Plea for Assistance: Bring Peace Back to Lovongai
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Urgent Help Needed!
We are raising money to send directly to the Lovongai Peacekeepers to support a series of peacekeeping missions throughout this once-peaceful Pacific island. These missions will make possible a Final Peace Ceremony (Luai i pitik) which is currently being planned for early 2021.
Lovongai Overview
From its deep offshore waters to its shallow fringing reefs; through dense mangroves and high into the old-growth forests of its interior, the island of Lovongai (New Hanover) is a hotspot of biological and cultural diversity. For over 40,000 years, Lovongai's indigenous people have carefully maintained this diversity, keeping their home in balance through daily routines and complex rituals.
The Problem
Since the onset of illegal SABL forest leases in Lovongai, the island and its people have grappled with rapid and unequal economic change and outright ecological destruction .
The words of one customary leader, conservationist, and Peacekeeper, say it all:
"My people are in crisis. We are in crisis in Lovongai, my home town and the place of my birth, the place where my beautiful parents raised me to who I am now, the place I learnt respect and witnessed love, the place where my love for the ocean, the physical environment was born, the place where I learnt that sharing, giving, love and respect were priceless, the place where I witnessed, learnt and valued ‘our ways’ the ‘ways of the Lovongai peoples."
Walking for Peace
To date, the Peacekeepers have already completed seven Walks for Peace throughout the villages in Lovongai most affected by the recent trouble. Each Walk requires considerable financial and social resources. These expeditions typically take five or six days, and require considerable planning to secure resources and permissions to travel across areas of private land and sea.
Arriving in the village by boat or on foot, the Peacekeepers connect with relatives and past associates, and then hold public discussions with the community to discuss strategies for stopping the violence. A key part of these discussions are reconciliation talks, during which the relatives of those involved with the violence come together in a peaceful setting moderated by the Peacekeepers and community elders. Customary rituals conducted over the course of each visit seal and strengthen the bonds renewed during the discussions. As with mortuary rituals in Lovongai and nearby New Ireland, these events allow the community to both witness and participate in a moment of peace, which provides not only a precedent but an obligation to carry forward without further violence.
What's Next for the Peacekeepers
Working together with village elders, the Lovongai Peacekeepers are planning a Final Peace Ceremony (Luai i pitik in Tungak language) to be held in the first quarter of 2021. In preparation for this event, the Peacekeepers need to maintain presence in the villages and continue to help negotiate reconciliation among the warring factions. Doing so requires multiple customary ceremonies, the issuance of supplies and assistance in rebuilding burnt homes, and the delivery of food, clothing, and basic medical supplies to those most affected by the violence. Importantly, this assistance must be distributed equally to prevent further animosity. This all costs money, and that's where we come in...
Our Challenge:
We are organizing this GoFundMe campaign because, over the past twenty years, the people of Lovongai have shared with each of us their knowledge, their love of the ocean, their strong family values, and endless hospitality. And we're doing this because we know they have the best chance of creating lasting change on Lovongai from the ground up. To date, the Lovongai Peacekeeepers have completed six Walks for Peace, but there is far more to be done in the way of travel and the restoration of customary land tenure and conflict resolution practices. They need our help and resources, and every little bit makes a difference.
Example of costs involved in each Walk for Peace:
Boat Hire: $300/day
Boat Driver: $200/day
Fuel for Boat & Generator: $200/day
Pig for Customary Ritual: $250
Garden Food: $50
Box of Galvanized Nails: $4
Bag of Rice-10kg: $12
Each 5-day Walk for Peace costs roughly $1000 per day, or $5000 per Walk across multiple villages.
To ensure the effect and timely planning of the massive Luai i pitik (Final Peace Ceremony), we are campaigning to raise $10,000 to support two more Walks for Peace. This money will go directly to the Peacekeepers, and through them, to the communities most affected by recent violence.
We thank you for your trust and generosity in helping to bring Peace back to Lovongai!
We are raising money to send directly to the Lovongai Peacekeepers to support a series of peacekeeping missions throughout this once-peaceful Pacific island. These missions will make possible a Final Peace Ceremony (Luai i pitik) which is currently being planned for early 2021.
Lovongai Overview
From its deep offshore waters to its shallow fringing reefs; through dense mangroves and high into the old-growth forests of its interior, the island of Lovongai (New Hanover) is a hotspot of biological and cultural diversity. For over 40,000 years, Lovongai's indigenous people have carefully maintained this diversity, keeping their home in balance through daily routines and complex rituals.
The Problem
Since the onset of illegal SABL forest leases in Lovongai, the island and its people have grappled with rapid and unequal economic change and outright ecological destruction .
The words of one customary leader, conservationist, and Peacekeeper, say it all:
"My people are in crisis. We are in crisis in Lovongai, my home town and the place of my birth, the place where my beautiful parents raised me to who I am now, the place I learnt respect and witnessed love, the place where my love for the ocean, the physical environment was born, the place where I learnt that sharing, giving, love and respect were priceless, the place where I witnessed, learnt and valued ‘our ways’ the ‘ways of the Lovongai peoples."
