Reference :
V-P-PG-E-00144
Date :
21/03/2016
Caption :
Hela province, Tari. An ICRC team plans to distribute relief items to families in a tense area in the highlands. Two ICRC employees are talking with Ronny, a tribal leader.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
An ICRC employee relates: "Ronny is a clan leader, who have been involved in a vicious tribal fight with another clan in a village called Kikita II. ICRC employees have to gain the trust of people like Ronny to access the people who need our help. I’m always amazed by the amount of groundwork that goes into these operations – the teams try to leave nothing to chance, a tall order in “the land of the unexpected”, as some Papua New Guinea people like to call their country.
I had no idea what they were laughing about at the time. Thomas later told me they were talking about the cultural differences between French, Papuan and Australian people. Thomas is a very polite Parisian guy and I guess somewhat different in approach to the foreigners Ronny is used to dealing with. Ronny’s status in his community is clear from the shell necklaces he’s wearing, called “tange” in Huli, which are given during weddings and as compensation. It’s a tradition that’s slowly dying out."
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
5472x3648
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
