First, build your desk – Skills training in PNG

Adham Crichton, an NZAID communications advisor, describes a skills-training centre he visited earlier this year in Papua New Guinea.

In January I was part of the delegation that travelled to PNG for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting and then onto the Solomon Islands.

During my time in Port Moresby, NZAID Programme Administrator John Koi took me out to visit the Morata Vocational Centre. The centre runs short term-training programmes on behalf of the Ginigioada Foundation, a not-for-profit community development organisation based in Port Moresby.

Skills training is important Pacific-wide but it has special significance in Port Moresby, where 80 percent of the population is unemployed or underemployed. The training targets unemployed young people and covers welding, plumbing, carpentry, small motor repair and electrical maintenance.

Mr Gabriel Iso from the Ginigioada Foundation and the centre’s manager Mr Hillary Damke took the time to show me around, and it was amazing what they were able to achieve given the basic nature of the facility.

The carpentry students at Morata helped build the electrical workshop at the Centre and also helped build desks for a local school, which highlights just how limited training facilities are in PNG, and also the very practical nature of the centre’s training.

The success of the Morata Vocational Centre and the Ginigioada Foundation is that the training they offer is aligned with identified skill shortages and participants must show they are committed and have the support of their local community.

NZAID provided PGK$77,000 in the 2007/08 financial year to support the Ginigoada Foundation’s Skills Development Training Programme. This funding covered the hire of venues and tools, and allowances for trainers who run the vocational courses.

The accompanying photo show Mr Gabriel Iso and Mr Hillary Damke in the facilities that the centre’s students helped to create.

You can read more about skills training in the Pacific and the Morata Vocational Centre in the latest edition of NZAID's magazine Currents.

Tidal floods in Papua New Guinea

Pati Gagau, NZAID’s manager in Port Moresby, gives a local perspective to the recent king tides and flooding in Papua New Guinea.

What has been the focus of your work since the tides and flooding?

Pati: Since the tides and flooding, we have been working very closely with the National Disaster Centre (NDC), which is the PNG Government entity responsible for coordinating the relief response. NDC has taken a proactive leadership role in working with donor partners, local and international NGOs, and provincial disaster coordination centres in the affected areas to provide much needed supplies such as water, food, and building materials. The New Zealand Government has contributed NZ$300,000 to help with relief efforts, and we are working with local NGOs to utilise this funding to meet some of the needs identified.

How are people in the flooded areas lives being affected now that the water has subsided?

Pati: Many people have been displaced with the loss of their homes, personal belongings, food gardens, livestock, and water sources because of the floods. The transformation from changes to their normal pattern of lifestyle, as well as having traditional/sacred places destroyed will have a long-lasting effect on people, particularly the older generation. People's diet and way of life will change dramatically, especially when coastal people who have lived most of their lives close to the water are relocated inland.

What is the attitude of people in PNG to the situation?

Pati: NDC have confirmed that almost 60,000 people have been affected by the disaster across six provinces and outer islands in the northern region of PNG. The print media has been running reports every day since the events started a week ago, and there has been a lot of sympathy and support expressed by the general public. GoPNG has been commended by many for the quick response in funding the disaster-stricken areas. The loss of personal effects such as tools for gardening/trades, cooking utensils, clothes, beddings, etc will have an impact on rural people affected, as these are things they will struggle to replace. Bush materials for building houses are not so much of a problem but to purchase nails and other building materials are often difficult. As a result people tend to rely on outside assistance in the first instance.

How often do king tides like this occur?

Pati: Sea surges of this nature do not occur often as far as we know. But PNG has seen its fair share of sea and flooding disasters over time, including tsunamis as well as flooding as the result of heavy storms (Oro Province was heavily affected by floods in 2007, for example). Rising sea levels resulting from climate change are also having an ongoing impact on PNG's low-lying coastal areas, including small offshore islands and atolls that are home to isolated communities, and could expose coastal areas to further risk in future.

Is there anything that could be done differently in the future to minimise the effect of king tides?

Pati: Not really, in our opinion. It is tempting to suggest that coastal communities relocate to higher ground to guard against future sea surges. But many areas lack higher ground nearby, and many communities are likely to strongly resist attempts to change their lives as the result of extraordinary sea conditions. But as sea levels in some areas continue to rise, inevitably some communities will be forced to start reconsidering their options.

Papua New Guinea – quick facts

• Papua New Guinea is the largest Pacific Island country but has the lowest living standards
• The population of 6.1 million is set to double in 25 years
• 40 percent of the population live in poverty
• 85 percent of the population live in rural areas
• There are over 800 language and ethnic groups
• Most of the population are subsistence farmers
• NZAID's total bilateral assistance to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 2007/08 was NZ$21.5 million.
  
  For more information about NZAID's programme in Papua New Guinea, see the Papua New Guinea page on the NZAID website, www.nzaid.govt.nz
  
  Read the Minister of Foreign Affair’s media release on New Zealand's contribution to the flood relief efforts in Papua New Guinea.
  

The Heights of Papua New Guinea

Written by Caroline Newson: PNG Programme Officer

As a newly appointed NZAID Development Programme Officer, I recently went on a familiarisation trip to Papua New Guinea (PNG). This was my first time in PNG, and in fact my first visit to a Pacific country.

I travelled to PNG with Sandra Hamilton, my Team Leader, to attend a Health Summit, which brought together government officials and development partners involved with the Health Sector Improvement Programme, such as AusAID and the World Health Organisation (WHO). While in Port Moresby, I also met with a number of other funded NZAID-funded partners. We then left the muggy air of Port Moresby for the pleasantly temperate climate of the Highlands.

