In the last post I mentioned the building I work in being really nice. Here’s a link if you’re interested to see exactly how fancy I mean: http://www.sampoernastrategicsquare.com/.
I guess I’ll talk a little bit about the internship that I have here. I’m with the IOM (International Organization for Migration) which is a huge organization that is associated with the United Nations although it’s not officially part of the UN. The IOM around the world focus on people moving safely from one place to another. Part of their work is helping refugees adjust when they’re sent to a new country. Part of it is to help inform people how to migrate for work legally and safely. And finally, the part I’m involved in, is to prevent human trafficking.
Now, a lot of people have asked me what exactly human trafficking means. I’m sure you’ve all heard of international drug or weapon trafficking. Well, human trafficking is very similar, except with people being bought and sold instead of goods. So let me give you a few examples that I’m just going to make up but they could very well describe real situations and I’m basing the examples on facts.
The first could be like the kids I was working with in Ghana over the summer. A poor family is struggling to take care of their children. The parents work but there just isn’t enough money. One day a family friend or maybe an aunt or uncle comes along and offers to take in one of the children. The friend promises to take the child to a better area, put him or her in school, and in return the child will help out around the house. Do some cleaning and cooking, typical stuff. The parents think this sounds fine, especially since the friend offers to pay them a bit of money in exchange for the child. But after the deal is made, the child not put in school at all but rather is exploited for labour. In Ghana, the kids were taken by fishermen and had to work insanely long hours doing dangerous work out on the boats.
Another example is the kind of thing that seems to be typical here in Indonesia. Again, a family is struggling. They may have an older daughter who’s just finished high school and is having trouble finding a job that pays well in the country. The girl hears about a program to go work as a babysitter or housecleaner in Malaysia or Saudi Arabia. She signs up for the program, thinking it’ll be a great opportunity to make some extra money to send home for the family and see the world at the same time. Now sometimes this plan works out. Plenty of women from Indonesia work perfectly happily as domestic workers overseas. But sometimes the company that the girl decides to use is just a front for a trafficking operation. She may travel from her village to the capital, Jakarta. When she gets there, an agent meets her, says he’ll take care of her passport and other papers, and arranges all her travel to the new country. When she arrives, either her employer or the agent keeps the passport and even though she works, nobody pays her. She may be physically or even sexually abused by the employer. If she tries to leave and go to the police, she’ll be arrested as an illegal immigrant because she doesn’t have access to any of her papers. She’s stuck.
And finally, the most dramatic type of trafficking is not as common but it happens to a significant amount of the women IOM helps. They think they’re going to be a maid, just like the example above or maybe work as a cultural ambassador, doing traditional dance, or maybe as a waitress. It could be anything. Except instead of simply working without pay like the girl above, she's made to work in a brothel. She’s in a country where she doesn’t speak the language. She’s got no passport or visa. She’s ashamed of what’s happened to her and she’s terrified because when this happens, the bad guys of the story are often associated with serious gangs or mafias and aren’t afraid to kill and torture. Sometimes she’ll be forced to do drugs until she’s addicted. Sometimes she’ll have a child who’s taken from her and kept as collateral in case she tries to escape.
So, I’m working with IOM to try to stop all these things from happening and to rescue and rehabilitate those who it’s already happened to. Right now I’m mostly just reading and learning a lot about the activities of the organization and sometimes editing press releases and stuff like that, cause interns really don’t have much power. Surprise! :)
But the counter-trafficking department here in Indonesia is doing some really interesting things and they even managed to help the government finally make trafficking officially illegal back in 2007 . Here’s the website:
IOM Indonesia in general: http://www.iom.or.id/
The Counter Trafficking Unit: http://www.iom.or.id/programmes.jsp?lang=eng&code=13&dcode=45
So I hope this long rambling post helps make it clear what I’m doing in Indonesia this time. It’s a lot harder to explain that just teaching English like last time!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Back in Indonesia
I’m going to attempt to start updating regularly again. When I was in Ghana over the summer I simply didn’t have reliable internet and updating wasn’t an option.
