Papasena – With a baby slung on her right side and a sack of dried cocoa beans balanced on her head, Mama Mariana walked slowly toward a neighbor’s yard in Papasena 2 Village, Upper Mamberamo District, Mamberamo Raya Regency, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. In the yard, several villagers had already gathered, bringing their own…
Read more… “Hope from Cocoa Beans for Indigenous Papuans in Mamberamo Foja” »
In Papua, hunting is not merely the act of searching for food—it is an inseparable part of indigenous life. Often, humorous tales accompany the journeys of hunters into the wilderness. One day in a village, a group of men prepared to go hunting deep in the forest. They carried bows and arrows, accompanied by their…
Read more… “Usir Tanjung: The Traditional Wildlife Hunt of Mamberamo, Papua” »
A Journey That Opens the Eyes Time teaches that what truly matters is not what we receive, but what we give.And travel—like life itself—is the best teacher of that truth. November 2009. From Jayapura, I departed with two YALI Papua staff members and a volunteer from Dabra to Mamberamo—specifically, to Pagai Village in the Airu…
Read more… “Lessons from Pagai: Where Nature and Humanity Guard Each Other” »