Episode 23

In this episode, we talk to Marylou Mahe who is the designer behind the MWT Facebook cover and the COMING TO THE MAT podcast. Ms. Mahe is an indigenous Kanak woman from Houaïlou in the Kanak country of Ajë-Arhö in New Caledonia. She considers herself a decolonial feminist designer, and an Educator of English literature who's passion is to show representation of the Kanak and Pacific Island women in her designs.

In her discussion with us, she spoke of "double colonization" which refers to the idea that women are not only discriminated against because of their race, but also by men because of their gender.

Music: Carmen Marcias is an indigenous Kanak Woman Song writer, singer, poet and teacher of English literature. Ms. Marcias is also Marylou Mahe's mother who inspired her to pursue her passion as an English language educator, but to also embrace her talents as an artist and to be a strong independent woman.

Episode 22 - Esther Haluk - West Papuan Activist

West Papuans have struggled for their freedom since they were annexed by Indonesia and robbed of their right to a fair referendum in 1969. While the independence struggle continues, it is the voice of the West Papuan women that have gone unheard.

In this episode, we talk to one Indigenous West Papuan Activist, Esther Haluk to understand more about the compound plights the Papuan women face and why their voices and rights are being silenced.

Esther Haluk is one of the many indigenous West Papuan women activists who have made it her mission to continue to fight for the freedom for her people by telling her story so the world can hear about the continuing mistreatments and abuse against the indigenous Papuans by the Indonesian military forces. Esther, is also a lecturer at the Walter Post Theological Seminary in Jayapura, where she teaches Gender studies and conducts research relating to women and children issues. Esther comes from Wamena, the capital town of the Jayawijaya Regency in Papua's highlands, in the Baliem Valley. She comes from the Dani tribe of the central highlands of West Papua

CREDIT

https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/struggle-self-determination-west-papua-1969-present/

https://www.freewestpapua.org/info/history-of-west-papua/

https://www.freewestpapua.org/info/history-of-west-papua/

SBS World News

Enough Is Enough - Testimonies of Papua Women Victims of Violence and Human Rights Violations 1963-2009

https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-IDN-Enough-Women_Papua-Report-2010.pdf

Song - Freedom by George Telek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYKnlg5hQOo

Episode 21 - One woman's quest to restore the Melanesian Hauskuk to its rightful place in a Modern setting, and deconstructing the Western Kitchen.

“But for me, it went more than that. I realize that we need to restore the dignity of indigenous Melanesian Food Culture, or cuisine. Starting with my particular sub ethnic group.I say sub-ethnic group specially because obviously, Vanuatu like PNG has many diverse sub ethnic groups as well too…” Claire Asi

In this episode, we are going to talk to one woman who has made it her mission to work towards Restoring the Melanesian Hauskuk to its rightful place in a Modern setting, and deconstructing the Western Kitchen by unraveling what is Indigenous Melanesian Food, Identity and Globalization. Given that there are many layers to cover with indigenous food, identity and globalization, our guest prefers to the frame the discussion as -

“uncovering layers of indigenous food culture and the impacts of globalization – starting with a post-colonial identity.”

Unraveling the indigenous consciousness through traditional and progressive food culture. We also discuss within the context of layers that form part of the existentialism of the Melanesian, the Neo-Melanesian is a multi-faceted and multi-contextual identity that is very much post-colonial.

Meet Claire Asi - Claire Asi is from the country of Papua New Guinea (abbreviated as PNG), most specifically from the central province and from the Rego District of PNG. She has a background in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG ).

Sisters & Co. Catering on their facebook page

Sisters & Co. Catering

https://www.facebook.com/Sisters-Co-Catering-102887541214936/posts/

Rigo District, Papua New Guinea

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rigo,+Papua+New+Guinea/@-9.6595343,147.3351469,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x69031deb120e85b1:0x7956f29f3bbc5506!8m2!3d-9.7921909!4d147.825395

Music:

Rigo Peroveta - Alikuni Youth (Central Province - Papua New Guinea). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUTz6oLJGKA

Final count down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAhPz2rbths

In this episode, we look at the role of Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge, and western science in Ecosystem-Based Adaptations especially when it comes to ​​marine conservation. Things like Human activity such as overfishing, and climate change have been known to cause coral bleaching. Overfishing causes the number of fish to plummet and slowly breakdown the biodiversity if there is no proper ecosystem-based adaptation plans in place to manage our ecosystems.

