The Peace Corps and Papua New Guinea: One Volunteer’s Experience Brian Engel, Ph.D. Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, Class of 2016 Overview: The.
Download ReportTranscript The Peace Corps and Papua New Guinea: One Volunteer’s Experience Brian Engel, Ph.D. Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, Class of 2016 Overview: The.
The Peace Corps and Papua New Guinea: One Volunteer’s Experience Brian Engel, Ph.D. Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, Class of 2016 Overview: The Peace Corps Papua New Guinea at a Glance My Experiences Health in PNG Questions The Peace Corps: • Background • Snapshot The Peace Corps: Background Motto The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love. Mission The Peace Corps' has 3 simple goals: 1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women. The Peace Corps: Background Mission The Peace Corps' has 3 simple goals: 2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served. The Peace Corps: Background Mission The Peace Corps' has 3 simple goals: 3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. The Peace Corps: Background History • 1960, JFK speech • 1961, Established st • 1961, 1 Volunteers (Ghana) The Peace Corps: Snapshot • 8,000 Currently serving • 210,000 Have served The Peace Corps: Snapshot Facts and Stats 62% Female, 38% Male 93% single, 7% married Avg. age: 28 years 7% over 50 years old The Peace Corps: Snapshot • Have served in 139 countries • Currently serving in 76 countries (orange) The Peace Corps: Snapshot Where we serve 4% 4% 3% Africa 10% Latin America 43% Eastern Europe/Central Asia Asia 15% Caribbean North Africa/Middle East Pacific Islands 21% The Peace Corps: Snapshot How we serve Education 6% 4% 2% Health 12% 43% 12% Community Economic Development Environment Youth in Development Agriculture 21% Other The Peace Corps: Snapshot • Under the U.S. State Department • Annual Budget: $373 Million 700.00 Relative Costs Billions of Dollars 600.00 500.00 400.00 300.00 200.00 100.00 0.00 Peace Corps B-2 Bomber Aircraft Carrier Department of Defense The Peace Corps: Snapshot • Under the U.S. State Department • Annual Budget: $373 Million 5.00 Relative Costs 4.50 Billions of Dollars 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 Peace Corps B-2 Bomber Aircraft Carrier The Peace Corps: Experience in Brief • • • • • • • Application Process (6-12 months) Offer Letter Staging Training (3 months) Site (2 years) Conferences Returning Home The Peace Corps: Experience in Brief • Host provisions • Pay, health, travel • Benefits (Loan deferment, partial cancellation, readjustment allowance, networking, educational opportunities) Papua New Guinea: Brief Overview • • • • Geography History Demographics Cultures Papua New Guinea: Geography • • • • Geography History Demographics Cultures Papua New Guinea: Geography Equator! Papua New Guinea: Geography Papua New Guinea: Geography • Shares New Guinea with Indonesia (West Papua/Irian Jaya) • Tropical • Many islands • Mountainous • Active Volcanoes • Earthquakes • Two seasons: Wet and Dry Papua New Guinea: Geography Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis Papua New Guinea: Geography Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis • • • • • • Papua New Guinea: Geography Ecology: Fauna 0.5% of Land 4% of Lizards and Mammals (world’s smallest frog) 4% of Butterflies 7% of Birds 8% of Vertebrates 10% of Fish (coral reefs) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dx2CUMtZ-0 Papua New Guinea: History Pre-History: artifacts dating back to about 60,000 B.C.E. Papua New Guinea: History Modern History: • Agrarian and Hunter-gatherer lifestyles • 1526 Contact with Portugese • 1545 Contact with Spainards (New Guinea) • 1870s Contact with Russian Anthropologist • 1900s – “First Contact” with Westerners Papua New Guinea: History Modern History: • Late 1800s – European colonization • WWII – Japanese invasion • Sept. 16, 1975 Independence Papua New Guinea: History WWII Papua New Guinea: History WWII Papua New Guinea: Demographics • Population: 7,000,000 For comparison: • Switzerland, Bulgaria, Israel, Hong Kong, Nicaragua, Denmark) • Arizona, Washington, Virginia • Houston, DFW Papua New Guinea: Demographics Biggest Cities: • Port Moresby (Capital): 250k (= Lubbock) • Lae: 120k • Arawa: 36k • Mt. Hagen: 28k Papua New Guinea: Demographics Diversity Papua New Guinea: Demographics Diversity Papua New Guinea: Demographics Diversity Papua New Guinea: Demographics Diversity Papua New Guinea: Food • • • • • Sweet Potato Taro, Sago, Banana Pigs (special occasions) Fish Fruits Papua New Guinea: Miscellany • Economy: mining, sustenance farming • Languages: 800+ spoken! (over 10% of the world’s languages), Tok Pisin, Motu, English • One of the most missionized countries in the world, now 96% Christian with remaining traditional beliefs Papua New Guinea: My Experience • Training • Port Moresby Papua New Guinea: My Experience • Training • Goroka • Village Stay Papua New Guinea: My Experience • • • • Training Language Culture Teaching Papua New Guinea: My Experience • Lae • Teaching • Bugandi Secondary School Papua New Guinea: My Experience Education System: • National Exams • School Fees • Boarding • Student jobs • Facilities Papua New Guinea: My Experience Campus Papua New Guinea: My Experience Campus • • • • • • • • • Papua New Guinea: My Experience No Internet A few school computers No TV School phone only Read scores of books Wrote and received hundreds of letters No car - PMVs No restaurants – cooked Regular but unreliable electricity Papua New Guinea: Health+ • 5 Physicians/100,000 (US: 240) • Health care spending $115, 4.3% GDP (US: $8,608, 17.9%) • Life expectancy 65F/61M (US: 79) Papua New Guinea: Health+ • • • • • • Maternal mortality 250/100,000 (10) Under 5 mortality 63/1000 (6) Fertility rate: 3.9/woman (1.9) Contraception (P): 36% Pre-natal visits: 29% (90%) Attended births: 43% (99%) Papua New Guinea: Health+ • • • • • • • • • Malaria: 17,943/100,000 (I) HIV/AIDS: 396/100,000 (P) (US: 19) Tuberculosis: 534/100,000 (P) (US: 3) Hepatitis A Typhoid Hepatitis B Japanese Encephalitis Dengue Fever Hook worm Papua New Guinea: Health+ • • • • • • • Urban living: 12% (US: 82%) Literacy 57% (US: 99%) Mean BMI: 25M, 26F (29 M/F) Tobacco: 58%M, 31%F (22%/17%) Alcohol disorders: 3.8%M, 0.1%F Rape Buai Buai (Betel Nut, Areca Nut) Buai (Betel Nut, Areca Nut) Buai (Betel Nut, Areca Nut) Buai (Betel Nut, Areca Nut) • Carcinogen (gums, mouth, pharynx, esophogus, stomach) • Teratogen Questions?