Helping in Daru-Kiunga
From the 8-18 February 2007, Fr David Holdcroft (Country Director, JRS Australia) and Fr Bernard Arputhasamy (Regional Director, JRS Asia-Pacific) visited the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga, Papua New Guinea. The Diocese of Daru-Kiunga is in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Bishop of the Diocese, Gilles Cote, SMM, invited JRS to consider assisting him in the service of refugees in the Western Province, sharing the border with West Papua. There are about 10,000 West Papuan refugees in here. The oldest movement of the West Papuan refugees to PNG is in the 1960s while the majority of them came between 1984 and 1986. The refugees live interspersed in several settlements along the border, some of whom are amongst the PNG nationals. Visiting some of these villages, accessible only by boat along the Fly River or through arduous travels by land, we noticed many signs of neglect and poverty-food, shelter, clothing, education, etc. The Diocese of Daru-Kiunga has a comprehensive Diocesan plan, within which the refugees are seen as part of the local Catholic parishes. The Office for Refugees with three staff members coordinate the concerns of refugees, i.e. pastoral/spiritual, education, health, women and children, etc. While these services continue, there is a considerable amount of confusion amongst the Diocesan staff, parishioners and the refugees themselves concerning the status of refugees, their rights and their options for the future. Thus, the Bishop has requested JRS for assistance in the area of information and advocacy. Plans are on the way to place a JRS Information-Advocacy Officer to work within the Diocesan structure. The Information-Advocacy Officer will assist in gathering accurate information on the rights of refugees and the situation in West Papua, etc. so that the refugees themselves will be aware of their rights and options for making decisions. S/he will also assist the Diocese in strengthening its advocacy capacity. Since JRS has wider international network, it could highlight the concerns of the refugees internationally to seek for a durable solution to their plight.
Strategic Planning
The Regional Office staff, Country Directors and Council of JRS Asia-Pacific met from March 27-31 to finalize the Strategic Plans for JRS for the coming years. This process began in 2005 to reflect on the work of JRS for the past 25 years. From a small charismatic organization, it has grown in number of staff, projects, countries, funding and benefactors for the various projects, etc. while the plight of refugees and displaced people in the Region has sharply increased. Thus, we are in the period of transition towards more institutionalization while trying to be faithful to our mission of accompanying, serving and advocating the cause of refugees and displaced people. Any moment of transition or change brings with it some discomfort or tension, a necessary dilemma in order to adapt to the changing situation and needs of the refugees and displaced. We need to question how we could improve on our service to the refugees and displaced people, understand what is happening in our environment that is creating refugees/root causes and seek for durable solutions. However, we do not want to loose what we cherish and value most in JRS, i.e. the privileged place of being in direct and personal contact with refugees and displaced people in their joys and sorrows, hopes and despair, peace and conflict.
As part of the process, there will be a series of Programme Training Workshops (PTW) these coming months in different countries of the region. This PTW is to build the capacity of the JRS staff who are engaged in various projects that provide direct service to refugees and displaced people (e.g. education, income generating activities, legal casework, training, landmines campaign, rehabilitation/reconstruction, social services, health clinics, counseling, advocacy for refugee rights, etc.). Our mission to accompany, serve and advocate the cause of refugees and displaced people considers the management or administrative aspects of our work while not diminishing the demands of being in direct and personal contact with those whom we are called to serve.
Evaluating Tsunami Relief Efforts
By the first week of March, JRS Indonesia completed a three-week long external evaluation of the Tsunami Relief Project in Aceh. There were four evaluators to access the work of JRS (management, administration, quality of service and work, etc.) for the survivors of the December 2004 tsunami disaster. The initial phase for the Tsunami Relief Project was 2005-2006. These coming weeks the evaluation team is finalizing the report which the JRS Indonesia will study the findings and recommendations made on the tsunami response.