In 1957, European discovery of an unknown, fatal disease known locally as "kuru," afflicting the remote Fore people of the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea prompted an influx of European medical investigators into the region. The early years of the inquiry were fraught as rival teams of investigators jostled for control over the research. In an attempt to resolve the friction, in 1963 the Australian Administrators of New Guinea appointed New Zealand neurologist, Richard Hornabrook, Chief Clinical Investigator of kuru, based at the remote Eastern Highland Patrol Post of Okapa. The family's two years at the settlement offer fascinating insights into Hornabrook's work investigating kuru and life on a remote Patrol Post inhabited by a dozen adult Europeans, an Australian Assistant Commissioner, and contingent of local police.

Annette Beasley is a social anthropologist and retired academic with interests in science and medicine.