Jayapura

After two nights on a ship, curled around my bags, holding my trusty Swiss Army knife as protection from the spak (drunk) man that assaulted me in Wewak, I found myself in the sleepy town of Vanimo. While waiting the 24 hours it takes to receive my Indonesian visa, I snorkeled in the bay and body surfed waves near the seaside market.

Thanks to my American passport, the border crossing was relatively easy. The Indonesian officials required my Japanese friend, who I met on the ship in Wewak, to complete a few extra formalities.

I noticed the differences between PNG and West Papua immediately. The scenery transitioned quickly from seaside huts to motorbikes speeding across smoothly paved roads. Although its only a 2 hour drive between Vanimo and Jayapura, the culture is quite diverse; however, both are equally covered with trash. Guess that goes along with being border towns?

The city is buzzing with people and motorbikes. Its so freeing to be able to walk the streets at night and not have to worry about being raped or stabbed with a bush knife. People are everywhere, kids running in and out of the stalls. Imagine any Southeast Asian country. Street vendors selling everything from buai, sunglasses, pirated dvds and dcs, dried fish, shoes, mobile phones. Most of the food I've eaten has been from street vendors...fried bananas, fried taro, fried something that was greasy and crunchy??? For my Thanksgiving dinner I had some type of fish ball noodle soup...well, I hope it was fish and not one of the may cats I see roaming the littered streets. Its not like I can read the menu or understand the language.

Everyone speaks Bahasa, which makes things more challenging. In the taxi crossing the border I was able to get a few translations from Pidgin to Bahasa. Most communication is written in a small book I carry around. Yesterday when I tried to book a flight to Flores with the travel agency, the man drew a clock with the hands pointing to 9:00..I took that as "come back tomorrow at 9!" Finally today after 3 hours, a motorbike ride to buy a map, and the handful of words I had scratched into my book, I was able to get a flight to Bali.

Today Kit (the Japanese volunteer) and I roamed through an enormous market. Shirts, mops, fresh fish, oil, buckets, garlic, watermelon, shoes, chairs, soap, nuts, dried fish, and lots of other familiar and unrecognizable things. We tasted some fruit which skin looked like a snake. It wasn't delicious but was very interesting.

Luckily tonight there is a live music festival! I couldn't have arrived at a better time.

I leave for the airport at 430 in the morning and hope to find my way to Flores from Bali. And the adventure continues.....

Tis the Season

A buzz fills the humid air of Madang. Everyone is flooding into the Provincial Capital for graduations and to visit wontoks for the holidays. The streets and shops are swarming with people. Ships flow in and out of the port filled with visitors and cargo. All the resorts and guest houses are booked through the end of the year. With the incoming tourists and rascals looking for opportunities, the none too hidden costs of security are heightened. The crowds gather at the main bus stop outside the market, where Nestle and Digicel adverts painted on cinderblock passes for development. Street children with yellow eyes walk aimlessly hustling for toea (coins), or for nothing. They cling to uncles and brothers who sell single smokes and stolen mobile phones as they walk through the diesel fumes between buses. The alleys between shops are filled with vendors selling buai and smokes. Men with bowl cuts, shaved heads, cornrolls, and dreads spit and throw market trash and buai everywhere. Big football sized bare feet stomp around mounds of pawpaw rinds and wopa biscuit wrappers.


In Papindo Supermarket it’s definitely the Christmas season. The decorations look as if they were taken directly from Clark W. Griswold’s attic. Cheap plastic Santa Clauses and reindeer are hung to anything standing still. Loud speakers blaring Pacific reggae music lure customers inside for a free cup of rice. Two solemn faced security guards give pat downs as you enter and exit the shop.

School holidays have unofficially begun despite the approaching official closing day, December 5th. When I first arrived I was told that the Country basically shut down for over two months during the Christmas break. This is proving to be true. Several weeks ago when visiting schools to follow up with teachers who participated in a training, I found schools partially filled with students without teachers. The classrooms were speckled with the occasional gathering of children twisting each others hair and playing cards, Head Teacher offices were empty, and oblivious mothers were selling flour balls and ice blocks under nearby mango trees.

For these reasons, tis the season for a vacation! My great Pacific adventure by sea begins today!!! For 10 weeks, with my backpack, camera and snorkel in tow, I plan to travel solo from Papua New Guinea, across all the islands of Indonesia, through Malaysia and back.There’s an amplified tendency to give into whims when traveling independently. It’s fueled by the sense of empowerment and backed by inspiration to take a chance, to explore, to learn. The embodiment of life leads to the most interesting of destinations. I hope find internet cafes to be able share my stories during my travels!

International Children's Day

November 20th marks the day that the United Nations Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Right of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

Children and teachers from all the schools in Madang town gathered at the Provincial Government Offices where we rallied to begin our march.









We marched through town shouting "Respect Children's Rights!" It was chilling; it was moving. It felt incredible to march through the streets of Papua New Guinea to take a stand against corporal punishment.


