It so happened that one day we took ourselves down to Koki where we were introduced to Muere and Anton. Muere is the President of the Port Moresby District Youth Council and Anton is a volunteer from Greenfingers and has done some really great landscaping work outside Dame Kidu's Library.
The first area we were shown was the playing field on the edge of a major road in POM. However due to the lack of toilets in the area our journey took skill to dodge a few unsightly piles on the way. Disgusting as this may sound it is a reality. People drive past Koki everyday without truly realising what is past the stilt housing there. What does it look like under those houses?Well let me show you and you can tell me whether it is acceptable to have Papua New Guineans living like this. I have heard arguments such as, its their problem they need to take ownership. Yes! Very true because no one caused this problem but the people that live there but lets offer an alternative of awareness, that this is not only unhealthy for the marine ecosystem but also very unhealthy for the people that live there. The first boardwalk that we went over was a shock as we saw children playing amongst piles of rubbish as though it was grass. Walking around barefoot with sharp rusty old car parts as if they were just rock or sand. I came to realise that this was their life. This was their back yard and this is what they had to play in. I was at first angry and thought, how did these people allow their children to play down there, they could get really sick. But over time people become accustomed to their surrounds and it becomes normal and the smell that you may have first noticed when you walked in there must fade over time, the senses numbed.
When you are away from the city for long periods of time your senses reawaken. You can smell the grass, feel the wind taste the air but this added sensitivity when brought into a place like Koki is like a serious slap in the face. My stomach was in a knot after spending an hour there. I felt disillusioned, sad, helpless, enraged, enlightened, despair and a feeling of overwhelming hopelessness.
From picking up the rubbish on Ela Beach thinking that was helping to clean our beaches to a feeling of why even bother. How are you ever going to fix that situation? It was not just the rubbish that we were faced but a major social issue. We had reports from our guides that people got sick all the time due to the conditions that they were living in. People would cut their feet then have to get a limb amputated due to the heavy infection.
How did this happen? If this situation had been dealt with when it had first arisen then we would not have a major social issue to deal with. This is not easy to ignore. However, the old saying goes "Ignorance is Bliss". Sometimes it can become a burden to know, it is easier to go on in your life living in your own manifested bliss. Seeing is believing. Here it is see it, believe it, this is your country, these are your people, this is your sea. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to just count your lucky stars that you don't have to wake up to that reality everyday? Many of you will, but that's OK.
Each to their own as they say. Who are we to judge the way other people choose to live their lives, but is it a choice that these children made?
Look at what can be done, if given the tools of empowerment, the landscaping done by Anton and the youth from Greenfingers gives me hope that things can change.
The first area we were shown was the playing field on the edge of a major road in POM. However due to the lack of toilets in the area our journey took skill to dodge a few unsightly piles on the way. Disgusting as this may sound it is a reality. People drive past Koki everyday without truly realising what is past the stilt housing there. What does it look like under those houses?Well let me show you and you can tell me whether it is acceptable to have Papua New Guineans living like this. I have heard arguments such as, its their problem they need to take ownership. Yes! Very true because no one caused this problem but the people that live there but lets offer an alternative of awareness, that this is not only unhealthy for the marine ecosystem but also very unhealthy for the people that live there. The first boardwalk that we went over was a shock as we saw children playing amongst piles of rubbish as though it was grass. Walking around barefoot with sharp rusty old car parts as if they were just rock or sand. I came to realise that this was their life. This was their back yard and this is what they had to play in. I was at first angry and thought, how did these people allow their children to play down there, they could get really sick. But over time people become accustomed to their surrounds and it becomes normal and the smell that you may have first noticed when you walked in there must fade over time, the senses numbed.
When you are away from the city for long periods of time your senses reawaken. You can smell the grass, feel the wind taste the air but this added sensitivity when brought into a place like Koki is like a serious slap in the face. My stomach was in a knot after spending an hour there. I felt disillusioned, sad, helpless, enraged, enlightened, despair and a feeling of overwhelming hopelessness.
From picking up the rubbish on Ela Beach thinking that was helping to clean our beaches to a feeling of why even bother. How are you ever going to fix that situation? It was not just the rubbish that we were faced but a major social issue. We had reports from our guides that people got sick all the time due to the conditions that they were living in. People would cut their feet then have to get a limb amputated due to the heavy infection.
How did this happen? If this situation had been dealt with when it had first arisen then we would not have a major social issue to deal with. This is not easy to ignore. However, the old saying goes "Ignorance is Bliss". Sometimes it can become a burden to know, it is easier to go on in your life living in your own manifested bliss. Seeing is believing. Here it is see it, believe it, this is your country, these are your people, this is your sea. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to just count your lucky stars that you don't have to wake up to that reality everyday? Many of you will, but that's OK.
Each to their own as they say. Who are we to judge the way other people choose to live their lives, but is it a choice that these children made?
Look at what can be done, if given the tools of empowerment, the landscaping done by Anton and the youth from Greenfingers gives me hope that things can change.
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