After more than two and a half years of restrictions and lockdowns, it was possible to travel to Papua again. Vera Wesseling, financial and project officer at Hapin, did the honors and visited the cities of Merauke and Jayapura in the summer of this year. Vera: “The work of our partner organizations in Papua has not come to a standstill. We continued to work with undiminished enthusiasm, not least by young people.”
Following her visit, Vera was interviewed by the Reformatorisch Dagblad (15-10-2022). The reason was the unrest after the discovery of four bodies near Timika at the end of August. The event followed the government’s decision to create three new provinces in Papua. Opponents believe that this decision causes division in Papua resulting in mass demonstrations. Vera talked about it with several young people in Papua. “The people I met, asked themselves who would benefit from a new province division. But it doesn’t get them down. On the one hand, they are aware of the ways in which Papuans are disadvantaged and are concerned about the disappearance of their culture. But at the same time they are very pragmatic, roll up their sleeves and set up very concrete projects. And luckily they know where to find Hapin.” Hapin’s project program bears witness to this: at the moment most of the initiators are relatively young Papuans, aged between 20 and 40 years old.
Struggle in Papua therefore not only takes place in the form of protest, but also precisely through projects aimed at improving the economic and social position of the Papuans. This goes hand in hand with a flourishing of the cultural heritage. Vera: “We see a lot of interest among young people for art, music, song and dance of their ancestors. The number of project applications for educational art projects is increasing. It strengthens their own identity and prevents Papuan cultural traditions from disappearing.” Despite all the bad news that so often reach us from Papua, this gives us hope.
