KIUNG PNG PROJECT, MAUREEN SEXTON

Looking back, my annual planning for 2005 covered three main areas - school related programs (3), introduction of a program called 'Helping to Increase Peace' and a continuation of my limited involvement with health along the border.

The three school related programs are: the school fee assistance scheme (Diocesan); promoting education of refugee girls (UNHCR) and DAFI program for post tertiary students (UNHCR).

School Fee Assistance

I said I would coordinate this scheme which involves compiling a comprehensive list of refugee children in grade 7 up to grade 12 in the North Fly Region Western Province. There are 12 primary schools, 2 middle high schools (yr 9 & 10), 1 technical high school (yr ( & 10) and 1 secondary school which goes to grade 12. This year the refugee student mix in the mainstream schools was:

Level	Male	Female	Total
7	47	51	98
8	85	52	137
9	28	16	44
10	33	14	47
11	3		3
12	5		5
Total	201	133	334

What happens to the children who drop off at the end of year 8 and year 10 ? A good question - there are a lot of unemployed youth who struggle to find meaningful activities and who don't go back to their villages. It is a concern shared by many others in the Diocese. The pattern is similar for National children as well.

Some students attended:

1. C.O.D.E (long distance - trying to upgrade their previous results, but not successfully)

   Level	Male	Female	Total
   9	2	4	6
   10	4	2	6
   Total	6	6	12

2. Kiunga Vocational school (children who had low passes yr in 8 or 10)

   Level	Male	Female	Total
   1 st yr	7	1	8
   2 nd yr	7		7
   Total	14	1	15

In total 361 children received school fee assistance. The amount is approximately 1/4 for yr 7 & 8s and 1/2 for the high school students. School fees are high in PNG compared to the actual income of parents, most being subsistence farmers or low wage earners. The minimum wage in PNG is 75 toea an hour, although most would get K1.50 per hour which is K12 or about A$6 per day. Parents are required to pay for their children's education from elementary right through to year 12.

Assisting with school fees is reducing the burden on parents as well as potentially helping to reduce the numbers of mothers, children, families who resort to prostitution to earn the school fee money. Just prior to Christmas there were daily reports of various scooping exercises conducted by the government and various other organisations to determine high risk areas/behaviours in the spread of HIV/AIDs in PNG. Money for sex was mentioned in all of them and often in relation to school fees and food (Post Courier 17th, 20th 23rd December 2005). The next grant is for a three year period which will take some pressure off the present arrangement where we have been applying annually.

Part of my role is to develop contact with the schools either through the Principal or a contact person and to strengthen parents contact with the schools. In most instances the contact person is the principal. This has worked well. One principal said he would be happy to meet with the guardians of the semi permanent dormitories here in Kiunga if I was ever meeting with them. I was, the guardians came, he came and we had a very fruitful discussion about various issues relating to students in school. I hope to be able to repeat this next year at a time when I know there will be parents in the town, for example at the beginning of the year. Each group shares similar concerns but from different perspectives - accommodation, food, lack of discipline around self-study, days out of school, academic progress. What has been learnt here is also characteristic for other children from remote areas.

Promoting Education of Refugee Girls

I said I would support/promote education of refugee girls with a particular focus on the female students in year 9 and above here in Kiunga.

This year this has meant compiling statistics, holding gatherings (3)with the girls, being a liaison person between the school and the girls/guardians/parents, organising extra tuition, co-ordinating a food sharing program in the various corners, and arranging a small grant to Kiunga Montfort Technical School for science equipment (UNHCR funded).

As you can see from the above statistics there were a total of 30 refugee girls (yr 9 & 10). All but 2 were at Montfort Technical High School (Catholic). Of the 14 who sat the National year 10 exam 2 gained enough merits to proceed to year 11. One of those has been given a scholarship to attend a boarding school outside the province in 2006. This has been offered by UNHCR as part of an incentive to have girls' complete secondary school. Why outside the province?. The Western Province has a poor education record, the only secondary high school in the North Fly Region for yr 11 & 12 is not girl friendly, and has many internal problems - high rate teenage pregnancies, bullying, drugs and alcohol.

