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My Days in Papua New Guinea

By: Sheela Daskara, VSO Volunteer, Sri Lanka

I left Sri Lanka in late July 2010 for a two year assignment in Papua New Guinea (PNG). I am happy to call myself as the first Volunteer to leave the country under VSO International Volunteer Scheme. My base is in Lorengau, a small town in Manus province, an island province. HIV /AIDS is my area of work and am working as a Capacity Building Advisor to the Manus Provincial AIDS Committee Secretariat. Papua New Guinea has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the

Pacific Region. The PNG government and the Australian government spend lot of money in reducing the rates of HIV incidents in the country. It is a pleasure to be of some use to their effort in arresting the HIV situation in PNG.

During my first few weeks in Manus I had a good company. A lady, her name is Racheal, came and stayed with me until I get used to the environment. After she left I had to start live on my own and there I started missing home. I think the stay with a local gave me some insights into the environment and the practices. It gave me strength to struggle until I get used to the situation. Now I have little time to miss home as there is so much to think and do.

Adopting to the Environment

PNG is different to Sri Lankain many ways. The culture, their beliefs, and the life style I had to accustom to. Papua New Guineans do not have the habit of taking lunch. Their main meal is dinner. Lunch goes unnoticed. As a person who is used to have a good lunch and a light dinner I found it very difficult to get adjusted. In fact I think I still cannot get used to that pattern. At work when the others chew “Buai” (Beetle nut) I use to take my lunch. First it was bit odd to eat allalone but now they have got used to my habit. “Buai” is an addiction to all most all Papua New Guineans. They get really uneasy if they do not get “Buai” to chew. I do not know whether I could ever get used to

that habit. Exchanging “Buai” is also considered as something customary.

The staple food in PNG is called “SEGO”, a powder extracted by beating the bark of the sego palm tree. In addition they eat “Thapiok, and kawkaw” (yams).

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Handing over "Buai" at a ceremony as a mark of Appreciation

Tel.: +91 11-26217459Email : vso@ivolunteer.inWebsite: www.ivoindia.org

Sego Palm Tree with its huge flower Food on the table

They also eat a variety of banana cooked. I mostly survive with the fruits, fish and chicken. Vegetables are rare in Manus, as it is an island and does not grow vegetables.

Having a dark skin is a plus point for me. Among the Papua New Guineans, I do not look very distinctive and they accept me as “one kind” (same group).

Day to Remember

Here in Manus most of the travel happens on boats in the sea. Manus province has around 300 small islands and people have to travel between islands for their day to day work. On my work I have to visit some of these islands and I have got used to travel in small ‘Dingy’ boats after I came here. What I enjoyed so far was boat ride from Lorengau to Pelipowai on a small boat and watching dolphins on the way. My work involve quite bit of travel within the province. So far I have travelled to Lombrum Naval Base, Tingou, Paniselu, Mbuke and pelipowai. Within the

provinces I have been to the Waigani, the national Capital District and Madang province.

How it is being a Volunteer

Being a volunteer is very challenging. A paid employee will have assigned duties to perform and it is easy to carry out the job. But with volunteers it is different. People are happy to have a volunteer around them, but they do not know how to work with a volunteer. There is a barrier between volunteer and the people working with the volunteer. They do not know how a volunteer could help in their work. Sometimes they are suspicious too. So this ice between both parties has to be broken. Volunteers have to be extremely patient and innovative to come out of this gloomy

situation. While the paid workers are mandated by the system, the volunteers should know how to influence the system.

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On the way to Paniselu