Getting Here

Kompiam Survival Guide 2024 –

By  Pranav Satish (6th Year University College London) 

29th March – 17th May 2024
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Getting here – LONDON-KOMPIAM
The journey here was not straightforward. Due to the rural location of the hospital and cities in PNG being poorly connected, try and plan a couple of days to travel here. Personally, my journey was London -> Singapore -> Port Moresby -> Mount Hagen -> Kompiam.
The first 3 legs were flights, but at Mount Hagen I was picked up by the lovely Andrew who works for the hospital as a driver.
The main difficulty was Port Moresby to Mount Hagen. The flight was cancelled at the last minute with no notification. The domestic terminal is poorly staffed and nobody seemed to know what was going on, but eventually they rescheduled for later that day. The flight managed to take off, but due to the landing gear not retracting it was grounded. Finally we were told to come back the next morning for the flight. Third time lucky I guess. I say this so you expect some difficulty and budget accordingly. I had to spend an unexpected night in Port Moresby, and a safe hotel near the airport costs around 100GBP (500 kina) for 1 night. I’ve since had 5 people tell me that PNG is the land of the unexpected.
 
Get a SIM card as soon as you land in Moresby, which is available at the international terminal. This will allow you to communicate with the driver (whose number you should ask for if they don’t give it to you) and the rest of the team on the ground at Kompiam. They are all super friendly and happy to help.
 
The driver from Kompiam took us about 6 hours, but we stopped many times on the way to run errands, stock up on food and pick people up along the way. Alternatively, MAF have occasional flights from Hagen via a small aircraft. I cannot advise on this as I didn’t take one but it may be worth asking Dr Rebecca Williams.
Shopping 
Stocking up pre-arrival Briefly, stock up on lots of dried goods. In my accomodation, the refrigerator only worked from 9am-9pm due to how the power supply works. While other student accommodations have 24/7 refrigeration, it’s worth keeping in mind that perishable goods may not last as long as you like. Alternatively, most people would be totally fine with you putting some perishables in their 24/7 fridge so that’s also an option.
 
If you’re a bread lover like me then stock up on flour, yeast, sugar etc. People do a lot of baking here so baking stuff is always welcome and will be used! Luxury items like chocolate are extortionate in Mt Hagen – I paid 5GBP (K25) for a bar of Cadbury’s dark chocolate, so consider stocking up in the duty free of your home airport. Fresh milk is also expensive so most use milk powder or long life milk. Tinned fruits, vegetables and meat are useful pantry fodder. Vegetables like onions, carrots and potatoes are useful staple foods that last ages and aren’t generally available in the market.
There is also a shop in the hospital that sells big bags of flour, rice and sugar, as well as margarine, crackers (various flavours), instant noodles, soft drinks, toiletries and occasionally eggs.
The contents of the market are listed elsewhere on the website so I won’t repeat. However, it’s worth mentioning that not everything is there every Wednesday. Kaukau (sweet potato), peanuts, kumul (a green like spinach), ginger and pineapples seemed to be common, whereas carrots, avocado and pumpkin were hit or miss. That may just be seasonal variation – for reference I went in late March to early May.
 
Language
Definitely worth learning medical Tok Pisin which is detailed elsewhere on the website. For a more in depth guide YWAM have published a medical tok pisin guide – google “medical tok pisin” it’s the first result. This will get you by for a basic history without the need for a translator. Some patients only speak Engan – the regional dialect – and for these you will need a translator. This is especially the case on patrol where you travel to even more rural villages.
 
Social life
Everyone here is friendly and I had no trouble integrating into the social life here. There are 4-6 medical students from UPNG here as part of their training for most of the year. Other than that, there are usually international elective students, volunteers and missionaries of all ages passing through. Every Saturday there is a group potluck-style dinner at the Mills’ house, which also hosts a variety of board games and movies. There are a selection of sports(basketball, football, rugby) on offer and usually someone to play with. There is tremendous natural beauty, with loads of hikes and river swimming in the area. There are bible studies and fellowships (optional) 2 nights a week which I enjoyed despite not being from a Christian background.
 
