Katherina Mote, a PBI volunteer from the Indonesian team, tells of some of her experiences as a volunteer working in the Papuan sub-team in Wamena, and the celebrations of International Day of Peace.

“But will there be apples?!  Will there?!â€? Waté asked us.
“Apples???â€? I wondered.  It didn’t dawn on me until a few days later why this 8-year-old, a frequent visitor of our PBI peace library, was so interested in apples!

My PBI Indonesia Project sub-team, located in the remote city of Wamena in the Papuan Central Highlands, was preparing to celebrate the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2006. We decided to organise a bakar batu, a traditional meal for special occasions, which seemed particularly appropriate because it can be used to symbolise peace following tribal wars.  Although we opted out of killing the pigs using the traditional bow-and-arrow method and instead bought pieces of pork from the market, our bakar batu managed to attract some 250 people, including native Papuans and transmigrants from other parts of Indonesia. In addition to the food, they enjoyed a photo exhibition about PBI, peace and Human Rights, watched films, saw a local artist painting a mural reflecting peace in the Baliem Valley and listened to a local group playing music. The highlight of the day, however, was a discussion led by a local facilitator about historical non-violent and violent struggles and how the lessons learned from these could teach different parts of Papuan society to improve their attitudes and relationships and live more peacefully together.

This celebration of the Day of Peace was one of the most interesting accomplishments of the Wamena sub-team while I was in Indonesia. NGO workers, PBI project clients/partners and members of the public mixed with policemen, soldiers and government officials at a peaceful, social event. For the first time in Wamena, representatives from all these groups participated through constructive dialogue.  Although it may sound commonplace elsewhere in the world, this event was of considerable significance in  Wamena and truly examplified PBI’s creation of space for peace.

During my time in Wamena, I also had the opportunity to witness the work of PBI client Theo Hesegem, the only Human Rights activist in an area where free speech and criticism of authorities is highly forbidden and where, due to strict limitations on foreign reporters, Human Rights violations are not easily discovered by the outside world. Due to his bravery and amazing, largely self-taught instinct for defending Human Rights in Papua, Theo has managed to build strong relationships with both the authorities and the local population. He regularly serves as a mediator in conflicts and as an educator in the fields of Human Rights and Human Rights law. He is constantly investigating Human Rights violations throughout the Papuan Central Highlands, and holds a job as a journalist for the Human Rights newspaper Suara Perempuan Papua (The Voice of Papuan Women).

Since the PBI office in Wamena opened in July 2005, the team has been searching for more local activists in the fields of Human Rights and peace.However, the extremely poor rates of education in Papua and the resulting sub-standard knowledge of the Indonesian language, alongside the trauma of suffering over 30 years of human rights violations have generally shocked Papuans into living low-profile lives in fear of challenging the authorities. The Wamena sub-team has therefore found very few people and organisations working in these fields. The fear and lack of education that suffocates life in the Highlands signifies a real need for peace education and empowerment. As I reflect on my time in Wamena, the team there has alreadybegun to shift towards fulfilling these needs and is focused on providing more trainings and events related to peace education.

I have just moved to Banda Aceh, a city in the northern province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra. Though many people would call this city remote, to me, having lived in Wamena for four months, Banda feels like the epitome of civilisation! Now I think back with fondness on Wamena’s pristine nature and the hours of hiking and cycling I did there. I picture village men wearing only kotekas (penis gaurds) and greeting us with ‘wah, wah, wah’. I remember taking photos of people on my digital camera that were greeted with squeals of delight by locals when they realised they were seeing a picture of themselves for the first time in their lives. I recall the lights going out every third evening because the two power stations in Wamena couldn’t provide enough electricity for the whole of the city at peak times. I’m glad that in Aceh, the opportunity to take a shower isn’t directly correlated with how much rain there has been in recent days!  And I remember how appreciated PBI is in the tiny city of Wamena, where there have historically been only silent witnesses to the tragic events that have taken place over the years.

I hope that PBI’s peace education program will be able to assist Papuans in their quest for a more peaceful, stable future, and that maybe children of the next generation will all have tasted apples in their first few years of life so that they don’t have to beg, like Waté did, to try them at a celebration organised by foreigners.