It isn’t every day that a doctor will follow up with a patient and check how he or she is doing all the way to their very doorstep in Papua New Guinea.

For one family from Eboa village in Mekeo LLG, Kairuku in Central Province, their weekend was filled with a pleasant surprise as a team of doctors paid a visit to their little warrior named Taylor.

Three-month-old baby boy Taylor is a miracle, said Dr Liu Zhenqui, who is deputy captain of the 12th China Medical Team and also an associate professor of paediatrics at the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH).

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Little Taylor’s story is one filled with love of a mother, support of a family, and little Taylor’s determination and resilience to live. Taylor was born with a severe respiratory failure which posed a significant threat to his life.

“We learned from the video that just a few months ago newborn Taylor faced a severe respiratory failure, posing a significant threat to his life,” Dr Liu said.

“However, through the combined efforts of the China Medical Team and the SCN at PMGH, we employed cutting-edge techniques called ventilation and advanced medical care to save Taylor’s precious life.

“Taylor’s journey to recovery can only be described as a miracle.

“From the day he came under our care, we knew that every second was crucial.

“Our dedicated healthcare professionals worked tirelessly day and night, leaving no effort spared to provide Taylor with the best possible care,” he added.

Dr Liu said that the “love and dedication poured into his treatment” not only saved his life but also strengthened the bond between the medical team and the local community”.

It was also an honour to have Sister Kuman, the head nurse of Special Care Nursery at PMGH, with the team, he said.

Since they had missed out on how Taylor’s life began at the hospital, his relatives all gathered around a laptop to watch the video and were deeply moved and amazed by his determination and resilience.

“Today, witnessing Taylor’s radiant smile and remarkable progress fills our hearts with immense joy, serving as compelling evidence of the boundless potential in every newborn.

“He stands as a living example, proving that with the right medical care, love, and support, even the tiniest of lives can overcome challenges and flourish,” Dr Liu said.

In fact, Dr Liu was a retained member of the China Medical Team — he had been due to return to China in July last year.

However, he made the decision to stay because of witnessing a mother’s sorrow.

“One day in early last year, a full-term baby was diagnosed with asphyxia and meconium aspiration syndrome, precisely the same diagnosis as Taylor.

“Unfortunately, due to severe respiratory failure, the child passed away.

“The mother, overwhelmed with grief, fainted upon seeing her baby’s lifeless body.

“From that moment on, ‘I made a silent vow in my heart to do something to change this situation,'” Dr Liu said.

Grace Auka Salmang is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

“Merry Christmas, 25 December 2020,” says the graffiti displayed in the yard of the Nduga student dormitory in the study city of Jayapura.

Hundreds of eyes stared at the writing, then they moved forward lighting Christmas candles.

“We want Christmas light,” said Arim Tabuni, a senior student who attended the joint event.

• READ MORE: Other West Papuan stories

Arim is one of Nduga’s students. He looked thin, like never before. Now he walks slowly and bent a little.

“I was sick but came to light a candle. We want to continue to ignite the light of truth in our hearts,” he said softly, with a slight frown.

He is still sick from the beatings of Indonesian security forces when he broke up a peaceful student demonstration in Jayapura city. The assault was inflicted on him on 2 May 2016.

Beside him, Bheny Murib sat down, occasionally staring at the theme. He ignored his turn to light the candle. He just sat there until the event was over.

Stories of refugees
Apparently, Murib was mumbling stories of refugees in Nduga. He has lost the momentum of the joys of Christmas since 2018. Parents, younger siblings, and brothers left their house to the forest to neighbouring districts such as Lanny Jaya, Puncak, Asmat, Yahukimo and Jayawijaya (Wamena).

He remembered house, honai (traditional house of indigenous West Papuans), the church is quiet. There is no puff of burning smoke celebrating Christmas together in the church yard.

Nduga students from various study cities cannot go home on holiday like before.

“We wanted to celebrate Christmas with our parents at home, but these two years have all disappeared,” said Murib.

To remember that, Nduga students in Jayapura celebrate Christmas in the dormitory yard.

“Usually there is a large dormitory hall but today it is on this courtyard,” he said, looking at the baby Jesus Christmas manger lying down.

it reminded him of the birth of children in Nduga. Mothers were forced to give birth in forests and caves.

Birth in the forest
Gelina Lilbid is one of the names of the women she remembers giving birth in the forest.

Lilbid is the wife of an uncle. Gelina gave birth on her way to flee from Yigi, Nduga, to Kyawagi, Lanny Jaya and on to Wamena.

Murib told the story of the birth of a child who was named Pengungsiana Kelenea.

According to the story of Gelina Lilbid: “I gave birth to a child in the middle of the forest on 4 December 2018.

“A lot of people thought my son was dead. It turned out that my child was still breathing.

“My child is sick, has difficulty breathing and has a cough with phlegm. It was very cold in the forest, so when we walked again, I felt that my baby had not moved.

“We thought he was dead. The family had given up. A family asked me to throw my child away because it was thought he was dead.

“But I still love and carry my child. Yes, if you really die, I have to bury my child properly even in the forest.

“Because I kept carrying my baby, my brother made a fire and heated the tree leaves, and the heated leaves he stuck them all over my baby’s body.

“After the brothers put the heated leaves on the fire, my baby breathed and drank breast milk. We went on a trip.

“We were very scared because the TNI continued to shoot at our hiding place. We continued to walk in the forest, and we searched for a cave that we could hide in.

“I was carrying my child having just arrived from Kuyawagi, Lanny Jaya Regency in Wamena. We have been in Kuyawagi since the beginning of December 2018.

“Before going to Kuyawagi, we lived in the forest without eating enough food. We are very hard and suffering on our own land,” said Murib recounting Gelina Lilbid’s story.

Refugee babies fleeing
Refugee babies have fled with their parents, now in Jayawijaya (Wamena) district, since 2018. Refugees are now two years old in December 2020.

There were two other children who were born on the way to the evacuation. Their names are Wene Kelenea and Larinus Kelenea.

Wene is a word in the language of the Lani tribe, Yali and Huwula which means story, news, problems, confrontations, conflicts with one another.

If the names are sorted into Wene, Larinus, Refugees. Because of the confrontation and conflict, they had to flee.

He said his family were in refugee camps, children had to be born on the evacuation trip. It just passed. Everyone looks silent, takes it for granted, as if there is no conflict.

“When will the Indonesian government, churches and the United Nations pay attention to our human rights,” he said.

“If they cannot respect human rights, cannot take care of the fate of the Nduga people, all parties must admit that the Nduga people want to take care of themselves.”

“Stop military operations in the Nduga region and give the West Papuan nation sovereign rights,” wrote the Nduga students, among the flickering candles on their dormitory grounds.

This article was translated by a Pacific Media Watch correspondent from the original report.