Clinical
The clinical side can be at times intense, but is incredibly rewarding. I probably learned more here in 6 weeks than I did in the last year of medical school. As a student, I attended daily ward rounds at 8am-11.30am. These are relaxed, with lots of teaching. I wrote the notes and got to do minor procedures such as contraceptive implant insertion. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, there are theatre sessions, with ample opportunity to scrub in or prep and administer the anaesthetic. A lot of the theatre cases are from Bushknife wounds due to fighting, so by the end I was quite confident at treating these.
On Call
About once a week (depending on the number of medical students), you will have an on call. This is a 24 hour on call where you will be the first to respond to new issues, clerk and commence management for new admissions, and cover the labour ward. This is daunting at first but very well supported by the designated senior on call. The whole village is a short walk from the hospital so it’s never a bother to call for help if you need it. There are also outpatient clinics that you can help at. These are a good place to practice your ultrasound skills.
Patrol
Finally, at some point during your stay you will go on patrol. This is a 2-3 day trip to a rural village somewhere in Enga. MAF will fly the team there – a stunning and picturesque experience – and pick you up at the end. These are fairly relaxed with each team member running their own mini clinic. There’s always a senior doctor to bounce questions off if you’re unsure. After the clinic, there’s plenty of time for adventure in the bush, swimming and eating with the locals. For me, this was the highlight of my trip so I would strongly recommend it.
 
Digicel and Money
Digicel is pretty unreliable. On my trip, it was working 80% of the time, but had a significant outage for several days at one point. Expect this and get any important life admin done in advance in case this happens. There is hospital wifi that you can buy, but it’s expensive, does not last long and has a low data allowance. It also requires you to be on the hospital site to use. Otherwise, there is the computer lab. These are full of desktops with reliable wifi access. One of the UPNG students usually has the keys for the lab, and it’s generally open from the end of the ward round till evening. if you are on call and digicel is down, there is no way they can contact you. As such, make sure the nurses know where you live so they can come knocking if required.
Cash
Bring lots of cash. It’s difficult to get cash here without a mastercard. Even if you have mastercard, the 10% fee makes big withdrawals painful. Get plenty of cash in Wabag, Hagen or Moresby to avoid this. The village itself is very safe so you should not worry about keeping large amounts of cash in your accommodation. That being said, once you buy all the dried goods (presumably with card), life here is very cheap.

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In short the usual trip looks like this – Home to Brisbane or Cairns, then on to Port Moresby in the morning followed by an afternoon flight to Mt Hagen. Overnight in Hagen, shopping in the morning and then drive to Kompiam in the afternoon. The alternative routes into Port Moresby are via Singapore or Manlia, and then catch the connecting flight to Mt Hagen.

But before all that… here are the

Travel Requirements for Entering Papua New Guinea

Passport 

Your passport must be valid for six months from the date of departure from PNG.

Visa 

There are several visa options depending on your circumstances.

For visitors coming for 30 days or less, you may find Visa on Arrival (VOA) is the best option for you. At the time of writing (April 2020) this is free, but has cost as much as K150 at various times in the past. Just line up at the appropriate queue on arrival at Jackson Airport, Port Moresby.

For stays between 30-60 days, there is an extended version of the short stay visa. Look for this on the government immigration and Citizenship Authority (ICA) website https://ica.gov.pg/ or contact your nearest consulate.

For over 60 days, its best you contact us and we can direct you to an immigration agent. If you are a student or resident, then an Occupational Trainee Visa (OTV) may be the best option. An Occupational Trainee Visa (OTV) is for individuals who intend to undertake workplace-based training in order to upgrade or develop their skills, this includes students undertaking medical electives. Visit the website https://ica.gov.pg/ to download the application.  Validity of this visa is subject to the individual circumstances of the applicant. It costs 40 US Dollars.

Visa and other entry and exit conditions (such as currency, customs and quarantine regulations) change regularly, so it is advisable to contact the nearest High Commission, Embassy or Consulate of Papua New Guinea to get up-to-date information before you come. You could also just contact us and we can tell you what we know of the current visa situation.

Booking Flights 

Flights come daily from Brisbane and Cairns to Port Moresby with Air Niugini and Virgin Australia. With the expanding demand from the LNG gas and other resource projects, Qantas offers some services as well. There are direct flights from Sydney with Air Niugini some days of the week. Visit the relevant websites (www.airniugini.com.pg , www.apng.com, www.virginaustralia.com, www.qantas.com).

Port Moresby to Mt Hagen 

From Moresby you need to get to Mt Hagen in the Western Highlands. Air Niugini and PNG Air run at least 4 services daily. We suggest getting into Moresby in the morning and then connecting on the afternoon Hagen service to avoid overnighting in Port Moresby, which can be expensive. There isn’t really much to see, and safety concerns make it not the sort of place to be touring around on your own anyway.

