Transcript
Rotary Rarotonga handed over the keys of the Mobile Health Clinic, Kaveinga Ora, to the Cooks' Ministry of Health at a ceremony last Monday.
Local and foreign dignitaries were there including Rotary members, diplomats, traditional leaders and politicians.
Rotary president Mark Boyd says the ceremony followed some surprises at the recent general elections.
“And that was handed over to the Honourable Nandi Glassie, who is our Minister of Health here in the Cook Islands. He made a bit of a joke, he said he might have to reapply as a driver for the bus since he may not have a job in the near future."
The, now caretaker, Minister of Health lost his seat but not his humour, and acknowledged the contribution of others.
"It was Christine Hurley who pushed for the initiative to go ahead along with her husband Nick, former High Commissioner of New Zealand here in the Cook Islands. So it was her idea and she was also highlighted and acknowledged for her contribution in this whole project."
Christine Hurley got involved before leaving the Cooks in late 2016 and her husband Nick says it was through Rotary she got in touch with Paul Snelgrove.
“Who owns Tranzit NZ Bus Company. And he said, what do you think about me offering a bus? We've got a school bus, we could maybe convert it into a mobile health clinic."
Paul Snelgrove didn't just donate the bus but provided his workshop staff at a cut rate.
In April last year he visited Rarotonga with fellow Masterton South Rotary members David Baker and Rob Irwin.
Mr Snelgrove says David Baker's expertise is communications and fundraising.
"We went for international funding through Rotary International out of the States. So he was involved in all that. I looked after the bus and the building of the bus and Rob looked after the medical side. So there was three of us and we were an awesome team."
Rob Irwin is a retired surgeon and member of the Wairarapa District Health Board which donated medical equipment for the bus.
The trio worked with the Cook Islands health ministry in developing the scope of the project, deciding what needed to be included.
The Ministry's Karen Tairea provided co-ordination from a government perspective.
“Depended what the topic was and what in particular we were discussing, we'd rope in other health staff that has more knowledge and experience in those areas. So with the clinical side we had the public health nurses because they would be the main users of the bus so they were able to say what equipment they needed."
She says the hospital health services also contributed as the bus would also be used for health drives including blood donations and cervical cancer screening.
The retired diplomat Nick Hurley says the brief was agreed a year ago, and work began on converting the bus.
"They used a number of specialists for things like making it able to be used in times of natural disasters. So it could operate three days without any external power with air-conditioning, or five days without. It could still operate with refrigerated space in there for people who might be needing urgent attention."
Dr Irwin's donated electronic heart monitor and centrifuge for blood testing can still be used in times of outage including natural disaster.
Battery banks on board the bus are topped up with solar power cells on the roof.
With the public health nurses trained to drive the bus, Kaveinga Ora will take healthcare to where it's needed and is equipped to do so in a variety of conditions.
Work to get the bus to specification, beyond the donated equipment, cost and estimated NZ$160,000/US$110,000.
It is a first of its kind for the region and other countries are watching on.
Chris Hurley says Rotary are always looking for ways they can help, particularly in the Pacific.
