Reaching remote areas

Villagers on Karkar Island in Papua New Guinea greet Rija Razafiorijaona (center) and the Lutheran Health Services boat, bringing medical supplies for Gaubin, a hospital of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea that serves the community of 40,200 — 80 percent of whom are Lutheran.

The speedboat carries supplies to several hard-to-reach islands, says Don Kudan, director of the church's Lutheran Health Services. "There's no regular service to many islands, and you'd lose a lot of time on the catamarans. "That's time medical workers can't afford to lose in providing rural people with much-needed care and training.