If you are coming in from Australia, you may have  to stay overnight in Brisbane or Cairns. We recommend staying at Treetops Lodge in Cairns – beautiful, clean, lovely staff, comfortable and very affordable . They don’t do airport transfers though so you’ll need to catch a cab. (Treetops Lodge Cairns – www.treetopslodgecairns.org.au)

If you do need to overnight in Port Moresby, Mapang Missionary Home is without doubt the best option if you are on a budget. However it is a fairly popular location, being so reasonably priced compared to other Moresby alternatives, and so you may need to book well ahead. Mapang doesn’t do airport transfers either but the staff there can find you a safe cab. (Mapang Missionary Home – www.mapang.org).

Once in Hagen, we will usually be there to pick you up. If for some reason we can’t be there, we will organize someone from BUPNG to be there. Failing this, you can safely hop on a PMV (small 13 seater van) of which there are many hanging around. It will cost you two kina to get up to town. The BUPNG compound is opposite Ela Motors at Kimininga. If you have booked into a hotel, both Kimininga Lodge (conveniently adjacent to the BUPNG compound) and Highlander Hotel do airport pickups – their drivers are usually very friendly and even if you aren’t staying with them, they will often help out if you desperately need a lift.

You will probably need to overnight in Hagen, as the trip to Kompiam sometimes can’t be done same day you arrive. The best catered option (combine best price, clean and convenient) is probably Kimininga Lodge. Highlander Hotel (www.coralseahotels.com.pg) is significantly more upmarket. . BUPNG sometimes have spaces in their accommodation at the main compound, but this is hard to predict. If we have it, it is cheaper, and we will try and slot you in when we can.

Getting from Hagen to Kompiam

The options are:

3-4 hours by road. 4WD.
Bumpy but great fun and you really get to see the country. Well worth doing if you don’t mind being a bit uncomfortable. We usually time picking you up with other business, so it won’t cost you anything most times. If we have to come for no other reason, we may ask you to make a contribution to fuel. We prefer not to have to drive up or back on a Sunday (we try to have break if possible!), so getting in to Hagen on a Friday or Monday is best for us (but we will come if there are no options so don’t stress!)

Light aircraft – 20 mins from Hagen.
MAF fly into Kompiam from Mount Hagen about once a week. However, depending on aircraft and pilot numbers available at the time the schedule can vary a lot. It pays to book well ahead and don’t be surprised if it gets cancelled last minute. Mondays is the most reliable day to fly to Kompiam so that would mean arriving in Hagen on the Saturday, doing some shopping Sunday and then flying out to Kompiam on Monday morning. (MAF will often want you at the airport by 7.15 am for checkin, so there is no time for shopping on Monday, and shops close 4pm on Sunday)

Shopping

Best Buy and Tininga in Mt Hagen are the options for groceries. Shops open from 7am -8pm Monday to Saturday and 4pm on Sundays. Get boxes to pack your gear and some tape to secure them. Keep your glass jars well separated if you are coming by road!

Market shopping
Hagen has the best Market in PNG by far, and a great variety of very organic, very cheap veggies and fruits are available. You will need an escort though as pickpockets unfortunately abound there. A lesser variety of veggies are available at several stops along the road to Kompiam.

Food in Kompiam

The hospital has a small store where you can get such essentials as Coke and 2-minute noodles. Oh yes, you can also get flour, sugar, soap, rice (tends to go quick), matches, oil, toilet paper and some frozen items as well. There are also a few other stores around Kompiam with similar goods.

The market in Kompiam is pretty dismal though. You can get sweet potato, some corn, kumu (green leafy bits), and the very occasional cabbage. Best to get your gear in Hagen would be the summary statement there.

Accommodation in Kompiam

We have the medical student house available which is a lovely 3 bedrooms house overlooking the river. It has good amenities including solar fridge and full solar lighting, washing machine and hot water. However it is often booked up. Medical students always get first priority as they raised the funds for its construction. When available, the fee is K75 per person per night. (around A$27).

Getting out

Hopefully you won’t want to go too soon, but when the time comes, the options are same as for getting in, with the exception that MAF doesn’t often come on a Friday. Monday is their main day here. You can get lucky on other days, but often it means having to go out by road.

Important numbers

In case you get into trouble
Dr. Rebecca Williams –

Charles Amai  – 73050447

Lorraine . Thompson – 73498700
BUPNG Health Dept – 542 1866/542 0473
BUPNG General Secretary office – 542 2805

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