This is how Myall Coast Rotary member Judy Richardson describes her recent trip to Papua New Guinea.

Travelling to the Mando village Judy spent time with 10 other Rotarians building a school.

Things got off to a rocky start when the team arrived and the concrete slab had not been put down and the container of builder’s materials had not arrived. The day the team left the doors went onto the school and the building was locked.

Judy went as a builder’s labourer but while in the country word got around about her work as a paediatric physiotherapist.

“People would come down with their kids and I did consultations on the side of mountains,” Judy said.

One accomplishment of the team was the ability to gain consent to turn one classroom into a class for disabled students.

“Very basic things that we have here are not there and kids who are intellectually handicapped don’t have the chance of education,” Judy said.

The team had to write to the minister for education and received verbal approval for the disabled classroom.

“I cried and cried that day,” Judy said.

Working with disabled children all her life Judy said she had the same hopes and expectations for the children of Papua New Guinea as those children here. But Judy said she would have to move to the country for two to three years for anything to be achieved.

“What we can do is improve their quality of life by getting them basic equipment.”

Judy is now raising funds and campaigning to have corner chairs, wheel chairs and other materials sent over for disabled children.

The materials and equipment will be sent to Goroka Hospital, which is situated 40km from Mando village.

From here the physiotherapy department will distribute the equipment to the children on Judy’s list.

A template of a corner chair has also been made to send to the boys at the school. From there they will be able to make the chairs as part of their life skills class.

The building of the schools in the villages is sponsored by rotary with a guarantee from the Papua New Guinea Government to provide teachers.

Three classrooms were built last year and 530 people showed up to school on the first day.

This included mothers, grandmothers and men.

The rotary team set up other projects for the residents including a pig and chicken farm for the boys and men and showed the women craft items they could make and then sell.

“When you are there if you can do something you do it.”