{"id":39163,"date":"2013-07-18T01:53:54","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T15:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=39163"},"modified":"2020-12-14T15:32:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T05:32:40","slug":"just-a-few-more-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/07\/18\/just-a-few-more-dollars\/","title":{"rendered":"Just A Few More Dollars …"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Kelly Smith and his container-load of items which will soon be heading to Fugwa in PNG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 18, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kelly Smith, from Blackbutt, needs just $600 and he’ll be “the happiest bloke in Australia”; the money will allow him to freight a container-load of much-needed medical equipment to a tiny hospital in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

Kelly and his wife Margaret, who are members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Nanango, have been working on the project for 2 1\/2 years.<\/p>\n

The superseded medical items, which have been supplied by anonymous donors from the South Burnett, are being shipped to Fugwa, a town in the Southern Highlands of New Guinea about 750km west of Lae.<\/p>\n

The couple has collected sufficient equipment for a 10-bed hospital, including cots, beds, mattresses, pillows and linen, slings, wheelchairs, walking sticks, baby scales, a cardiograph machine and an autoclave.<\/p>\n

All the items have been loaded into a blue shipping container which is now awaiting transport to the Port of Brisbane to begin its slow six-week journey by sea to Lae.<\/p>\n

Kelly volunteered to help the hospital, which is currently little more than an aid station, after hearing a talk by Wesleyan missionary Don Floyd in Goombungee.<\/p>\n

“He spoke about the need … and my weakness in the church is missions,” Kelly said.<\/p>\n

When Kelly first started working on the project, he costed the freight and worked out that he required $8000. He set about fund-raising by holding flea markets, garage sales and a garden party. There were also lots of anonymous donations of small amounts of cash.<\/p>\n

“I would come to church and find an envelope on my usual seat,” he said.<\/p>\n

However, over the intervening time period, the cost of freight has now risen to $11,500.<\/p>\n

“The biggest surprise was the cost of shipping in Papua New Guinea,” he said. “Transport by road from Lae is costing more than shipping it from Brisbane to Lae.”<\/p>\n

He had hoped that some of the many Australian companies active in New Guinea may have been able to help, but he has been sadly disappointed.<\/p>\n

“I sent 161 individually written letters; three were returned to sender and the rest I haven’t heard anything from,” he said.<\/p>\n

Kelly has now organised a variety concert in Nanango on Saturday (July 20) to help raise the remaining funds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The concert, which will feature live music, singing and dancing, will begin at 4:00pm at the Nanango State High School Hall.<\/p>\n

Entry is $10 for adults, $7.50 for pensioners \/ high school students; $5 for primary stiudents or a family pass can be bought for $30.<\/p>\n

A door prize has been donated by Nanango Foodworks.<\/p>\n

On stage will be the Blackbutt Singers, local flautist Leah Noll, Jeff Hancox (Elvis), Irish singers Nuala and Rebecca Black, Zumba dancers and line dancers and a Barber Shop Quartet Minus One. There will also be community singing throughout the evening.<\/p>\n

Kelly is hoping 200 people will turn up but “anything over $600 will put me in the black”.<\/p>\n

He will also have “okkies” for sale for $5 … little French-knitted octopus dolls that he makes in his spare time as “comfort dolls” for sick children.<\/p>\n

Kelly isn’t ashamed to say that he’ll be glad to see the back of the container when it finally starts its journey.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It has totally dominated our lives over the last 2 1\/2 years,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’ll be the happiest bloke in the world when it goes.”<\/p>\n

UPDATE November 20: It’s gone! On Friday, November 8, a semi-trailer hauled the container-load of equipment out of Nanango on its way to Brisbane and then a ship to Lae.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelly Smith, from Blackbutt, needs just $600 and he’ll be “the happiest bloke in Australia”; the money will allow him to freight a container-load of much-needed medical equipment to a tiny hospital in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":39166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3],"tags":[30],"yoast_head":"\nJust A Few More Dollars ... - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/07\/18\/just-a-few-more-dollars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Just A Few More Dollars ... - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kelly Smith, from Blackbutt, needs just $600 and he'll be "the happiest bloke in Australia"; 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