Roads are not sexy. There are no celebrities, concerts, wrist-bands for the road. I guess that is because for most people in the developed world, we take roads for granted. Speaking to villagers, doctors, and teachers, they painted a portrait of what life is like without a road. For them a road represents the gateway to schools, hospitals, trade and family. The lack of a road impacts everyone. The Kerema hospital itself is a somber scene. Women, children and babies flood into hospital in the morningβmostly from outlying villagesβhaving walked hours clutching sick children.
It is truly shocking seeing thirty or forty mothers waiting, looking so stressed, so exhausted, so hopeless. Some of the children looked so very sick. I met a woman, Eme, who had brought in her gravely ill daughter to hospital and was washing her daughter down outside to cool her fever.
She was in tears when she was telling me her difficulties trying to come back and forth to get to the hospital. It is without doubt one of the most distressing things I have ever seen. It should never have to be like this. I spoke to Opao and some other women from outlying villages. They told me that when women give birth they have to walk kilometres to the hospital as no ambulance can travel to get them.
If they are lucky, some people from the village may carry them on a stretcher. Babies often die on the way. Boat access is one of the main avenues into Kerema. Over the years, many dinghies have capsized, killing hundreds of people. Boats are also the primary way goods make it to town. I met with Ken, the largest entrepreneur in Kerema. Because there is no road, it is brought in on dinghies laden with up to a ton of fuel.
Many have sunk on the journey through the treacherous waters. The teachers and schoolgirls at Kerema school said the lack of a road has made life very difficult: school supplies are impossible to get in and students are often late to school. Most students have to board at the school, and it is difficult to get supplies in to feed everyone. At the end of term girls will often walk the long journey back to their villages. Many girls have been raped along the way.
