Jasmine Dilley in PNG. Photo: YWAM/supplied
After her graduate year in 2023, registered nurse and midwife Jasmine Dilley accepted a position on a regional labour and postnatal maternity ward. In February 2025, she joined the Youth With a Mission medical ship for a three-week tour to Papua New Guinea (PNG). She loved the experience so much, she went back again in June.
‘The Youth With a Mission medical ship attends remote villages of PNG to take teams of volunteer nurses, midwives, doctors and dentists to people who otherwise have no access to medical care,’ Jasmine told ANMF, prior to her second trip. ‘The ship has dental and ophthalmology clinic rooms on board, a resus area for emergencies and a small laboratory for TB sample analysis.
‘We would stay on the ship overnight then each day take a small boat to the coast or up rivers to go to different villages. We carried all our supplies in backpacks or plastic boxes and sometimes had to hike a few kilometres to get to the villages. Generally the people in these villages were several days travel away from the nearest clinic, and even then the local clinics are very limited in what they can do.’
Only midwife onboard
During her first trip, Jasmine was the only midwife onboard. Her day-to-day work involved running antenatal and family planning clinics in the villages.
As PNG has one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world, Jasmine says she found it especially rewarding to be able to not only provide education around safe sex but also consent and empowering women to make informed decisions about contraception.
‘It was really special to encourage these women and remind them of their value and worth,’ she says. ‘I also did some education sessions with teenage girls about their menstrual cycles and gave out reusable period kits. Some of the male volunteers were able to talk with the local boys too about consent and healthy relationships.’
Unheard of skin conditions
Jasmine also volunteered with her colleagues in the immunisation and general outpatient clinics for illnesses and injuries.
‘We were seeing and treating a lot of knife injuries, STIs and other infections, broken bones, malaria, TB, and lots of skin conditions I hadn’t even heard of until I got there,’ she said.
Despite the challenges – limited supplies; language and culture differences; working in small, dark huts or outside ‘where weather, insects, snakes and crocodiles had to be considered!’ – Jasmine believes that what made it worthwhile were the friends she made onboard, and in PNG.
Highly recommended
She also valued ‘learning how things are done in other countries and being encouraged by their passion for accessible healthcare and willingness to serve others’.
Asked if she’d recommend volunteering to her colleagues, Jasmine was effusive. ‘I couldn’t recommend it highly enough! I not only learned many new practical skills, but I’ve gained a new appreciation for our facilities and services here. It really renewed my passion and sense of purpose in my work as a nurse and midwife.’
Volunteers from the Youth With a Mission Medical Ship in Papua New Guinea. Photo supplied by Jasmine Dilley
