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Laceweb - The Bougainville Survivors of Trauma Association Inc.
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Written 1997.Last updated Feb 2007
Enabling healing support to over 150,000 Bougainville Survivors of
Continuing Trauma and torture caused by the Bougainville conflict.
CONTENTS
The Association has been formed by Bougainville people and other
interculturals who are studying, or who have studied, in Australia. The
Association is not connected with any political group, faction or
religion. It respects spiritual and cultural diversity. It was formed
to enable possible support to Bougainvillean torture and trauma
survivors and to receive funding.
The Association links closely with the enabling action of the
Laceweb.
The focus of the Association's action is 'well-being' in all it's aspects, including:
-
mental
-
spiritual
-
economic
-
physical
-
communal
-
environmental
-
cultural
-
intercultural
Everyone involved recognizes that support for those suffering continuously from torture and trauma is a number one priority.
For over eight years the total population of Bougainville have
lived with the fear of, or the reality of, torture, trauma and death
for self and loved ones. The result has been profound mental
disintegration.
Around 80,000 displaced Bougainvilleans have lived in Care
Centres for the years of the conflict. Both children and adults spend
days and nights in silence. Now, with the peace process under way,
people are slowly returning to their villages.
Prior to the Conflict, every Village had abundant gardens. A
combination of refugee camp conditions and trauma has prevented the
growing of traditional food.
The remaining approximately 70,000 people, while living within
their traditional villages or as displaced people, have had great
difficulty tending gardens because of their trauma.
Currently, even though the peace process has been evolving,
there is no professional support for these trauma survivors available
within Bougainville, and lack of such infrastructure in PNG. Some
particularly caring Bougainvilleans among the traumatized are using
local traditional healing ways - self help and mutual help towards
nurturing well-being. Self help action networks are now beginning to
evolve in at least three locations on the island.
Since the early 1990's, the Bougainville founders of the
Bougainville Survivors of Trauma Association Inc., with other
intercultural healers, have been linking with Bougainvilleans in
Bougainville exploring and enabling trauma support.
- the sheer size of the numbers involved
- ongoing traumatizing sustained for over eight years
- pervasive fear and distrust of everybody by everybody
- a tradition of payback
- having healing ways sensitive to local cultural ways
- cultural ambivalence/dis-interest in 'trauma service delivery' by 'bureaucracy backed experts'
- the high costs involved in using a 'service delivery' option
- concern about 'strings attached' to government funding
The consensus of action is using the local natural and traditional
nurturers as the starting point. Locals already seek these nurturers
out for support. This communal-centred, self-help, and mutual help, is
in keeping with Bougainville traditional ways. The Association/Laceweb
experience is that nurturers can heal themselves and support others
(refer Laceweb experience below).
The Association may set up possibilities for Laceweb 'enabling
support' to these local nurturers. They may energize the evolution of
more nurturers, who in turn may pass healing ways on to others. The
self help network! Refer Laceweb Sociograms - Figures Depicting the Evolving of Indigenous/Small Minority Healing Networks in SE Asia Australia Pacific.
Founding members, and other enablers linked to the Association, have
been seeking out the healing wisdoms of indigenous and small
minorities, for over fifty years. An informal Laceweb intercultural
healing network has been evolving. Extensive links have been made with
small local well-being action throughout the Australasia-Oceania SE
Asia region. Refer Laceweb - Self-Help Action Supporting Survivors of Torture and Trauma in SE Asia, Oceania and Australasia
- Small Generalisable Actions
Ideas are evolving for an intercultural healing gathering in a safe
haven inland from Cairns in June 2000. Bougainville people in that
locality may join with refugees from East Timor, West Papua and Vietnam
(Hmong) Refer A Micro Project.
Currently the Association may access a small group of well-being
enablers from the Laceweb as resource people - available as possible
support for local Bougainville nurturers - from possibly the following
cultural backgrounds:
- Bougainvillean
- PNG Estuarine
- Melanesian
- Australian South Sea Islander
- Australian Aboriginal
- Black South African
- Maori
- Chinese
- Anglo
Laceweb enablers have experiences in linking with, and enabling,
self help among disadvantaged small minority and Indigenous people.
They combine understandings in psychotherapy, with traditional healing
ways. They have tertiary education through to the Ph.D. level. One is
both a psychiatrist and a barrister.
Over the past seven years the Association, in dialogue with people
thoughout Bougainville, has been evolving a project for extending self
help healing wellbeing networks on Bougainville. Details of this
project may be found at Laceweb - Self-Help Action Rebuilding Well-Being .
As a small micro-project, ideas are evolving for laceweb enablers to
join with both the adults and children of Bougainville Families living
in Far North Queensland (FN Qld) in Australia. The gathering in a bush
setting may be for the sharing of healing ways. Approximately 35 may be
involved. Additionally, a small group of East Timorese from the Darwin
region have expressed interest in linking with this gathering. As a
possible second stage, some of this FN Qld group, perhaps with a few of
the enablers, may be a resource that may be available to link with
local Bougainville nurturers in Bougainville.
As well, extending humane healing links to East Timorese from the Darwin safe haven may emerge.
These other healing gatherings may happen in safe places for a number
of days. This may allow respectful exchanges of understandings about
what may be possible, and what the challenges and dangers are. It may
also allow the local nurturers to take back home a few additional
healing ways - whatever appeals to them - from the diverse healing ways
available. Refer Trauma Healing Workshop.
These second stage Bougainville linkings may possibly take place in a
rural camp-out environment, away from Bougainville or possibly within
Bougainville. As well, we may be able to embed a little gathering
within a small therapeutic community rich with healing possibilities.
Because of respect and the possible danger and the precariousness of
those involved, everything is of necessity small and tentative.
Energy is evolving for a small group of enablers to go by
boat from Cairns to Bougainville around October 2000. School books,
clothes and other practical resources may be taken. This energy may
provide scope for sharing healing ways with local natural nurturers in
Bougainville.
Funding is being for travel, food and resources.
Sadly, aspects of the human tragedy of Bougainville is replicated
throughout the Earth. It may be that lessons learned in attempts to
evolve a nurturing energy capable of healing over 150,000 people may
have Global relevance.
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