One of Martijn’s spectacular drone shots of the palm tree-lined northern Madang coastline
“Everywhere he went, his camera and drone were taken along, and especially the drone drew huge crowds!”
T ravelling to remote villages of Madang Province to deliver life-changing eye care over five weeks in July last year felt a bit like a camping trip at times for newlywed Dutch couple Martijn and Fleur van den Houten. Part of the Christian missionary group YWAM (Youth with a Mission), the couple recalls a memorable three nights at Bogia on Madang’s northwest coast where they slept in a church that had a floor of sand since the village was basically built on the beach.
“The pastor made sure we were as comfortable as we could be and brought in a tarp for us to sleep on,” Martijn says. “We laid down our mats and hung the mosquito nets and were set for a great sleep after our busy first day. However, a rooster decided to camp in the tree right next to the open church so we were woken up almost every hour during the night as the rooster challenging, our team learned to love others while having little sleep – one of the great kept on crowing! “While this was
Children crowd around Martijn as he flies his drone above the beach after one of the clinic days at Bogia in Madang Province
VOLUME 40 2024
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