Seeing these children's faces and hearing their voices crying out to their community moved me to tears.

Mangos, Dancing, Bilums, & Blackouts

Leaping towards the sounds of falling mangos is rainy season entertainment. You hear the ripe mango as it falls, splitting the leaves and bouncing off branches. Seconds after the thud, the golden mango is held high above a proud head. You think to yourself, I almost had it…the next one is mine! The entire country smells as sweet as a mango….well besides the PMVs. They still smell like buai sweat.

I can’t say it’s a hard life here in paradise. Marleen and I decided to hit the second hand shops yesterday afternoon during our lunch break. It’s hit or miss. After smothering in the “heat box” as I call them and rummaging through the mostly Asian brand clothing, I happened upon two good buys. And by good buys I mean, the stains came out in the wash, there were no holes, and they fit! My waist line continues to grow with each expat dinner party and each empty bottle of wine and SP (South Pacific Beer). We have discovered the night life at Madang Country Club on Fridays where we first eat Chinese dinner at the attached Eden’s Restaurant. Then once the lights go down and the parka carpet is rolled back, we hit the dance floor. Last Friday we met PNGs only mortician…I call her Tina. On the dance floor she is Ms Tunner herself! For two weekends in a row we closed down Pils Rapa, Madang’s only night club. They blast PNG music with a few Australian and American hits from the 80s and 90s. It’s funny to watch the waves of people enter and exit the dance floor with each song. As soon as a song ends, the people run off the floor…no one wants to be caught on the floor without music. As soon as the next song begins they run back on the floor. This continues all night, on and off, on and off. I enjoy Pils Rapa, being able to let loose and dance!

Work continues to be a roller coaster of successes and challenges. Last month I facilitated Madang’s first inclusive education stakeholders meeting.
Of the 23 stakeholders within the province, 13 were in attendance. Over half, that is a success in my eyes! The teachers at the center finally had an “ah-ha” moment the other day after 5 months of discussion about enrolling the center-based students into mainstream schools. The Provincial Department has yet to take ownership of special needs students in school and the board of the center is reluctant to stop center-based school enrollments for next year. Although much as been accomplished, there is a lot to be done. I am glad I am being challenged…I am growing, learning, becoming a more competent advisor.

Still haven’t faced my fear of diving. I had planned to take the open water course before my trip to Indonesia but somehow November 26th is just around the corner. I plan to travel by ships and ferries from Madang up the coast to Vanimo, the last town in PNG before the Indonesian border, where I’ll stay the one day it requires to get an Indonesian visa. Then I’ll cross the border to Jayapura and begin island hopping across Flores, Lombok, Bali, Nusa Lemmbongan, and eventually through Java, Sumatra around around xmas and new years. Then I’m meeting Marleen, Jolanda, Anna and Albert in Singapore to hop on a train through Malaysia for most of January. Then I’ll have to start making my way by ship back to Madang. Ships and ferries will be an adventure as I have been told that they may only go once or twice a week…and that’s even uncertain! But really, what travel plans in any developing country are ever certain?!?!?

Kate models her new braille pattern bilum.
My bilum obsession...I mean collection, continues to grow. Roselyn gave me another bilum , which brings my collection to 6 now! This one is great because it has a long strap. Its a patchwork pattern not the Braille pattern that I dream of or any of the other traditional patterns such as the mosquito coil, hockey stick or key patterns. Roselyn and her children, Stephanie and Dunston are coming for the weekend. I received a package from The Graves family, friends of my Dad and Carol, and inside where tons of American luxuries! Thank you! I plan to share the M&Ms and dvds with Roselyn and the kids when they come.

Blackout and earthquakes seem like everyday occurrences. So, when I ran out of electricity units the other night I thought it was another black out. I noticed the glow of my neighbor’s security lights from my veranda and realized it had been a while since I topped up my meter. I didn’t have my usual 10 kina back up units so my black bean burgers had to wait another night. This meant I had a sleepless night without a fan. Hot and sticky with the air so thick I could barely breathe. After topping up at The Butchery, Madang’s high end grocery store, the following morning, I rushed home to enter my top up code into the meter…I had fresh yellow fin tuna in the fridge that I didn’t want to spoil. I turned out all the lights and fans from the night before and hurried down my wobbly stairs for work. Now that it’s the end of the school year, I am busy writing strategic plans for next year and find myself working late hours. When I entered my house after 6:00 I was hit by a wave of heat. It’s usually very warm in my concrete house in the afternoons, but this was much more intense. When I entered the kitchen I found the heat source, a bright red stove coil! Last night when the units ran out I was boiling black beans and in my rush through the house that morning turning off fans and lights I forgot about the stove!

Typical life of a volunteer in Madang. According the volunteers in the highlands and other islands, life is much different.

Obama Makes History

November 4th 2008 is an epic day. A day that I will remember forever. A day that will be marked in history. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States! Barack Obama is the 1st African American President of the United States. Barack Obama is our voice of hope and change.