After Ghana, I returned to the US for about a month and had a wonderful time catching up with family in PA and friends up in Syracuse. I also got in engaged to my long time boyfriend, so all in all it was a great month that went by way to fast.
I spent the first two weeks in September in France. Syracuse offered a one week seminar in Strasbourg (in Western France, near the German border) which gave me enough credits to graduate in December. After the seminar, I spent one week in Paris since I’ve never been before. I’ve put pictures of all my time in France up on Facebook, so I’m not going to upload any here. I enjoyed the city but at this point I was anxious to unpack and get settled somewhere more permanent. I’d basically been living from a suitcase since I left for Ghana.
So now I find myself back in Indonesia.
I’m an intern at IOM, the International Organization for Migration, which is the same organization I interned for in Ghana. The work here in Indonesia couldn’t’ be more different though. In Ghana I was on the ground in a tiny village working hands on with children who had been sold into modern day slavery. Here in Indonesia I’m working at a much more distanced level. I’m in the main office in the capitol of Indonesia, Jakarta. It’s a huge city, one of the biggest in the world and this is my first time living anywhere nearly this urban.
My office building is in the business district, to the south of the city, and it’s a very wealthy area. The interesting thing about Jakarta, however, is that wealthy areas and slums are literally pressed up against each other so on my walk to work I see skyscrapers and Mercedes as well as tin shacks on the river bank.
I stay in a boarding house about a 20 to 30 minutes walk from the office in what is definitely NOT a wealthy area. The house is at the very end of a winding dead end alley off a mid sized street. There are a few other residences along the alley but for the most part it’s just high narrow walls. I can’t complain about my room though. For less than $300 USD a month I have a decent sized bedroom and a small bathroom to myself with all the utilities included, even internet and air conditioning. I could probably find somewhere even cheaper without going down too much in quality but people in the office are familiar with this boarding house and have stayed there before and I’m comfortable there. I don’t think I’d change. The women who run the place are really sweet too. It’s a large operation, with several floors of rooms and a lot of staff members.
I’ve worked for almost two weeks now and I’m beginning to get into the swing of things. The work isn’t much different than what I’ve done in offices before - a lot of data compiling and editing. My contract for the internship lasts until December 9th but I’m hoping to find permanent employment so I can stay in Indonesia awhile longer. Hopefully something that would start in January so I could be home for the holidays. Who knows though, I’ll just have to wait and see.
That’s plenty for a first post, I think. I’ll try to update again soon, maybe with some photos.
After Ghana, I returned to the US for about a month and had a wonderful time catching up with family in PA and friends up in Syracuse. I also got in engaged to my long time boyfriend, so all in all it was a great month that went by way to fast.
I spent the first two weeks in September in France. Syracuse offered a one week seminar in Strasbourg (in Western France, near the German border) which gave me enough credits to graduate in December. After the seminar, I spent one week in Paris since I’ve never been before. I’ve put pictures of all my time in France up on Facebook, so I’m not going to upload any here. I enjoyed the city but at this point I was anxious to unpack and get settled somewhere more permanent. I’d basically been living from a suitcase since I left for Ghana.
So now I find myself back in Indonesia.
I’m an intern at IOM, the International Organization for Migration, which is the same organization I interned for in Ghana. The work here in Indonesia couldn’t’ be more different though. In Ghana I was on the ground in a tiny village working hands on with children who had been sold into modern day slavery. Here in Indonesia I’m working at a much more distanced level. I’m in the main office in the capitol of Indonesia, Jakarta. It’s a huge city, one of the biggest in the world and this is my first time living anywhere nearly this urban.
My office building is in the business district, to the south of the city, and it’s a very wealthy area. The interesting thing about Jakarta, however, is that wealthy areas and slums are literally pressed up against each other so on my walk to work I see skyscrapers and Mercedes as well as tin shacks on the river bank.