Oxfam's Highlands Programme

Our purpose in travelling to the Highlands was to meet the Oxfam Programme Co-ordinator and learn about Oxfam's work in the region. In this financial year, NZAID will contribute approximately $600,000 towards Oxfam's Highlands Programme. We visited two parnter organisations of Oxfam, one of which is directly funded by NZAID.

Our contingent for the Highlands visit consisted of Sarndra and I, along with Tauaasa Taafaki, NZAID Manager and Freddy Hombuhanje, recently appointed NZAID Development Programme Co-ordinator. Tauaasa and Freddy are both based at the High Comission in Port Moresby.

Kup Women for Peace
From Port Moresby we flew for an hour before landing 1,600 metres above sea level, in Gorka. Yanny Guman, Oxfam's Highlands Office Programme Co-ordinator, picked us up on our arrival at Goroka and we headed to Oxfam's office to begin our road trip. The Highlands highway is sealed in some places, and in others there are large potholes to avoid - or not - and in a couple of places there was substantial subsidence or huge holes in the middle of the road. The roads of PNG are much diffferent to suburban NZ!

It took about three hours for us to reach the Kup District, home to Kup Women for Peace (KWP). This movement was established by a group of women from rival tribes in 1999 with a hope to 'downim heavy belong all mama' - reduce the sorrow of Mothers. Their bravery in confronting violence in the early years has borne fruit as the wider community has joined their cause, and the region is more peaceful now that it has been in decades. This financial year NZAID will contribute $80, 000 through Oxfam's Highland Programme towards the work of KWP.

We were greeted by Mary Kini and Agnes Sil, founding members of KWP and then welcomed through a guard of honour. As I walked down the long line and greeted people from all stages of life, I felt humbled and privledged to be welcomed into a community so far from my own, and to be given the opportunity to learn about their lives.

We took our seats on a grass stage, and heard different community members talking about KWP and the impact the movement has had on their lives. A young man, Simon, spoke about how KWP had helped him to develop a livelihood and improve himself. But the successes are still accompanied by the sorrows – Mary Kini tearfully told us that a Community Police officer had been killed the day before, after intervening in a domestic violence incident.

We each introduced ourselves and gave a few words of encouragement to the community, speaking what little Tok Pisin we could (apart from Freddy, who is from PNG). “Apinun, nem bilong mi Caroline” was all I could manage (Good afternoon, my name is Caroline).

Over a delicious meal of freshly harvested vegetables and fruit, we talked with Agnes, Mary, and Gerry (the group’s administrator) about their recent success in facilitating a violence-free election in the Kup region. They achieved this through inviting candidates to publicly commit to a non-violent campaign, engaging young people in livelihood activities to reduce the chance of them being drawn into violence, and being closely involved with voting on election day.

In asking about how they worked with Oxfam, they viewed the most important aspect of their relationship as the support Oxfam provides in terms of linking with other organisations for training, like Peace Foundation Melanesia, and strengthening the organisation’s internal processes as their work expands. They also noted the positive impact of Oxfam’s water and sanitation project as a visible and practical symbol of the benefits of peace.

When I asked what their vision was for the future, Mary said simply “to live in peace”.

Community Based Health Care
On Thursday morning, we loaded up the Hilux again to head through spectacular landscape towards Kudjip, to visit Nazarene Health Ministries, who implement Community Based Health Care projects.

Nazarene Health Ministries (NHM) has a variety of activities, and NZAID provides funding for Community Based Health Care (CBHC), the branch of Nazarene that establishes preventive health care projects in villages. NZAID will provide $150,000 directly to CBHC this financial year.

We met with Dr Bill McCoy - NHM’s Medical Director, Joseph Warai – Director of CBHC, and Dr Becky Morsch. Dr Bill and Dr Becky are both American missionary doctors. After working in Swaziland for twenty years, Dr Bill accepted the request to work in PNG. Dr Becky has been in PNG for four years, and has a passion for preventive health care – “she won’t go back to the hospital” joked Joseph. CBHC helps communities to build their self-reliance and address their health needs. Community Health Volunteers and Village Birth Attendants are trained, and life skills training is offered. Initiatives to address particular needs are facilitated by CBHC staff. It is a very innovative approach to health care, much needed in PNG which has a rural population of 87% yet 80% of the rural aid posts, which are meant to provide health care, are closed.

Joseph Warai has recently been appointed Director, after working as the Co-ordinator of CBHC’s programme in Tari, Southern Highlands. It is in Tari where Oxfam works with CBHC to provide livelihood and capacity building support (funded through KOHA-PICD) and also to carry out the Community Health and Agricultural Support Programme (CHASP), which will receive about $180,000 from NZAID this financial year, through Oxfam. The CHASP’s function is to provide support to rural women and men in the areas of health and sustainable agriculture.

We departed Kudjip and drove on to Mt Hagen airport. After waiting over an hour for our plane, I was treated to a window seat on the flight back to Port Moresby. As I looked out over the vast lands of Papua New Guinea, and reflected on how our visit had covered a broad spectrum of NZAID’s involvement in the country – from the high level Health Sector Improvement Programme, to health services set up by a Christian organisation, right through to a grassroots peace movement. While PNG has lots of development challenges and obstacles to progress, this trip has shown me that New Zealanders, through NZAID’s support, are making a difference.

Links:

http://www.oxfam.org.nz/
http://www.kudjipnazarenehospital.org/