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The Priests of the Sacred Heart, the religious community to which I belong, numbers about 2300 members and we are located in over 30 countries. Every region is accountable to our central administrative in Rome. Recently the Canadian region has been asked to put aside financial resources to assist the 7 members of our community in Indonesian Province with the West Papua project. “The team works with Although rich in resources, the population of West Papua remains poor and the country exists with little or no infrastructure outside of the capital city of Jayapura. The jungle communities remain isolated for lack of roads. One member of our team was flown for three hours, in an Australian missionary plane, to a jungle landing and walked for 5 more hours to reach one village. Our community works out of three parishes in Timika, with a view to helping the population of the jungle villages. The team works with a threefold objective: education, which includes the establishment of a centre for the training of teachers, agricultural instruction and healthcare. The poorly paid Papuans are showing signs of a population under stress with little hope for the future. For example, alcoholism is on the rise among them and the HIV rate is unusually high in comparison to the rest of the country. Moreover, the cost of living is very high because everything is imported. A kilo of rice which is 5,000 rupia in Jakarta is 15,000 rupia in West Papua. Our goal is to teach the local people to grow rice and other crops and make them self-sufficient. Contributions earmarked for the West Papua Mission are sent directly to the Provincial Superior who ultimately supervises the team. Financial statements, as well as, progress reports are prepared every month.
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