So what can be done about it?

Dr. Mere speaks with Naomi Longa, who is a team leader for the Sea Women of Melanesia (SWoM) program based in Papua New Guinea. Hear about the incredible work of the SWoM, a group of Indigenous women who trained to safeguard coral reefs under threat from climate change.

The goal is to give women in the South Pacific region the skills to monitor the health of coral reefs, and create, and restore marine protected areas. Last year, they were named Champions of the Earth, the UN's highest environmental award, in the Inspiration and Action category.

WELCOME Naomi Longa - joining me on the Mat from the Papua New Guinea

Links:

Sea Women of Melanesia https://www.seawomen.net/

Champions of the Earth: The Sea Women of Melanesia https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/12/1108282

Sustainable Period Pads for the Sea Women of Melanesia. https://hub.givar.com/connect/org/CoralSeaFoundation/campaigns/sustainable-pads-for-sea-women

Music:

Am Sailing to Blue Ocean by Naio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzrGL2aNJbA

In many western countries progress is measured using GDP or Gross Domestic Product. GDP is the measure of all things produced within the borders of a country and then sold. Many countries have placed their hope that by measuring GDP they can follow the footsteps of  western nations in lifting their populations into a better life. Since its inception, GDP has been criticized for many reasons, for example; how can unlimited growth be sustainable? How does GDP measure the well-being of the population? The answer is, it doesn't and it also isn’t sustainable. 

Vanuatu is a nation where a large majority of the population lives off the land in a subsistence lifestyle. They live comfortably because almost all ni-Vanuatu have access to traditional land, languages and culture which are the real foundations of well-being and contentment. The land is so fertile, providing not only food but also housing and more. Harnessing their traditional knowledge means they also live sustainably and their traditions, or Kastom, care for them as people as whole beings. However, none of this contributes to GDP which calls into question the usefulness of it as a measure of progress. This is especially true given that Vanuatu has no intention of giving up its traditions and way of life. 

Vanuatu is one of the few nations in the world that has refused to accept GDP as a measurement to decide how their country has been developing. In its unique way, Vanuatu has decided to measure its citizens well-being to understand its progress to ensure that decisions that are made affect well-being. GDP is still measured, but the well-being of the population is taken into consideration alongside it. In this episode, we interview Jamie Tanguay of the Vanuatu National Statistics Office to better understand this process and how it is undertaken. 

Links:

- Vanuatu National Statistics Office https://vnso.gov.vu/index.php/en/

- Alternative Indicators of Wellbeing for Melanesia: Cultural values driving public policy. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-46458-3_11

- Melanesian Spearhead Group https://msgsec.info/

"Many indicators that are now prominent in the Vanuatu development framework are relatable across the Pacific.  If the work Vanuatu is doing can help influence other countries in the Pacific to be more concerned with the well-being of their people rather than focused on endless GDP growth, that is the future we want to see.  A future with balanced and well-being centered governance and development." Jamie Tanguay @MetaloJamie

"This important report will be of great interest to all those interested in sustainability, self-sufficiency, traditional landrights and culture. It should also interest those economists who have often denigrated Vanuatu's oft-announced suspicions of the 'modern development agenda' promoted by all and sundry. This agenda seems to have always been oblivious to the fact that almost all ni-Vanuatu have access to traditional land, languages and culture which are the real foundations of Well-being and Contentment. As many economists seem to rely only on 'data' to enable them to think about anything, here is the data that will help them to understand that what many in Vanuatu have been saying for years is actually true." Kirk Hauffman

Music Credit: Surisuri basatura, choeur d'hommes (Maewo) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjsSvepLjc

What drives a person to overcome obstacles in life? We all know that life is going to give us challenges, struggles, and it will force us to face our own fears and realities and at the same time help us get a more clear perspective of our values and passion.