As President-elect Obama said so eloquently last night, “our stories are singular but our destiny is shared.” I couldn’t agree more. In today’s interconnected world, America can’t do it alone. He reminded us that this election is not change itself; this election brings the opportunity for change. He challenged us to "summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other." His powerful and inspiring words moved me to tears and I couldn’t have been more proud to be an American than I was at that very moment. YES WE CAN!

I find it incredibly enriching to experience this moment within the International and multi-national contexts. From this distance I get a good world view. I see how this election effects more than just Americans. Discussions on the significant impact the American election has on the world and questions regarding voting systems and electoral colleges arise. Media saturation stretches beyond the East and West Coasts and spreads across pages of PNG newspapers. It’s all abstract for PNG, the idea of market crashes and bailout plans. The idea of a near two year campaign trail is also abstract for PNG and smaller countries. The elections in Holland span a single month. In Australia, where mandatory voting is implemented, the elections trail for one year. Elections in Papua New Guinea, using a rank voting system of your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of candidates, cannot hide corruption and often times leads to administration disputes. In Mt Hagan last week these disputes resulted in the burning of the Provincial Administration Building and bridge to the town. For my Italian friend, I can see how he is skeptical of one person bringing about change when there are new political officials elected each year in his country. But isn’t that what is great about America, our freedom and our ability to change? Not all are skeptical. My Spanish friend said she was moved to tears by Obama’s speech.

Viewing the questions of race and gender elicited by this presidential race within a developmental context intensifies its significance. CNN and their “magic wall” of touch screen statistics indicated that Obama and the Democratic Party won in less southern states than during the Clinton, Gore and Kerry campaigns. I am not a political analyst, but I believe this indicates certain levels of concern. At the election party tonight, my Italian friend critically questioned the Papua New Guineans celebrating in the streets. He challenged the idea of their celebration of a black man winning the American Presidency calling it racism. Through my eyes I see their celebration as an opportunity to dream. They see that there is a country out there --call it America-- that is filled with millions of white Christians who voted freely to elect a black man, son of a Muslim, to be their President. I see it as a promise that there is a place in the world where such a thing happens. With Obama's background, including his upbringing in Indonesia, he is able to understand the problems faced by poorer countries. This glorious epic makes America stand again as the land of extraordinary opportunity and limitless possibilities. I voted for my candidate not due to race or gender, but for the hope he inspires, the vision he shares, and the motivation for change he summons of the American people.

In a celebratory call to my best friend Dre, now living in a Blue State for the first time in her life, we chanted OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA! from across the Pacific! It was a wonderful moment in my life. The celebration of Barack Obama as the President Elect of the United States of America is a significant moment across the world!

Promoting Education for All through Inclusive Education

"A dominant problem in the disability field is the lack of access to education for both children and adults with disabilities. As education is a fundamental right for all, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and protected through various international conventions, this is a very serious problem. In a majority of countries, there is a dramatic difference in the educational opportunities provided for disabled children and those provided for non-disabled children. It will simply not be possible to realize the goal of Education for All if we do not achieve a complete change in the situation." - Bengt Lindqvist, the United Nations Special Reporter on Human Rights and Disability

The Dakar Framework for Action adopted a World Declaration on Education for All (EFA) in 2000, which established the goal to provide every girl and boy with primary school education by 2015. It also clearly identified Inclusive Education (IE) as a key strategy for the development of EFA.

The constructs of IE is still an emergent topic. Conceptually, IE first emerged in PNG National Policy and Guidelines for Special Education in 1994 as the goal to integrate students with disabilities into mainstream schools. Despite IE becoming an increasingly familiar term it does not necessarily describe common knowledge and practice.

IE in the context of EFA is a complex issue. Disability includes an array of issues crossing health, education, social welfare, and employment sectors. Another area of complexity is the different classifications of special education needs. IE includes children who are disabled, gifted and disadvantaged (e.g., street and working children, children from remote or nomadic populations, children from linguistic, cultural, or ethnic minorities, children who have lost their parents to AIDS or civil strife) (UNESCO, 2001). This definition shifts the focus of disability from a biological deficit to disability arising from disadvantages from the environment. This is consistent with the social model of disability that is upheld by many disability rights organizations. Specifically, Inclusive Education focuses on the environment. Special and Integrated Education focuses on an individual who needs fixing-either by special schools, teachers, or treatment.

In PNG the focus has been on shifting ngo special schools into resource centres. The main roles of these centres are to provide trainings for teachers, develop and disseminate materials and teaching methods, support mainstream teachers and parents, and provide short-term (bridging) help to individual students. Another important component of these resource centres is Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR). CBR programmes provide an array of services aimed at creating inclusive communities. The coordination of CBR and IE will prepare individuals with disabilities to live and work in their communities.

Linking schools, ngos, governmental bodies and community resources involves enormous challenges. Clearly progress has been made, yet much is to be accomplished to achieve inclusive societies and Education for All through Inclusive Education.