lessons learned

Luckily the day was nice enough to still hold the woman in conservation graduation at Mahonia. I arrived early to help and was sent to the kitchen to peel cucumbers and slice papaya (by the way, PNG is home to the best papaya I have ever tasted). I also continued to learn pidgin phrases and can now say "hello, my name is Brenna, I am from America, where are you from?" I can also talk about kitchen utensils although most of the pidgin vocabulary is the same with English (knife is knife).

The graduation was small but very nice. Held at Mahonia, we started with a few speeches. I was most impressed by the talk Analise, one of the main women at Mahonia, gave to the group. An excerpt:

"Today we are able to stand in front of a male dominated society what we couldn’t do most probably just ten years ago and talk about issues that clearly effect us. For myself, being a young educated woman trying to take up the role in educating people in our society about conservation and good resource management is very challenging especially one of my duties is to run a training... I am running a meeting and there are 20 males. I often ask myself and I often ask the group ‘where are the females?' And the most likely answer would probably be 'oh, they’ve gone to the garden… they have to take care of the kids...’ which is the typical answer for most of the trainings that I’ve run...Many times the other half of the population always underestimates our capabilities. But today I strongly want to encourage the graduating class that do not ever ever think that you cannot do anything in this world. Always believe that where there is a will and a heart to do the work, then there is always a way. I encourage you to use the knowledge that you have acquired as a tool in your work of conservation especially in our rapidly changing society. Knowledge is power to use so use it wisely and let’s all try to make a change in this culturally difficult society of ours. Let’s stand up and take the lead and start making changes for the better of our children, the society, and our country"

This inspirational talk concluded with the handing of certificates to the women of the program.

Analise talking

Graduating

The first graduating class of the woman in conservation group

I have one more week here in Walindi and today I was struck by the thought that it is just not enough time to get to know the Mahonia program, the staff, or the students. Today I met a young Australian woman who is volunteering for a year here (through a program called Live and Learn) and I found myself to be a bit jealous of her life here. She confessed the first three months (she has been here four) were extraordinarily difficult mostly due to cultural differences and that it is difficult to be a young, single, white woman in Papua New Guinea (same in Mexico, Egypt, and other places when one is strikingly different from the native people). Over the past 5 years I have had a glimpse of life as an international volunteer in a developing country. Yet I never stay long enough to actually do any good or become a part of the community. While I still believe learning and interacting even for a week is better than no interaction at all, I felt strongly today that I wish I could participate more.

There is so much that needs to be done here - yet the same is true anywhere in the world including the States. Or, for example - I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the community conservation group near Sydney. Based on the same idea as Mahonia - a group of concerned citizens get together, become better educated on marine conservation, and then go out to their local communities to continue education efforts. What is the difference between such a group in developed Australia or the States versus the group here in Papua New Guinea? Does Mahonia deserve extra attention, money, and time simply because PNG is not as developed as Australia? My social conscience screams yes. Yet I know that when I begin my new career as a PhD student in the states (I hope next fall!) I will be faced with my own new local community with conservation needs. How do I, an educated biologist, put my skills to best use? I struggle with the need to help my own country (boy do we need it) and help other countries. Can I do both? Will I ever have a "peace corps" experience where I live in one place long enough to really get to know the people? I hope so. I actually hope to participate in a peace corps program perhaps after graduate school but by then I'll be ancient (over 30!) and ready to settle down for a bit. So we'll see. But I felt empowered today as I listened to Analise talk and watched the women step forward to their hard-earned certificate. While I know I must leave this part of the world and continue with scholarship duties, I look forward to coming back and learning what more they have accomplished.

In the meantime, I encourage anyone who is interested to see:
www.mahonia.org