JRS
will collaborate with the UNHCR to undertake a participatory assessment of West
Papuan refugees to establish the scope of their challenges and needs. Wren
Chadwick, JRS Australia's representative in PNG's Western Province, says the
exercise will help JRS to provide assistance that is tailored to the needs of
the 10,000 refugees who have lived in the border region of PNG for the past two
decades.
Wren,
who arrived in PNG in early December to support the work of the diocese of
Daru-Kiunga with refugees, has spent the past two months researching ways in
which to continue the groundwork laid by her predecessor, Mariano Griva.
'December wasn't the best time to get things going, but it was a good opportunity
to slowly orientate myself to issues and the place,' she said. 'I've learnt
from my previous experience that if you try to dive in too quickly you often
waste time and effort. You need to gain people's trust before you can work out
what's achievable.
In
response to one of the needs she has identified, Wren will hold training
sessions for local priests and diocesan personnel on refugee and human rights
law.
Wren
plans to expand the purpose of the local JRS newsletter, which aims to share
information with refugees to help them make informed decisions. 'I thought that
was a good opportunity to involve them in creating that information. We've got
a group who are coming on a weekly basis to create a participatory newsletter;
they go out and do stories, put articles together, and analyse them. The exercise
will also enable them to be critical about any information source.'
This
skills transfer and giving voice to refugees are especially important in PNG,
where education is often abruptly terminated on the basis of exam results. 'I
went around to introduce the project, and had no idea who would turn up. I
ended up with 16 very keen young people, and more have joined since the word
has got out there. I might have a problem keeping the numbers manageable!'
Meanwhile, Fr
Chris Jenkins SJ, acting parish priest at Norwood in South Australia, will join
JRS East Africa in April. He will work with refugees from Sudan and Somalia in
Kakuma camp in Kenya, and will provide pastoral care, staff support, counselling
and tertiary education. Time permitting, he hopes to spend a couple of weeks
working with JRS Australia on Christmas Island before leaving for Africa.
In preparation
for his latest appointment, Fr Chris was part of a group of refugee advocates
which gathered in Rome last month to undertake a course aimed at sensitising
them to challenges faced by refugees and their struggle for human rights. The
group was also encouraged to begin reflecting in a deep way on Father Arrupe's
vision and the Ignatian roots of the mission of JRS, which celebrates its 30th
anniversary this year.
For more on Jesuit Refugee Service, go to www.jrs.org.au.