I stay in a boarding house about a 20 to 30 minutes walk from the office in what is definitely NOT a wealthy area. The house is at the very end of a winding dead end alley off a mid sized street. There are a few other residences along the alley but for the most part it’s just high narrow walls. I can’t complain about my room though. For less than $300 USD a month I have a decent sized bedroom and a small bathroom to myself with all the utilities included, even internet and air conditioning. I could probably find somewhere even cheaper without going down too much in quality but people in the office are familiar with this boarding house and have stayed there before and I’m comfortable there. I don’t think I’d change. The women who run the place are really sweet too. It’s a large operation, with several floors of rooms and a lot of staff members.
I’ve worked for almost two weeks now and I’m beginning to get into the swing of things. The work isn’t much different than what I’ve done in offices before - a lot of data compiling and editing. My contract for the internship lasts until December 9th but I’m hoping to find permanent employment so I can stay in Indonesia awhile longer. Hopefully something that would start in January so I could be home for the holidays. Who knows though, I’ll just have to wait and see.
That’s plenty for a first post, I think. I’ll try to update again soon, maybe with some photos.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Update
The internet is not very good here in the village so I haven't been updating as much as I hoped. However, I seem to have a pretty good connection today so I'm going to take the opportunity to let you all know how it's going here in Ghana.
I spend most of my mornings teaching fourth grade at the local school and then in the afternoons I either walk around the community or work one-on-one with kids at my house. I live with four other interns who do basically the same things. I'm working on organizing a drawing compitition among the 4th, 5th and 6th graders at the school with a theme of family togetherness as a deterrent against some of the trafficking problems that this village has.
The people of Ghana are some of the friendliest I've met. I wish I could upload some photos but the internet's not quite that good. I'll try to update again soon though!
I spend most of my mornings teaching fourth grade at the local school and then in the afternoons I either walk around the community or work one-on-one with kids at my house. I live with four other interns who do basically the same things. I'm working on organizing a drawing compitition among the 4th, 5th and 6th graders at the school with a theme of family togetherness as a deterrent against some of the trafficking problems that this village has.
The people of Ghana are some of the friendliest I've met. I wish I could upload some photos but the internet's not quite that good. I'll try to update again soon though!
The draining of the lagoon
Heather Phillips Blog
June 16, 2011
I’ve now been in Africa for three weeks and the village of Immuna for two. The most memorable experience so far has been the draining of the lagoon in Immuna. After a long weekend of rain, we heard that the lagoon had flooded into the village. The ocean and the lagoon are separated by a narrow bank of beach with scattered coconut trees and canoes. When the lagoon overflows into the streets of Immuna (an event I’m told happens around this time every year) villagers come out in force to dig a channel through the sandy bank separating it from the sea. We missed the initial digging of the channel unfortunately. A student of ours, Isaac, came to the gate of our compound covered in mud and sand to tell us that they were digging but we were occupied at home and didn’t want to venture out just yet. I don’t think any of us realized how impressive the channel was going to be.
We finally arrived at the lagoon about an hour and a half before sunset. The hand-dug channel had expanded into a massive, white-water rapid as the entire lagoon rushed out into the sea. The rush was strong enough to battle the waves coming from the ocean and completely change the landscape of the beach. A mini grand canyon had been formed with sharp sandy and degrading walls. Young men crowded dangerously near the edge while children inched up more cautiously behind them. When we got too close a middle aged woman grabbed my arm, frantically telling me in broken English to move back even though we were at least 5 feet from the edge.
At one point a large fish jumped up from the rapids, resembling a spawning salmon fighting its way upstream. Initially it landed back in the brown water but it took a second jump and landed on the beach this time, causing a near riot as the older children fought over who would grab it. In the end it was our student Isaac who took the fish home, though he filleted it and shared the pieces with those who helped him grab his slippery prize.