The fraudulant, illegal SABL leases have precipitated disputes over customary land boundaries and resources leading up to the most recent violence. This year marked a terrible uptick in the number of homes burned to the ground and people brutally killed. But as contemporary ethnographic studies throughout Papua New Guinea have shown, this is not simply a local "native" problem that will eventually wear itself out. It is the result of uneven development, indigenous dispossession, and the commodification of nature in the name of profit. And while it must be addressed through a combination of governmental reform and customary conflict resolution, the provincial and national governments have largely turned their back on the people.
The Lovongai Peacekeepers
Lovongai is a large, rugged island with little infrastructure for transit or communication. Given the rich cultural diversity of the island's people, conflict resolution requires creativity, flexibility, and most of all, community integration. One cannot simply arrive in a place, instruct everyone to change their ways, and expect the violence to stop...
First-hand experience among cultural leaders on Lavongai has taught us that change comes about through a long process of communion: Time spent together exchanging stories, strategies, and small gifts culminates in a elaborate customary rituals which artfully weave together the work, attention, and commitments of multiple clans and ancestors.
The Lovongai Peacekeepers are experts in creating positive change. These are a diverse group of men and women, a family of advocates interested in ending the violence brought on by illegal extraction on their island. The Peacekeepers inspire change and respect across all ages, and have already seen success in negotiating traditional agreements throughout Lovongai and nearby New Ireland. Their reliance on change through customary measures and emphasis on indigenous self-determination ensures their work will put an end to the violence on Lovongai and restore peace among its people.
The Lovongai Peacekeepers
Lovongai is a large, rugged island with little infrastructure for transit or communication. Given the rich cultural diversity of the island's people, conflict resolution requires creativity, flexibility, and most of all, community integration. One cannot simply arrive in a place, instruct everyone to change their ways, and expect the violence to stop...
First-hand experience among cultural leaders on Lavongai has taught us that change comes about through a long process of communion: Time spent together exchanging stories, strategies, and small gifts culminates in a elaborate customary rituals which artfully weave together the work, attention, and commitments of multiple clans and ancestors.
The Lovongai Peacekeepers are experts in creating positive change. These are a diverse group of men and women, a family of advocates interested in ending the violence brought on by illegal extraction on their island. The Peacekeepers inspire change and respect across all ages, and have already seen success in negotiating traditional agreements throughout Lovongai and nearby New Ireland. Their reliance on change through customary measures and emphasis on indigenous self-determination ensures their work will put an end to the violence on Lovongai and restore peace among its people.
Walking for Peace
To date, the Peacekeepers have already completed seven Walks for Peace throughout the villages in Lovongai most affected by the recent trouble. Each Walk requires considerable financial and social resources. These expeditions typically take five or six days, and require considerable planning to secure resources and permissions to travel across areas of private land and sea.
Arriving in the village by boat or on foot, the Peacekeepers connect with relatives and past associates, and then hold public discussions with the community to discuss strategies for stopping the violence. A key part of these discussions are reconciliation talks, during which the relatives of those involved with the violence come together in a peaceful setting moderated by the Peacekeepers and community elders. Customary rituals conducted over the course of each visit seal and strengthen the bonds renewed during the discussions. As with mortuary rituals in Lovongai and nearby New Ireland, these events allow the community to both witness and participate in a moment of peace, which provides not only a precedent but an obligation to carry forward without further violence.
What's Next for the Peacekeepers
Working together with village elders, the Lovongai Peacekeepers are planning a Final Peace Ceremony (Luai i pitik in Tungak language) to be held in the first quarter of 2021. In preparation for this event, the Peacekeepers need to maintain presence in the villages and continue to help negotiate reconciliation among the warring factions. Doing so requires multiple customary ceremonies, the issuance of supplies and assistance in rebuilding burnt homes, and the delivery of food, clothing, and basic medical supplies to those most affected by the violence. Importantly, this assistance must be distributed equally to prevent further animosity. This all costs money, and that's where we come in...
Our Challenge:
We are organizing this GoFundMe campaign because, over the past twenty years, the people of Lovongai have shared with each of us their knowledge, their love of the ocean, their strong family values, and endless hospitality. And we're doing this because we know they have the best chance of creating lasting change on Lovongai from the ground up. To date, the Lovongai Peacekeeepers have completed six Walks for Peace, but there is far more to be done in the way of travel and the restoration of customary land tenure and conflict resolution practices. They need our help and resources, and every little bit makes a difference.
Example of costs involved in each Walk for Peace:
Boat Hire: $300/day
Boat Driver: $200/day
Fuel for Boat & Generator: $200/day
Pig for Customary Ritual: $250
Garden Food: $50
Box of Galvanized Nails: $4
Bag of Rice-10kg: $12
Each 5-day Walk for Peace costs roughly $1000 per day, or $5000 per Walk across multiple villages.
To ensure the effect and timely planning of the massive Luai i pitik (Final Peace Ceremony), we are campaigning to raise $10,000 to support two more Walks for Peace. This money will go directly to the Peacekeepers, and through them, to the communities most affected by recent violence.
We thank you for your trust and generosity in helping to bring Peace back to Lovongai!
Organizer
Ground Support
Organizer
New York, NY