In the last four weeks, Doomsvein, a heavy metal band from the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea, has drawn quite a bit of attention from the US underground heavy metal scene. Two radio stations have played their YouTube released track, Excommunicado. They’ve also received a request for the song to be added to a compilation album with other overseas heavy metal groups. Guitarist, Freddy Maneo, 51, is band’s most senior member and a veteran of Papua New Guinea’s heavy metal underground. He said Doomsvein started when he reached out to bassist, Nigel Tabinaman, asking if he wanted…
Author: Scott WAIDE
Relatives of a policeman killed in Mendi several weeks ago have blocked off the Highlands Highway outside of Goroka, preventing the free flow of traffic. Constable Harry Gorano was injured during an ambush in Mendi. He was in a coma for three weeks and died in intensive care. Relatives are demanding the arrest of the killers. The ambush occurred in January. His colleagues were escorting a casket to Hela Province. His collegue, Constable Noah Biape was killed during the attack.
A Catholic nutrition officer working in the Hela Province has highlighted high rates of severe malnutrition within communities of people displaced by ongoing tribal conflicts. Sylvester Walanduo, who has worked in over 40 communities in four districts of Hela, said food shortages and the lack of understanding about nutrition put very young children at risk. “Over the last two years, I’ve screened 31,463 children…this is from data I have personally collected,” Walanduo said. “Eleven thousand and ninety-five children suffer from mild to severe cases of malnutrition.” Sylvester Walanduo is employed by the Catholic Diocese of Mendi through its Caritas office,…
A gathering in Goroka, attended by over 30 community-based anti-violence advocates, has brought to light the harrowing reality of young girls being used as “comfort women” by gunmen hired to fight in tribal conflicts. This UN-sponsored training on gender-based violence (GBV) and sorcery accusation-related violence has exposed the severe trauma these girls endure. A senior community member from Mendi, who remains anonymous due to security concerns, revealed that it has become a common practice for these armed “hire men” to demand young girls for sex as part of their payment. “This has been happening, but communities don’t talk about it.…