Tuesday, 06 January 2009


Project Papua
Location
West Papua was formerly known as Irian Jaya. During the period that Indonesia was a colony of The Netherlands it was called Dutch New Guinea. It was the last Island that Holland gave back to the Republic Indonesia.
The capital city Jayapura (Hollandia) is located in the northeast of the island, near the border of Papua New Guinea. This island is located between Australia, the Mollusc, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Ocean. This island still has an unexplored nature and magnificent cultures.
The project is located about 15 minutes away from the capital Jayapura in Abepura. Jayapura is located between the mountains and the bay of the Pacific Ocean. The city has 200.000 registered inhabitants. Mostly citizens from other Indonesian islands reside in this city and engage all the jobs. Therefore the “Orang Papua” have less chance on the job market. You can find everything you need here; shops, bars, internet cafes, banks, hospital, consulate of Papua New Guinea etc.

The Pak Pelangi I is located near the main road. It’s about a 20 minutes drive from the airport of Jayapura / Sentani (DJJ) to the project. The orphanage is built in a quiet street, shops are within walking distance from the project.

Travelling around
For many places in Papua a travel permit is neccesary. You can acquire this Surat Jalang at the local police station.
Papua is rich by culture and nature, the island has great valleys and jungles and is good for an expedition or trekking. Near Jayapura you can visit Pantai Base G, the famous beach from General MacArthur. One of the most famous valleys is the Baliem Valley, with the capital Wamena. The Indonesian government tried several times to eradicate the old traditional Papuan culture, but this was mostly a failure. The older men in the villages still wear a “Koteka” (penis sheath) and the women wear a skirt of rattan hoops. Often you can see men with Koteka’s in Jayapura, but mostly around the Baliem Valley. You go back in time if you visit this area.
In the Deep South with almost unexplored jungle you will find the traditional Papuans who are still cannibals. The government forbid cannibalism but it’s hard to control this part of Papua, so that’s why this very old culture still exists.
If you want to explore Papua, then the Baliem Valley is a good option. You can make some day tours here or a longer trekking and overnight at local huts with the local people. You can visit local tribes as: Dani, Yali and Lani. You can also visit beautiful areas like Biak (Bird's Head), Manokwari and Sorong. All these areas are great for snorkelling, diving or just relaxing on a tropical bounty beach. These attractions are great for a day tour in Baliem Valley or elsewhere in Papua. But you can also book a tour via Toraja Highland tours & travel, they also offer Papua tours. To find their contact information, click on their logo on the sponsor page of our website.

Detailed Project summary
The primary goal of the project is to get the children acquainted with people from other countries and cultures. We believe that this cross cultural experience will enrich their future prospect. We also utilize the project contribution to buy better food for the children, as well sd new clothes (uniforms), school materials, furniture etc. Notably, the project contribution now enables us to occasionally take the children on a short fieldtrip, which they greatly enjoy. We do our best to make the volunteers as well as the children feel comfortable at the Pak Pelangi I. We will also help our volunteers experience the natural and fascinating local culture of Papua, as well as provide opportunities for social interaction and gain experience in social life abroad.

The team
There are a total of 6 employees at this orphanage: 1 manager, 4 supervisors and 2 cooks. The management is permanent at the orphanage; the manager speaks fluent English, Dutch and Indonesian. This orphanage offers a stay to about 45 children, 31 of this children are living pertinent at the orphanage. The other children only come to the orphanage to eat and for support. Some of them are (half) orphans, some come from broken families and some of the parents are to poor to take care of their children. The children are between 1 and 19 years of age.

Project Life Papua
Volunteers work 5 days a week. They will help the children with their schoolwork, especially in learning English and will organize sport, games and other leisure time activities. They also can accompany the children to their schools and see how the Indonesian teachers teach the children, so you can see the different between your country and Indonesia. The children love to sing, you can teach them English western style songs too.
The children wake up around 04.30 AM and go to school at 07.00. They return from school around 01.30PM and go to bed around 09.00PM. Your day will start around 08.00AM after you've enjoyed your breakfast. You will prepare the afternoon program for when the kids come back from school.
Please note that this project has just started and we don’t have lots of school material, such as pencils, chalks, erasers, crayons, notebooks, paint etc. If volunteers are able to, we recommend bringing some of them to use with the children during their stay. But you also can buy some at the cheap local shops in Papua.

Health and Safety Procedures
The nearest hospital is about 15 km from Pak Pelangi I. We have a good relationship with the medical service for the children’s medical needs, and we contact the hospital if necessary for emergencies. The supervisors at the orphanage know how to perform First Aid. The orphanage is secured 24/7 and so we offer our volunteers a safe place at our project.

Transportation
All the project volunteers stay at the orphanage during their participation. They can travel around by public transportation but they also can use the service of Emerald Indonesia tours & travel. This eco tourism tour operator / travel agent offere ecotourism and tours througout all parts of Indonesia. Our volunteers recieve discount for services from this travel agent. It’s also possible that an employee of the orphanage will take you around for a day excursion around Abepura.