As sunset approached, the lagoon began to lose a substantial amount of water and the gushing channel to the sea calmed. Small fish were jumping on the lagoon banks and men came out with small throwing nets while women and children gathered the fish in their hands. Their catches would be deposited in wide but shallow tin bowls which the women use to transport various goods atop their heads. Children with overflowing handfuls of little fish squealed excitedly while their more relaxed mothers scanned the muddy ground for the biggest fish. The biggest I saw wasn’t more than a few inches but these fish would be dried and smoked and feed a family for quite some time.
It was a spectacular sight and the way the village worked together both to dig the channel and then to reap their fishy rewards was nothing short of heartwarming. On the other hand, watching the children gather fish also brought thoughts of the trafficked children that IOM has rescued and returned to this village. It was easy to see how children could be exploited to work in fishing communities. Their small hands easily scooped up fish and untangled nets. They listened quickly to the instructions of their elders and there was no talking back. But the conditions here in Immuna are vastly different than those in the Volta Region and I still struggle to comprehend what the trafficked children really went through.
Friday, June 3, 2011
First Week in Ghana
Well, I made it to Ghana without any problems. I spent the first week in Accra (the capital city) having an orientation with the my organization (IOM) and getting to know the four other students who'll be interning with me. There are two guys who are in my program at Syracuse, JP and Zach, and two girls who are undergrads at Syracuse, YouYou and Nyuma. We all seem to get along pretty well, which is a very good thing considering we're going to be living in an isolated village together for six weeks.
Ghana is interesting. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Indonesia, though there are some huge differences. The flora is very similar with coconut and banana trees all over the place. The architecture is even similar, big concrete buildings painted bright colors. But Ghana is a lot less conservative, and the music is definitely better. So far I think I prefer Indonesian food, though that's not to say the food here isn't delicious.
We're staying in a very nice hostel. It's basically a hotel, a lot nicer than I expected.
I'm sure there will be a lot more to talk about next week, after I move the village. The name of the village is Immuna and it's located along the southern coast of Ghana. I'm going to be teaching at the local school in the morning and mentoring/counseling. I'm really looking forward to it!
Ghana is interesting. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Indonesia, though there are some huge differences. The flora is very similar with coconut and banana trees all over the place. The architecture is even similar, big concrete buildings painted bright colors. But Ghana is a lot less conservative, and the music is definitely better. So far I think I prefer Indonesian food, though that's not to say the food here isn't delicious.
We're staying in a very nice hostel. It's basically a hotel, a lot nicer than I expected.
I'm sure there will be a lot more to talk about next week, after I move the village. The name of the village is Immuna and it's located along the southern coast of Ghana. I'm going to be teaching at the local school in the morning and mentoring/counseling. I'm really looking forward to it!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Washington D.C. - Sunday
I'm in D.C. right now taking a "Maymester" class about African Development. We have class Mon-Fri from 8:30-5:30 so I think it'll be a pretty tiring week. As soon as this class is finished I'll be flying from DC to NYC to Amsterdam to Ghana.
Tonight I started taking my Malaria medication. You're supposed to start taking it a week before you arrive in the country. Apparently, sometimes Malaria meds have really crazy side effects, like hallucinations and night terrors! I really hope I don't get any of those! I warned my roommates though. I'm staying in apartments that Syracuse University rents for students. They're pretty nice, although over priced, and they have free internet which is nice.
I went sightseeing today with a few of my friends so here are some of the photos I took:
Tonight I started taking my Malaria medication. You're supposed to start taking it a week before you arrive in the country. Apparently, sometimes Malaria meds have really crazy side effects, like hallucinations and night terrors! I really hope I don't get any of those! I warned my roommates though. I'm staying in apartments that Syracuse University rents for students. They're pretty nice, although over priced, and they have free internet which is nice.
I went sightseeing today with a few of my friends so here are some of the photos I took:
Friday, May 6, 2011
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