School teacher tackling violence

The National Weekender
EDUCATION
Anna Lakaio listening attentively to the presentation delivered recently by the ICRC team in Hela at the tribal fighting module workshop – Picture supplied

By REUBEN TABEL
ANNA John Lakaio is a secondary school teacher from Tari, currently working as a provincial Secondary School Inspector and Guidance and Counselling Officer at Tari Secondary school.
She has taught in various schools in Hela, Enga and the New Guinea Islands spanning over 30 years, teaching in Enga, Wabag Secondary School and Tari Secondary School as deputy principal.
She has also taught for five years in Koroba Secondary and Tari Secondary, before being appointed the provincial guidance and counselling officer.
For some, that may be just a job, but for Lakaio, it signifies years of standing her ground against the patriarchal cultural norms of her community in Hela province and braving tribal fighting so that children can dream of a future without conflict.
Lakaio sees education as a key element for lasting change in attitude and society, be it through reducing humanitarian consequences of tribal infighting or creating a safer space for girls in the community.
So she visits primary schools to raise awareness and counsel students, bearing her own travel expenses sometimes and often ignoring those who try to put her down as ‘only a woman’.
Lakaio recently participated in a workshop organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Hela, to address tribal fighting and impact a change of behavior among young people, promoting restraint and reflection on the consequences of conflict.
The workshop is part of the tribal fighting module, a long-term project that was designed with the help of education authorities in Hela, with 11 teachers joined the workshop.
Introduced and launched recently in Hela by the provincial education division, it will be piloted in secondary schools in Hela. ICRC in partnership with the provincial education division will implement the project.
The objective of the project aims at changing the behavior of the youths and in long term it might lead to minimising tribal fights and its consequences in Hela.
“Working as a lone woman among many men is quite challenging. They consider me inferior and I often face discrimination at various levels. I am not allowed to participate in decision-making discussions, but I keep pushing forward for the sake of the younger generation,” Lakaio said.
She usually talks about two important points wherever she goes, the first is that young people need to take education seriously because it can determine their future and the second is to encourage young girls to pursue education so that they can be independent.

The tribal fighting module workshop focuses on how to reduce the humanitarian consequences of tribal fights in Papua New Guinea by raising awareness among the youth.

“Tribal fights have deeply affected many young people and destroyed their education opportunities, particularly so for girls,” she said.
“The conflict prevents many from going to school and undermines their hope for a promising future. Another issue is that people in Hela think girls should just stay at home and get married.”
Though the odds may seem stacked against Lakaio’s efforts, she is not backing down the mindset is wrong and must be challenged.
She does group sessions, raising awareness among students and also offers to counsel them individually.
“I want to ensure that the young people have a chance to find jobs and earn some sort of income and try my best to push them for higher education and help the students who have not dropped out of school to enlist in the recruitment process for the Royal PNG Constabulary as police officers or the PNG Defence Force. I also help other students join the Technical Vocational Education and Training School,” she said.
Being the only female worker in the Hela education department to do such kind of voluntary work, Lakaio knows that many eyes are on her.
She said that values like commitment and setting a good example make people respect her over time. That motivates her further to help even more young people.
Apart from engaging with teachers on the tribal fighting module, the ICRC also supported the Hulia TVET with materials which help them build a double classroom, provided training for students to take the lead in reconstructing school infrastructure and further supplied materials for 128 persons dormitory.
The ICRC has supported other elementary and primary schools affected by tribal fights with materials. Going forward, the ICRC looks at sponsoring 20 students from Komo Magarima District to take up various trade courses in the Hulia TVET as part of its assistance support to the communities affected by tribal fight.
ICRC values the importance of education and have been working closely with the provincial education division and schools to ensure important messages on access to education is disseminated to students, teachers and communities, while providing support where it could.

  • Reuben Tabel is an ICRC field communication officer based in Mt Hagen.