Listen to an inspirational story about how one Pacific Island woman overcame her fear of shyness and obstacles in life to find her passion in nursing the sick through her work as a registered nurse. We will follow her life journey from a young girl, refusing to give up on her education after failing her exams, and being rejected by several schools to continue her education by believing in her dreams, inspired by her faith in God, her Mom, her Grandma, and her passion for reading.

Celebrating Pacific Island Arts and Creativity through storytelling in the 21st century.

Since the beginning of Covid-19 lockdown, many Pacific Islanders found new ways to leverage the power of storytelling through creating podcasts. The inspiration for this is to pass on Pacific Island traditional knowledge and cultural values that inspires the younger generations.

In this episode, we spoke to Miriama Bono, an architect and painter from French Polynesia, who is Director of the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles. Bono has been instrumental in commissioning the renovation of the museum, as well as securing a number of international loans that return significant objects of Polynesian culture to the museum. One of her goals as the director of Musée de Tahiti et des Îles and as an artist, she was determined to bring to the forefront stories of cultural artists of Tahiti to the outside world. To show the world another side of Tahiti that the world doesn’t know.  Along with her husband, Benjamin Brillouet they both created two podcasts - one dedicated to art and creativity in Tahiti called Tahiti On Air that showcase stories of Polynesian Artists and creative individuals from different creative cultural avenues. The podcast shares inspiring journeys for others to witness the Polyniesan diversity and richness of artists from the Islands. The second podcast is called Parau Tama, a podcast dedicated to Polynesian tales and legends.

The podcast is dedicated to creation in Tahiti, but not only Initially focused on the creative process of Polynesian artists, the podcast's fields of interest now extend from artistic creation Talk a Podcast co-hosted by Miriama Bono and Benjamin Brillouet.

In this 2 part series on FOOD with our guest, Kirk Huffman, we discuss food in Melanesia. We look at food from two different lenses. Part 1 of the episode, we focused on Food and identity and in the 2nd episode, we look at the Cultural relationship between food and Women and Men of Vanuatu.

In this second part about Food and Identity in the Pacific, particularly in the Melanesia region of the Pacific, Kirk Huffman and I talk about the connection and importance in relationships between men and women and food.

In this 2 part series on FOOD with our guest, Kirk Huffman, we discuss food in Melanesia. We look at food from two different lenses. Part 1 of the episode, we focus on Food and identity and in the 2nd episode, we look at the Cultural relationship between food and Women and Men of Vanuatu.

In this first part about Food and Identity in the Pacific, particularly in the Melanesia region of the Pacific, Kirk Huffman and I talk about the essentials of Aelan Kakae or Island Food where we dive into the different areas of food associated with the livelihood of people in pertaining to not just diet but also with identity, spiritual food, and food closely associated with women and men in ritual ceremony

In this episode we talk with members of the group, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change at https://www.pisfcc.org/ and how they can help make a difference in the fight against climate change. This group of young climate activists will share what inspired them to make a difference and how they are using what they learned in their education to help mitigate the climate crisis that is affecting Pacific Island Nations today.

The Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (P.I.S.F.C.C) launched a petition that calls upon leaders of Pacific Island nations, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to commence the process of seeking an advisory opinion on human rights and climate change from the International Court of Justice.

This regional youth-led organization who have been campaigning for an advisory opinion from the Court since 2019, welcomed the announcement as a huge milestone for the campaign when the Vanuatu Government announced its intention to take on the campaign to seek an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the issue of climate change and human rights. This marks a huge step forward in the campaign to have climate change considered by the World’s Highest Court.

Music Credits to Pacific Climate Justice https://youtu.be/aNK8NwSOvFA

Special Thank you to Chun Chia Tai who is our student volunteer and editor of this episode.