West Papuan Artists in Manokwari were Visited by Foreign Tourists

Last night (25 March 2008, at arount 20.00 local time), I was visited by an old friend of mine. His name is Paul Warere. Paul came to tell me about the latest metting held this afternoon by Nico and him concerning their art group activities. Their art group, in cooperation with Kaumi Foundation, held a training in handycraft making in early December last year. I coordinated the training representing the foundation where I am one of the staffs. Nico, as the head of the art group, asked me to help him organize the training and promote the artists.
Paul said that two foreigners came to visit them a few days ago. They wanted to buy art products. They brought with them a map which I designed and posted on the internet http://geocities.com/dnewguinea. They bought a sheet of hand made cloth weaved by Ms. Marice Fonataba. In that website I wrote articles about West Papuan artists. I also put pictures of them and the art products they made. By doing that, I hope that more tourists will come to their houses and buy their products. When foreigners visit these West Papuan artists, they will be able to help them directly.
Paul said that the participants of the meeting received certificates and also made goals to produce more art products. These artists live in Kompleks Missi.
I created that website in order to help the local people create their own jobs. More buyers to their products mean more jobs for the local people. I told Paul Warere that I will continue support them through internet promotion. Besides I ask him to tell Nico to contact Dinas Perindustrian to ask for financial supports from them.
In the training, Mr. Kosamah who represented Dinas Pendidikan and Pengajaran said that the local government was considering of building an art gallery around the harbour area of Manokwari town. We will see if they fulfill their promise or not.
Unfortunately, I accidently formatted my harddisk where I kept files of the above website. I have to start all over again for creating a new website for these West Papuan artists. By Charles Roring