F E AT URE
Peace monitoring group Op Bel Isi Bougainville Personal experience story by Chris Lawrey
I felt very fortunate to be selected to be part of the Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) in Bougainville from November 2001 to March 2002, following the 1988 to 1998 civil war, and it gave me an opportunity to satisfy two long standing desires - to assist overseas and for adventure. We had two weeks in Bamaga (far north Queensland) to acclimatise, for language and cultural training, outdoor skills and working with the military. Flying into Bougainville, we were all struck by the beauty of Bougainville with the dense forest all the way to the beautiful beaches. On land, we drove past the signs of the conflict and it was deeply moving and sad to see the destruction of the power station, power lines, heavy machinery, shops and once grand
buildings such as Kieta hotel, the government building. The civilian peace monitor’s role was to go into villages each day, by 4WD or helicopter, and talk with local people, chiefs, ex combatants, church leaders, health workers and women’s groups etc about the peace process and the importance of handing in weapons. We also obtained information about how people were feeling about the peace process and whether weapons would be likely to be handed in. We wrote a report each day which went up the line and then to the governments of the countries involved: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu. Some of the men knew about the Howard Government’s gun buy-back scheme and asked whether they would be paid to hand in their weapons; they were not going to be, so we stressed the importance of not having guns in the community and that the Independence Referendum was conditional on weapons being handed in. I was there when the first weapons were handed in which was a privilege. One day, the women asked me to run a patch work session. I contacted friends in Australia who sent cartons of fabric. A very successful sewing day was held and some lovely creations made. As it was December, schools were having their end of year ceremonies and I gave inspirational talks in Pijin about education and peace and presented awards. A feast of wonderful food followed; we were treated like dignitaries, eating first, which I never got used to. Op Bel Isi was ‘dry’ but that did not affect Christmas Eve in our teams, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve which were all great – maybe even better sans alcohol. It meant more than I thought it would to receive the Salvation Army care package at Christmas.
The civilian peace monitoring group.
Opening of the newly reconstructed church at Togerau.
Chris Lawrey at Torokina hospital.
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AUSTRALIAN PEACEKEEPER
