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| STORYTELLER: Canadian Jeremy Bally calls in at Forster during his tour of the Australian east coast to raise awareness of the plight of the West Papuan people and their fight for independence from Indonesia. |
TELLING a tough story about West Papua’s struggle for independence
and its violent history, Jeremy Bally uses a combination of music,
visuals and the spoken word to get his message across.
He stopped
in Forster earlier this month as part of a bicycle tour that has lasted
six months and taken him across seven countries. He calls his trip
‘Pedalling for Papua’.
Jeremy,
who lives in Canada, was inspired to make his epic journey by a
university friend who was passionate about the cause of West Papuan
independence from Indonesia.
West Papua has been a province of
Indonesia since 1962 and, since that time, human rights abuses including
the killing of up to 500,000 West Papuans as well as torture and rape
have been reported across the region.
A lack of access to the
region by international journalists has prevented these stories being
told, West Papuan activists state.
Since beginning to stage talks
about the plight of West Papuan people, Jeremy said he had a chance to
visit the country and came away impressed by the incredible culture and
landscape.
Visiting with a West Papuan family, he said he finally
felt comfortable enough to ask them how they felt about independence.
In response, the patriarch of the household called up the children (aged
about 5, 8 and 10) and said everyone, including the children, wanted
freedom.
“Those children weren’t old enough to understand the
politics of that statement, but the importance of their indigenous
rights being restored has been taught to them from the day they were
born,” he said.
Jeremy said Australian people, like Canadians,
could recognise through their own countries’ experiences the ability of a
powerful force to “destroy an indigenous people”.
“It’s the exact same story as happened here and happened in Canada, only it’s younger,” he said.
“We have a chance to intervene early and prevent some of the repercussions of other countries.”
Delivering
his message at a series of talks in different cities and towns, Jeremy
said he used music, some hip-hop ukulele, and visual aids in his
presentations to help inspire others to act.
“I’m not a political
activist, I’m a storyteller and I want people to feel inspired by the
stories I tell to go out and inspire others in their own way,” he said.
Jeremy
has also been using his pedal-powered tour to raise funds for Papuans
Behind Bars, supporting those in jail for raising the banned morning
star flag or staging protests in West Papua.
You can also hear some of Jeremy’s original music by searching for Pedalling for Papua Bandcamp online.
Jeremy’s
journey will end when he meets up with some West Papuan refugees who
have settled in Melbourne on December 1. They will stage a cycle and
then host a block party to celebrate West Papua’s flag day.
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