Holidays

Hi there,

Long time, no post! I am off on holiday next week, back a couple of weeks into the new year. Looking forward to a break, have been in-country since February and I need a taste of home.

Have not been able to to talk much about my work as the main project I am involved in is kinda confidential, but I hope I can talk about it next year. Will also try and put things up more regularly.

Until then, all the best and merry Christmas.

Progress?

My flatmate discovered an old weekly newsletter published in Bougainville back in the 90s. Produced and printed by the Division of Information, the VillePress serves as an interesting insight into Bougainville's history. Reading through the articles I found myself experiencing a sense of déjà vu…

The front page of issue 15, Friday 5 September 1998, is titled:

Resistance to disarm before BRG is formed

The article was drafted soon after the peace initiatives lead by New Zealand with the parties to the conflict. The article centres on an interview with a Resistance leader (one of the armed factions at the time), who is quoted as saying the following:

"We have come a long way from Burnham to Buin and we feel a lot better after the Pan Bougainville Congress.

However, we can't get things right until those arms and ammunition leave our hands.

We had been preparing a paper for PPCC's deliberation this month and we're really serious about this disarmament thing. It must begin at once. Really there is no longer any need for Bougainvilleans to be armed."

It is now over ten years since those words were spoken, but sadly disarmament is still an issue in Bougainville. How much progress have we really made?

Half a Century

Apparently I have drafted 50 posts for this blog. I actually don't believe it!

Tsunami

So I have to go to higher ground because of a tsunami threat. The last one didn't eventuate but better safe than sorry.

11.17am
Ok we are safe and sound, the warning was cancelled. That was exciting. At first no-one seemed to be responding, but then word went out on the radio and all of sudden everyone was piling into PMVs (public motor vehicles) and heading for the hills. Fortunately those are only 10 minutes from town.

Quite a gathering at my house. Binoculars were out, photo and video cameras were on stand by and Jane was serving drinks.

I've heard that a wave did hit the south east coast of Bougainville, as far north as Kieta and some parts of Arawa beach. However, I can't confirm those reports (not that anyone is actually reading this right now).

The response amongst the locals was good, but there were still many in town. You always get skeptics, and to be fair there simply isn't enough transportation for everyone, so that was sad to see. I hope the real thing doesn't arrive because many will be at risk.

12:11pm
At it seems the false warning (no evidence yet) has upset some people. I passed a friend of mine on my way out - he asked me "how serious are you." I considered the fact that he had children and replied "very serious." Yes these events can cause a lot of panic, but I would hate for them to play it conservatively and lose lives as a result.

Democracy?

If I was an American citizen I would be frothing at the mouth.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/01/lobbyists-millions-obama-healthcare-reform

Reflections

So I found myself reading a report I drafted during my time at the Ministry of Education. It's always funny going back through previous work because I find myself pondering whether I've gone forwards or backwards.

Moving here was a huge change from life in Wellington. I went from being surrounded by friends and family and having a job with professional support to living in a foreign country where no-one was close to me and where skills in policy development were seriously lacking. It didn't take long before I was right in the thick of things and feeling under pressure.

12 months on I feel that I have grown a lot – and I've had to! The professional and personal challenges have been numerous and at times intense. I'm not one to back down so the only choice in my mind was to climb the mountain, and I have to say, the experience has been both rewarding and humbling.

And after all that hard work I'm finally starting to get some positive reinforcement: my CEO has said he wants to extend my contract, the head of the Administration wants me to work here as a local and I hope my volunteer organisation would like me to undertake another posting.

Personally, being offered a position to work as a local Bougainvillean with local Bougainvilleans is about the highest honour they could pay me, so it feels good to know that I'm being considered. I'm not sure what I will do next but for now I think I can say I'm moving in the right direction.

Media

Yeah g'day :)

I'm back in Buka after a few weeks muckin' about in PNG. Was a good break and desperately needed.

For those interested in the Carteret Islands issue you can find some work by photojournalist Bjorn Hansen here: http://www.bjornstighansen.com/?p=92

For those interested in Bougainville in general it has come to my attention that there are plenty of videos to be found on You-Tube.

More from me later.