lived in private gated apartment blocks or housing complexes, which had security guards in attendance. I was advised never to walk alone, and never to take any public transport as this might make me a target for robbery. And while PNG is known for its beautiful treks, I was cautioned not to wander without the guidance of a local who could let you know what was safe, and what wasn’t.
So while I never had any concerns about my safety while in PNG, I was very pleased to be able to turn to the local RSPCA team for advice and reassurance!
7) Enforcing a small charge for surgery was vital to the campaign’s success.
During the high-volume spey and neuter campaign, we had a team of Motu-speaking colleagues going street to street, chatting with owners and rounding up animals to be desexed. This surgery was not provided free to locals, and they were asked to pay a small contribution towards the cost of the surgery (around 10 kuna, which equates to about half a day’s pay on PNGs minimum wage). In a normal PNG vet clinic, a desexing surgery would cost 300-800 kuna.
Even with this discounted price, some people refused to pay and asked us to do the surgeries for free. The manager said no. Later, I asked- why enforce a payment if it would not cover the cost of the surgery anyway?
‘This campaign is called Operation Wanted’ the manager explained ‘because we’re here to show people that every animal in the community is valuable and should be wanted. If we let people think that veterinary care is not worth anything, they will think that their animals are not worth anything, and can be abandoned or replaced. Instead, we want to lower the stray population, improve the health of the animals that we do treat, and show the locals that if they invest in caring for their animals they will live longer, be better pets and cause less problems in the community’.
Amazingly, many of the people who argued about the cost on day 1, had come back on day 2 with their dog and their 10 Kuna. It was clear to see that even animals that lived on the street were wanted by their community.
8) Why lots of locals had red teeth
Have you ever heard of the ‘red smile’ of Papua New Guinea?
It turns out that the red staining of the lips and mouth, which is common to see throughout PNG, is caused by the unofficial national pastime of chewing Betelnut, known locally as ‘Buai’.
Buai is the nut of the areca palm. It is sold on almost every street corner and commonly chewed along with powdered lime. Chewing the nut produces lots of red saliva that is generally spat onto the street. It gives the chewer a short lived high, said to be similar to drinking a shot of espresso. Because the effects are brief, many people chew from dawn to dusk, and even share the buai with their children.
In recent years, Buai has come under fire for its addictive properties, the unhygienic spittle it leaves all over the streets, and the fact it has been associated with gum disease and mouth cancers. Buai has at times been banned in the capitol, and there are plenty of signs warning against the chewing of betelnuts in airports and important buildings.
So now you know, if you see a red smile in PNG or southern Asia, there’s likely a betel nut merchant nearby.
9) De-sexing surgery is a gateway to far-reaching improvements in animal health.
While we set out to primarily to neuter animals, the campaign was also about educating local people about caring for their dogs.
If other problems were picked up on the health checks, the colleagues were able to translate between vets and owners about how to treat and prevent health problems. Dogs with skin disease were able to be given anthelmintic treatments, and dogs with wounds were able to be treated at the same time. Hernias were fixed, and missing crypt-orchid testicles were found.
Some dogs had badly scarred and damaged genitals, where the owners had tried (unsuccessfully) to castrate them with knives or bands. We were able to treat these wounds, castrate the dogs surgically, and explain to the onlookers that you should never attempt to castrate an animal at home! Sadly, we also saw many TVTs (transmissible venereal tumours), a type of contagious genital cancer- but by neutering the whole population we also reduced the chance that these would continue to spread.
Further Information
If you’ve enjoyed reading about my experience as a vet in Papua New Guinea, perhaps you’d like to read about the things I learned as a Vet in Outback Australia, or working in a high-end Vet clinic in Sweden.
If you’re a veterinary professional and think you’d like to volunteer yourself in Papua New Guinea, check out the RSPCA of PNG profile for all the info you need about this experience!
Or else, head back to the Volunteer Page to read all about different volunteering projects, and how to get started planning your own volunteer trip!
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