January 30th marked a pivotal point for children’s education in the Papuan highlands. Under USAID/SERASI, Yayasan Kristen Wamena’s STKIP (Teacher Training Institute) presented final drafts of their contextualized curriculum for grades 1 and 2 to Pak James Modouw, Head, Department of Education (DoE) Papua Province, and Department of Education directors from kabupaten Jayawijaya, Yalimo, Tolikar

More than 1500 people crowded into the Wamena town Social Hall on February 18 for the inaugural exhibition of “Picturing Papua,” the culmination of local NGO Matahari Papua’s grant activities under the USAID SERASI program. Officially opening the event was the Secre-tary of Kabupaten Jayawijaya, Bapak Benjamin Arisoy, who was joined by students, youth, community leaders, and local residents.

USAID Indonesia Mission Director Glenn Anders recently visited several USAID-funded programs in Papua and had the opportunity to observe three SERASI grantees in action.
During his February 2011 trip to the province, Mr. Anders spent time with SERASI grantees Pancaran Kasih in Jayapura and YASUMAT and YKW in Wamena,and participated in a round-table discussion with senior staff of several SERASI gr

Malnutrition ranks high on the list of health problems in Papua. At 21.2%, the prevalence of malnutrition (measured by weight and age) in the Papua Province is higher than the national rate of 18.4%, according to the 2010 Basic Health Research of the National Ministry of Health.

The challenges in the education sector in Papua are deep rooted and complex. Lack of access to quality educational institutions, low parental support and participation in children’s education, inadequate teaching skills, absent teachers, and lack of basic health services result in a high drop-out rate from official schools.