Another young woman and myself met with the girls three times before I left for leave in late May. The program was simple, mainly to establish contact and see what the girls might be interested in. We were thinking along the lines of - self esteem, community building, life skills - sports - end of year activity. We went up the highway for our end of year activity to one of the few crystal clear rivers in the vicinity of the Fly river.

As well I wanted to see how a liaison between the school and the students could evolve, particularly following up students who were missing a lot of school, dropping out and those making good or poor progress. I was also interested in creating some links between the school and the parents such as the meeting above. In both situations I felt there was a positive response and genuine appreciation. It will continue in 2006.

DAFI - Sponsorship of Post Tertiary Students

I said I would continue to coordinate this program. Basically this means supporting students already in the scheme and taking on board the new ones. This year we were only successful in placing one person in first year studies - Carolyn in Holy Trinity, Mt Hagen (Primary teaching). There were 3 final year students in St Benedict's Education Campus Divine Word University, Wewak (PT). So there were a total of 4.

It is always a bit hectic at the beginning of the year arranging their transport and being involved from afar in helping them to settle into College. During the year my involvement was minimal, writing occasionally, being available to answer the odd queries they had. I did meet them on their return and debriefed about the year. The three young men have been placed in schools in the North Fly which have a number of refugee students. I normally have opportunities to keep in touch with this new group of teachers throughout the year.

On my return from leave I met the current year 12s to get a feel of what theywould be applying for in 2007 and to check with the principal what their chances were. Since then 5 refugee students have done their national exams, know their grades and their chances of getting accepted into their preferred courses. Three have got their first choice and the other two will get their second choice. One other student who missed out last year due to a mix up with his results will also receive a sponsorship. Some will be doing Teachers training other technical college - mechanic, electrical or business studies. I like this scheme (UNHCR) because it doesn't discriminate between 'official' refugees and 'unofficial' refugees. It also brings me into contact with Mercies in other parts of PNG - Mt Hagen, Wewak and in '06 Goroka.

Helping to Increase/Promote Peace

I received funding from MWI to host a training workshop in March for a basic cum advanced cum introduction to facilitation skills. There were 20 participants from schools, women's groups, religious, a mix of men and women (the latter predominated). I made a commitment to spend a regular amount of time promoting the program - building up resources, providing awareness session. I did this with the assistance of one at times two other people both from other services within the Diocese - Christina from the Women's Service, and Robert from the Justice and Peace Service.

We also provided 6 mini follow-up sessions to the original workshop, 3 one day sessions in Iowara and 2 one and a half day sessions during the annual women's meeting. We ended the year by offering another basic workshop in Kiunga to coincide with the 25th November - End Violence Against Women. Thirteen people came, four men didn't come.

A submission has gone to the Human Rights Small Grant Scheme (AusAid), as we feel confident enough in the process to want to continue; it may or may not come through.

Supporting Health Provision Along the Fly River - Katawim to Meyeop (7 refugee settlements)

I said I would maintain my limited involvement in this area, by attending 2 maternal and child health patrols and be involved in the planning and conducting an annual workshop for the Aid-post workers. This didn't happen for a number of reasons: difficulties coming to a mutual agreement about dates, the parish significantly increased their patrols to the camps and I had 2.5 months out of the country. I kept in touch with the Health Agency and know the maternal and child health clinics did happen and the settlements did receive a visit from the Health Secretary along with a planned visit by the Ok Tedi Medical team.

Other

Aside from this I maintained my contact with the UNHCR representatives. Two activities stand out.

