Papua, We’ll be Back!

Guilty as charged! We really haven’t been really good about updating you about our trip to Papua.  Mainly because we had really packed days and all the experiences were so mind-blowing that I got so distracted from writing.

The journey started off in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province.  For clarity purposes, Papua (or better known by the locals as Tanah Papua) consists of two provinces:  Papua province and West Papua province.

After spending only one night in Jayapura, we moved on to Manokwari, which is the provincial capital of West Papua province. Our photographer, Josh Estey, was really blown away when we arrived in the city.  He was here just a few years back and today, he hardly recognized the city!  The city used to have only a few hotels, and even the best of them is still not very good but today, they have a Swis Bel chain hotel and a KFC!

We spent the afternoon on the nearby beach and seriously, I think the beach is much better than what we know here in Java or even Bali.

Sitting on the beach, I read all the background papers given to us by UNICEF on HIV and AIDS.  The numbers and statistics on HIV and AIDS in Tanah Papua is really mind boggling.  Not only as I said in an earlier post, that it is ten times higher than the national rate, but the concentration of cases are among young people and housewives — a group that usually is not considered as a high-risk group.

So, the next day, when we started going out onto the field, I was determined to find out why.

Our first stop is the Prafi district.  Two hours off of Manokwari, this district fits the mould of a sleepy district in most of Indonesia’s Eastern provinces.  One winding road with occasional line of houses, occasional cars and motorbikes coming from the opposite direction, and durian!  (Now, this is not something usual and the durian looks different from what I am used to seeing).  The durian is smaller.  Much smaller and the color is also darker.

Anyway, we’ll get back to durian later.  When we arrived at Kampung Waseki Pop, we found a group of men and young people sitting in the shade under a honai (a traditional hut).  Chatting away with children running around them. A group of three HIV and AIDS educators came to join them and after a brief introduction started their socialization session.

Everyone listened in attentively and everyone has a question to ask.  It all went great until the time comes for these peer educators to demonstrate the use of condom.  As soon as the condom is pulled out, the village head immediately stood up and yelled, “Take that away from this village! No body in this village needs that. We are good people.  We don’t have this disease.  Only people who live like bats can have that disease.”

Undeterred our new peer educator friends calmly explained to him that condom is not some evil thing that needs to be feared. If anything, it can keep the villagers safe from exactly the diseases he so feared.

After some persuasion, he allowed our friends to continue their session.

And then, another comment from the audience, “Ah, the condom brand you’re bringing is a bad brand!” a man in his 40s suddenly interjected.

“That condom breaks easily!  It usually breaks after a week usage!” he said.

Hearing this made me pulled down my camera.  What?  A week?

Forget the need of being a fly on the wall. First of all, there is no wall here and Secondly, seriously?  a week of using the same condom?

“Pak, condom is not reusable,”  I said.

“Ah, what do you know?  You’re a woman. You never have to use it.” he said dismissing my comments and laughed.

I looked over to the peer educators who unlike me didn’t look surprised at all.  They explained more about the need to use your condom only once to be effective and the other itty gritty details of the how-to’s and why’s.

I kept my peace then and inside, I have growing respect for our peer educator friends.

Their dedication and commitment in educating the people in this district is simply amazing and their perseverance have also bear fruits.  The first in the province, the local government of this district has included education on HIV and AIDS in their annual special autonomy budget.  The head of the local government, Eddy Waluyo, said that they believe if any change is to happen in this district, it will come from the youth, “The youth is the future of our society here and anywhere, really.  It is our job as the government and as the older generation to support them.”

All positive, we moved on to Sorong city, also in West Papua province.

Here, we met a local NGO called, “Yayasan Sosial Agustinus”.  They have been working on HIV and AIDS prevention for the past 13 years.  ”During a study in 2004, the problem here was still very typical. HIV and AIDS was more prevalent among groups, traditionally categorized as high-risk groups. [meaning commercial sex workers, etc], but when another study is conducted in 2006, the numbers have flipped.” he said. “The rate among commercial sex workers significantly dropped and there is a rise in the numbers among the general population.”

It is the same study that concluded that Papua is faced by a generalized epidemic of HIV and AIDS.  Simply put, this means that EVERYBODY is at risk.  Including the young people.

For organizations, such as YSA, this serves as a wake up call. They changed their approach and focus on what traditionally is considered as ‘low-risk’ group.

Every morning, their peer educators come into the office and do an hour of role play to make sure they know the answers to any HIV and AIDS related questions by heart and discuss the best most effective ways to explain it to different target audience.

Their office is in the heart of the commercial sex workers localization in the heart of Sorong city.  With 270 women working there (all from East Java, apparently), they are working side by side with the very target audience to increase their awareness.

The condition is worrying and the problem is there for all to see but hope is also as apparent.

“I will continue doing this for as long as i live,” said Hendra, a radio broadcaster who is also a peer educator.  ”I am not looking for money.  I’m just looking to do my part for the young generation in Papua,” he said.