The Resilience of Manam Island People

On the 13th of August 2018, I made a memorable trip to Manam motu Island.  The clouds were grey, and the seas were rough and ferocious as we were about to sail across the Bismark sea.  Since it was my maiden voyage on a rough sea, my heart was beating faster as we were sailing out towards the open sea. The waves came crushing as the skipper navigated the 40horse powered engine in between the waves. It was a terrible day; we were all chocked with sea water. When we arrived on Island the bad weather dissipated, and the sun begin to shine.  It took us one (1) hour to reach the shore.    

Our arrival on the Island were welcomed by the paramount chief (Kukurai) Caspar Kauke with his entourage of village chief from the Island. The purpose of my trip to the Island was to assist the  Dugulava and Baliau communities to establish a community base disaster preparedness and response committee to become first responders during any volcanic eruptions on the Island. Manam Island is located at the northeast coast of mainland Bogia, and it is four (4) hours' drive from Madang town to Bogia District headquarters and one (1) hour by boat to the Island. In case of any major volcanic eruptions, the government is far from reach and many Islanders would perish.

As a senior research and risk assessment officer I have assessed the situation and conceptualize the idea to establish a community base organization on the Island and empower them to become the first responders during any major eruption. The idea was to train the Islanders on the basics of search & rescue, pre-stock fuel and relief items, identify safe places and build rescue points. When I introduced the idea, I could see tears streaming down from the eyes of the elderly folks, women and girls and children on the Island. In the middle of the discussion, I was interrupted by an elderly man who stood up and commented: " the Island had produced many elites, but they had never returned to organize our community and I comment you for sailing across this ferocious sea to assist us" I was taken aback by such remark and knew the concept would work very well for the people. 

The fear of sailing the across the fierce Bismark sea dissipated and I was filled with excitement. At the conclusion of the discussion the village brought in delicious dishes prepared for us. It was all organic food, and I really enjoyed the food. After the meal I was given a tour around the village. It was heartbreaking to see that almost 4,000 people on the Island are living under very extreme condition. 

Their main source of drinking water is the coconut water, and you hardly see any water except the bore waters dug along the beaches to collect fresh water for laundry and washing of eating utensils.  Living on the Island is a nightmare but in my encounter with the Islanders, I was told it does not make any difference whether you live on the mainland or the Island you still confront the same death threats.  On the Island it's the deadly volcano and on the mainland it's the violent landowners of the care centers. the Islanders prefer to die from a natural disaster than dying in hands of violent landowners. The desire to live with the deadly hazard had insulated their fear and helped build their resilience.   

As a government officer I was very disappointed of the government's ignorance to permanently resettle the Islanders.  It is almost 17 years, and the Manam Islanders are not permanently resettled in an area. The negligence of the local government and the national are bearing huge impact on the lives of the unfortunate people. After touring the village, I was taken back to the boat, and I parted goodbye to the community and sailed back with my team. I have learned that Manam Islanders living on Island are very resilient people. the conditioned on the Island has cushion them to be more resilient.  

In PNG most disaster affected communities are very resilient because everyone is inter-independent on each other for survival. Unlike other countries of the world who are heavily dependent on relief assistance, disaster victims in PNG are always supported by family, friends, tribes and neighboring villages for survival and recovery.  

(Photo captured by James Sukua Manam Islander - Braving the ferocious Bismark Sea.)