Distribution of birth certificates. Last year we sent just under 3000 form, from 15 refugee settlements/areas in the Northern Fly Region, to UNHCR, who then undertook to get them processed by the PNG Registry. Before this the forms were scrutinised by officials from Border Affairs who were to approval or not approve them. 1720+ certificates were actually processed from only 6 settlements/areas. The rejected settlements were seen as being on the Indonesian side of the border, too close to the border or OPM (independence activists) active areas. The country representative (UNHCR) asked us to distribute these completed forms and to take our time to do GPS mapping of all the initial settlements included in the original exercise, especially those close to the border.

The exact positioning of the refugee settlements will help to strengthen UNHCRs advocacy for these settlements in the future. We used our networks to distribute the certificates and we are slowly mapping the settlements. Some of the areas are quite remote and not so easy to access. For example 2 young men have just come back from the Star Mountains having travelled by bus to Tabubil (3 hours)stayed overnight to deliver some messages and then onto another settlement 30 minutes out of Tabubil. Then they negotiated a guide to take them up the mountains. It was a 2 day walk to Marantikan a refugee settlement close to the Indonesian border ( a local would have done the walk in 1 day). It has been an education for these 2 men as they have only known their own group of refugee settlements.

UNHCR see this birth registration process, especially for the 'border refugees', as being very significant not just because it provides children born here with an identification but because it is a little sign that the Government (Border Affairs) is open to keeping discussions alive about more contentious issues. I was interviewed about the actual birth registration process in 2005, and got a mention in a press release which can be accessed on the UNHCR website. The UNHCR representative is ensuring this process continues and has arranged a training workshop in early February to train people in how to do so, set up a system etc. Two people from the 6 border refugee villages which received certificates will participate. The Social Program will probably remain a conduit for the passage of certificates from here to UNHCR and vice versa.

In November, UNHCR presented a workshop related to a review of the Contingency Plan for a mass influx of refugees. Along with others from the Diocese I took part in this review. It is becoming an annual event and while most do not believe a mass influx is likely to occur, the meeting gives UNHCR an important opportunity to do some awareness raising on the Convention of Refugees which is signed by the PNG Government and on the rights of refugees. Important questions: who is a refugees, why do the border refugees have blanket protection and why can't they be sent back to West Papua? Were raised and discussed. There were Government Departments, Police, Hospital and Educational Institutions represented.

The Country Representative clearly said the West Papuans have a right to refuge because of the current situation in West Papua. He challenged anyone in the room to guarantee that the West Papuan refuge could go home, raise the morning star flag or engage in activities supporting the call for greater autonomy or independence and that they would not be harassed, abused or put into prison, be abducted etc. Most indicated they know this is not possible, the participants also said they are aware of the high presence of Indonesian military.

Occasionally I become involved in 'other' issues - the latest has been with a post Primary teacher graduate. He is one of the DAFI students who graduated last year. He has not been registered because of a mix up between the University and the Education department. It is still unresolved despite lengthy attempts to connect with people who have the ability to correct the problem. Our hope, including the Bishop is that he will get registered and be compensated for a year of no pay. He is not teaching at present because it is too big a burden for the community.

At present Mary Dykes (AVI) has connected me with a Michael Pearson in the PNG Teaching Commission, he has said he will deal with the situation directly. The sad part is Janu is not alone, others do not have anyone to advocate for them.

Being an Australian Volunteer as well as a Mercy Refugee Volunteer is working out well. AVI are prompt with their payments, keep in touch and send simple forms for evaluations etc. No I am not making comparisons or expecting the same I am very happy with my communication within the Mercy structure. However I am wondering if I can save some duplication by simply forwarding copies of the regular reports/evaluations which go to AVI; if you require more than that perhaps you can give me some indication. The assumption is I will still send you half yearly financial reports.

In a previous report I spoke to my time out of the country. I remain grateful to MWI for their part in making that happen. I hope the enclosed activity sheet gives a clear indication of my objectives and aims for 2006. The activities revolve around the activities of this year.

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