Postcourier on Bougainville 11/18/98 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit From "Vikki John" POSTCOURIER - 18 Nov 98 Going to school great way of spreading peace THE peace message comes in many forms on the island of Bougainville. Sometimes it is in the form of Nuis Bilong Peace, a newsletter produced by the Australian-led Peace Monitoring Group (PMG). Others are told of the peace process during meetings or informal get-togethers. But by far the most enjoyable form of spreading the words of peace is during a school visit. The PMG has a program of school visits aimed at introducing members of the community to the faces of the monitoring group. It also gives some PMG staff, who are tied to desk-jobs, the chance to meet the children of Bougainville. Many of the PMG staff deployed to Bougainville on extended rotations of between three and six months have left family behind. The school visits also give them a chance to play parents while they spend the lengthy time away from their children. Corporal Jason Griffiths says working with school children is particularly effective because they take home the peace message and pass it onto their parents. He says the visits are also a great emotional outlet. ``I have a wife and two children at home and it helps when you are missing them to mix with the children,'' he said. ``I find it easy to relate to them and when they smile and laugh, it makes you feel better about being away.'' He says he also enjoys being able to mix with the locals. ``I'm usually bound to the headquarters. But on days like today, I'm able to join the local children.'' Corporal Fred Mooka shares these sentiments. He has a wife and child back on Thursday Island and says while the past three and a half months has gone fast, the school visits allow him to share the parenting experience with the locals he has come to know. ``I feel comfortable here and have come to know the locals quite well,'' he says. ``It's good to be able to relate with the parents and to hear the children laugh and have fun.'' Lance Corporal Kate Ottesen is able to join her occupation, as part of the production team for Nuis Bilong Peace, to participating in the school's visit. Sitting comfortably with the curious but sometimes shy children of the Arawa Community School, Kate listens to their chatter and hands out a magazine promoting peace. ``Learning about peace needs to begin at an early age,'' she says. Major Lyndon Anderson says the activities enable the school children to come face-to-face with the PMG. After playing three-legged soccer with Team Sergeant Major Mark Kjellgren, he says it is obvious that community spirit is rebuilding. Lamenting that they were not as co-ordinated as the Bougainvilleans, Major Anderson says the experience was good fun. ``There is an excellent sense of community within the school here,'' he said. Sergeant Major Kjellgren says interacting with the kids was great and seeing parents at the school was also an encouraging sign that peace was here for good. ``It's great to see families taking part in occasions such as this,'' he says. ``It's also encouraging to see so many people happy and enjoying themselves. Peace has come a long way.'' Revelling in the school spirit as the children laugh at the balloons being made from surgical hand-gloves, Corporal Jason Craig says children are the same around the world. ``The kids love it,'' he says as he hands a balloon with a face on it to another happy customer. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-11.19.98-21:02:40-30367