John Algate

'My clinic now has a new Dani name, the house of needles. Quite appropriate don't you think?'  Jessie wrote to her hundreds of supporters back home.

Jessie Williamson was a courageous missionary nurse who devoted 35 years of her life to tribal people in the remote and dangerous highlands of West Papua. She was both witness and participant in the rapid transformation of their stone-age societies with its triumphs and tragedies, social, religious and political turmoil, life and death struggles, earthquakes, droughts, and the uneasy clash of old Gods and new beliefs. Jessie nursed, evangelised and built a network of village medics and midwives who continue her work today. Jessie’s House of Needles tells the fascinating story of a truly remarkable Australian.