An interview with Michael Bluett, PBI volunteer from the UK now working in Wamena, Indonesia.

Tell me why you decided to volunteer for PBI?

I heard about PBI about three years before I actually joined, at a conference on volunteering opportunities abroad. I had been working as a youth and community worker in the UK and I was interested in new experiences abroad using my skills and in developing new ones.

Why did you choose to join three years later?

I went to live in Italy for three years, which was an exciting experience and gave me the confidence that I needed.  It proved that could learn a language and live abroad, the things that I needed to be able to join PBI. What it didn't give me was the real opportunity that PBI offers, the in-depth working in another country with the social issues.

Tell me about Wamena, the part of Indonesia where you're working.

Indonesia itself is a huge country, Wamena is in Papua. Papua in itself is a huge island; about twice the size of the UK.  It is 5000 feet up in the Central Highlands, a small town by our standards, around 10,000 people. It's very busy because it’s the central point for access to the Highlands, which is only possible by plane. Currently there’s no road between the lowland cities and the Highlands, which is were I live. It’s a really crazy place to live, you come in on these little planes that you wouldn't think would fly, in the airport the military planes also arrive bringing in food and petrol and all the other things that are needed to create a modern economy. The basic local economy is very much subsistence farming, the people live in traditional Honai huts wearing traditional dress. Once you leave the town of Wamena itself, the vast majority of people live in a very traditional way.

What does the work you do involve?

In Wamena we do protective accompaniment for local organisations that are doing sensitive work, or that work in sensitive areas investigating human rights violations in various parts of the Highlands.  PA here in Papua involves the organisation making a request for PBI to go with them physically, by car, bus or by plane, to a new town where there has been a report of a case; we stay with them during their meetings and investigations in the area.

Can you give us an example of a protective accompaniment you have done recently?

We recently did an accompaniment in a town called Mulia. Historically there have been a lot of conflicts there for over 30 years. These problems have become quite entrenched; there are armed rebel groups and a high military presence in the area. We were accompanying the Papua branch of the Commission for the Disappeared (KontraS Papua). The practice of PBI is to explain to the authorities both civil and military, who we are, what we are there for and who we are accompanying. KontraS Papua was collecting information about the new IDPs (internally displaced people). In 2005 there was an armed conflict between the army and the rebel groups, which led to a refugee crisis of about 16,000 people that is still unresolved; most people haven’t moved back to their homes.

The most recent incident was in December 2006. This is a politically sensitive time because the independence movement in Papua has an anniversary date in December. One of the armed rebel groups in the hills publically displayed the Papua Independence flag which is an illegal act. This was followed by an incident where two government soldiers were killed by armed rebels. In January there was a government military offensive. The army and Special Forces went into the mountains. This military offensive precipitated the displacement of 3-4000 local people into the valley. These displaced people had to confront a range of problems: lack of access to food, malnutrition, bad sanitation and associated diseases. There is a growing number of incidents of malaria because these are mountain people who have been displaced to the valley. It’s now 2 months since they fled and there is an increased death rate amongst the refugees.

How did the accompaniment go?

It went very well, we were there for a week. The person we were accompanying felt more confident as the week went on. At the beginning he was nervous about us meeting with the authorities, even though he was aware of our role. However, by the third day he was wearing KontraS Papua T-shirt openly around the town. He told us this was because he was with PBI.

One important thing that the client told us was that his key contacts: local organizations and churches were much more willing to talk to him when he was with us, even though he and his family were from the local area. This is because of the entrenched problems, since there is such mistrust between everyone. The presence of internationals gives a neutrality which is impossible to find otherwise in the complexity of this conflict.

So your presence legitimised his work?

Yes

What’s been the best thing about working with PBI?

The experiences I’ve had working with local organisations and people who are working for justice and peace in Papua. We have a strong partnership with a local organisation that that works to resolve conflict. Their members use traditional methods and refer back to traditional cultures that are rapidly becoming lost with the modernisation I described in Wamena.  Working with them and seeing how they can make a connection with other people through their work and how PBI can support that is very exciting. They have a lot of plans and we are running to keep up with them, so it’s great!

Is there anything you find particularly hard about being on the project?

Distance from family and friends is the hardest thing, having the time difference of 8 or 9 hours with Europe makes it difficult.  Making time to speak to family and friends is something I haven’t done enough of.