Our Stories
HF Radio provides a sense of safety and protection for the Wuvulu community
Located 224 kilometers from the main land of Wewake is a small and beautiful island called Wuvulu. This island is isolated and encircled by fringes of coral reef and has no natural harbor making it impossible to anchor ships there. The only form of transport is either through small airplanes or motor speed boats. It would take roughly 45 – 50 minutes flight from Wewak to the island and 6 – 7 hours by a motor speed boat (dingy).
A map showing the route from Wewake to Wuvulu.
Due to their geographic location, the challenges they face are myriad and rang from the inability to receive the necessary health services and government services needed in their community. This includes limited form of transport provided and in addition to that is the expense spent for transportation and even more concerning, having no reliable form of communication that should enable them to stay in contact with the mainland at Wewak, Vanimo and Manus in cases of cyclone, medivacs, bad weather conditions for transport and even sea piracy.
The very tip of Wuvulu Island
MAF Plane providing services for the remote community at Wuvulu
For several years now, MAF has been providing services for the remote community at Wuvulu but for CRMF; this was our first service providing a HF radio installation there. During the radio install our Technician, Gollinson Wena was informed by the community that there were several incidents in the past involving people from Wuvulu who went missing at sea when trying to travel to the mainland.
The community at Wuvulu helps Gollinson set up the High Frequency (HF) Radio’s mast .
Gollinson was also informed of a recent incident that took place on the 13th of July 2020. Seven islanders from Wuvulu were reported to be missing at sea. Their outboard motor developed an engine problem and they drifted into the Indonesian waters for six days before being rescued by Indonesian fishermen on the 19th of July 2020. The families and community of the seven missing individuals told Gollinson that during the cause of these events they could neither contact people from the outside of Wuvulu to provide help, search and rescue because there was no reliable form of communication available. This news was also reported on the National paper – You will find at the end of this article other additional articles that support this report .
Now with their new radio installed, the community at Wuvulu are constantly able to communicate with the mainland in Wewake, Vanimo and Manus to report any emergency cases, incidents, Cyclone warnings and make announcements to the National Disaster Channel, Health Channels and Mission Channels.
Gollinson remarked that, “They now feel a sense of safety and protection whenever traveling out at sea.” Even the schools and churches in Wuvulu can use the radio to stay connected to the main land churches and schools to grow in their faith and their spiritual and physical knowledge. The HF radio has made it safer and convenient for them to keep in touch with their families and others from the safety of their Island. This also saves them from traveling constantly back and forth to the main land.
A High Frequency (HF) Radio is still very much vital to this day because it is considered as an emergency communication tool that saves numerous lives within the remote communities of Papua New Guinea. Without the ability to communicate through the radio, people living and traveling in remote places are venerable and exposed to the risk of greater danger if they find themselves in trouble and have no means of contacting someone for help. We praise the Lord that the service that MAF and CRMF provides for Wuvulu benefits them and contributes towards their spiritual and physical growth and the livelihood of the whole community there.
Kids at Wuvulu
For the last 60 plus year CRMF has been providing HF and VHF radio communications to our remote communities and we would like to acknowledge the Lord for this unique mission and vision that He has entrusted our founding fathers with. We are also honored and blessed that this very mission has been passed down to us to continue the great work He has started. He has planted a precious seed in this ministry and He has equipped each one of us to play a unique role to see that this mission bears fruit. After this 60 plus years, we can say that we have witness this ministry expend, grow and bear much fruit because what the Lord has started within CRMF has and continues to benefit the livelihood of our Churches, Communities and Individuals in their spiritually and physically growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”
Only in God are we able to do what we continue to do at CRMF.
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:4-5
Additional Resources
Supporting the reported incident that took place on the 13th of July 2020.
Indonesia Releases Man - The National
Benjamin and the others left Wuvulu Island, Manus, on July 13 at around 2.30pm in a dinghy and were headed for Wewak in East Sepik, a six-hour trip. But their outboard motor developed engine problems and they drifted into Indonesian waters for days before being rescued by fishermen…
PNG Daily - Fishermen Rescue Six, By Clifford....Facebook
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