947

947

NameThe People of Magnem Care Center
Gendern
Country of OriginPapua New Guinea
Destination CountryPapua New Guinea
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Within eyeshot of the active volcanic island of Manam is the Magnem Care Centre, found along the mainland shore. Those living at the Care Centers consist of Abaria, Boakure, Dugulaba and Warisi communities who originally inhabited the island of Manam. Our home was a beautiful place. The island itself was not very big. You could walk around it in a single day. The former residents of Manam Island can trace back their heritage on the island as far back as 1515 when the island was first discovered and was already inhabited. We have a strong connection with this place. Our parents and ancestors lived their entire lives there and we were supposed to do the same. Life for all of Manams inhabitants drastically changed in 2005 when the islands volcano erupted on a scale never seen before. In the past, whenever the volcano erupted, the lava and ash fall would come out of only one of its two openings. That meant that only half of the island would be affected so communities would escape to the other side until it was safe to return. Then one day, in 2005, the volcano erupted so violently that both openings spewed lava and ash which covered the entire island. Everyone had to leave. Since then, a number of communities from the island were relocated to various Care Centers consisting of borrowed land allocated for the newly arriving IDPs. Despite the relocation assistance that they had received, they arrived to an under developed centre. We were dropped off in the rain and there were no tarpaulins set up. Nothing was prepared. We had to build shelters in the rain on the first day. We used to grow coconuts, breadfruit, mangoes, lemons, chestnuts, taro, bananas, cassava, and fish. Back on Manam, we had everything we needed to live and prosper. If we wanted to build houses, we could use the bamboo that was available, if we wanted to cook meals, we harvested the fruits from our gardens and fish from the sea for food. But now, we cant do many of these things and its not enough to support our growing communities. Sometimes, we cannot grow enough food here for everyone so we have to travel further out and steal from gardens and plants that do not belong to us. We dont want to do this but we have no choice. Tensions have slowly risen over the last decade between the various IDPs of Manam islands and nearby host communities. Often these tensions can turn into violent clashes. Everything is different now. We can no longer live in our normal ways. Instead of harvesting our food to eat, we sometimes have to sell it for money because our coconuts are more valuable being sold than consumed. Our women and young men have started to leave the care centers to look for work deeper in the mainland. Many say they do it because they want to find other ways to survive and contribute to the community. I was just a baby when I was on the island so I only really remember growing up here. My parents tell me about how life was like back on the island but I dont think we will ever go back. I want to go out and find a job. I want to be able to provide for myself. As the community continues to strive to make ends meet while living on borrowed land through whatever means necessary, it is clear that the lives of former residents of Manam Island have been forever changed by its powerful and devastating volcano.

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