Jimmy: Courage, selflessness personified

By PETER WARI
THE people of remote Wakipa on the border of Hela and the Kandep district of Enga will forever be indebted to Milne Bay native Jimmy Kenny.
Rarely does one hear such a story of courage, selflessness, commitment, dedication and humility than that of community health worker Jimmy.
He left his family behind in Milne Bay eight years ago to take up the community health worker post at Wakipa in Kandep, Enga which, because of its remoteness, had been bypassed by other health worker.
When his wife and mother died in 2015, Jimmy could not afford to travel home to Milne Bay for the funerals. He mourned alone at his remote outpost, thinking of his family.
Jimmy, 45, had resigned from the Milne Bay health department in 2010 and was staying at his home on Ware Island.
In 2013, he was asked to return to work – to man the remote Wakipa outpost in Enga.
Jimmy, a devoted member of the United Church, bade farewell to his wife and three daughters at Ware Island in Milne Bay, and left.
“It was God’s call. I had a small farewell party with my family and left. It was my first time to travel to the highlands province. The Wakipa community had built a bush-material aid post but needed a health worker. So I had to serve the people of Yumbi, Karekare, Tetenda and Imbiak on the border of Enga and Hela. They speak the vernacular of both provinces.”
In 2015, news of the death of his wife and mother reached him at Wakipa. The locals, mostly subsistence farmers, could not raise enough money to send him home for the funerals. They held a funeral service at Wakipa to remember the two women closest to Jimmy’s heart.
“My wife died in early 2015 then my mother towards the end of the year. I cried and felt sad that my three daughters were in mourning without their father.”

“ It was God’s call. I had a small farewell party with my family and left.”

In 2017, Jimmy finally managed to pay for a ticket to Milne Bay. He visited their graves, met his daughters and relatives.
But Jimmy spent only a few weeks there with them before saying goodbye again to return to his remote aid post hundreds of miles away.
While visiting Wakipa recently, Kandep MP Alfred Manase heard the story about Jimmy. He was moved and immediately promised to arrange another trip home for Jimmy. He thanked the “brave man who left his family, friends and province behind to work in a remote area where there is no road”.
So next month, Jimmy will be making his second trip home to Ware Island paid for by the Kandep district.
“I am thankful to the district for helping me visit my family once again.”
Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi who was also moved when he heard about Jimmy promised to help too.
Like many in Enga and Hela, Manase did not know about the man from Milne Bay who had been serving the people of his district and Hela for almost eight years, who missed the funerals of his wife and mother because of the call of duty
“Such a man deserves recognition for the hard work and commitment he made in a remote community to serve the people of two provinces.”
Thank you, Jimmy.