Papua New Guinea: Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group
Willie DoaemoConflicts and violence occur in the urban settlements of Laecity, a growing industrial hub in Morobe Province, Papua New
Guinea (png).
Economic investment in png has been increasing such as investments
in mining by the Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd through its WafiGolpu Resource Project as well as the liquefied natural gas (lng) project in
the Southern Highlands.
Lae city is regarded as the transit point for people from all the png
provinces, and is also attracting people from other countries. People cometo Lae city to do business, visit relatives and even migrate for a better life.
The city is surrounded by more than sixty urban settlements accommodating different tribal immigrants with different traditional beliefs andpractices. Young people get involved in crime, prostitution, drugs and liquor
home brewing that contribute to the increase in lawlessness and spread ofhuman immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome(hiv/aids).
Gender thinking and attitude among the immigrants differ from one
tribe to another. But men generally treat women as inferior and want them
to follow their husbands all the time. The women as a result suffer fromviolence.
Illiteracy and lack of access to appropriate information of the young
men contribute to the increasing statistics on gender violence, lawlessness
and spread of diseases. The education of these young men as part of thesolutions to their problems is a priority that has always been overlooked by
the government.
Founding SEEDSSam Solomon Sommi, a theater professional and trainer who resides withthe youths in the settlements, decided to train them in drama, dance and

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i cmusic after realizing their talents and potential to live as role models in theircommunities.
In 1997, he founded the Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group (Seeds
Theatre Group) as a group primarily of unemployed youths in the settlements of Lae city. He is the Director of the group.
Seeds Theatre Group uses theater as a tool to address issues facing thepeople in urban settlements and thus achieve the following over-all goals:
1. To use theater drama as a powerful communication tool to increase
the level of knowledge and understanding of the general public
based on correct and accurate information and messages on hiv/
aids, sexually transmitted infections (stis), other health-related issues, and social and development issues.
2. To use theater drama as a media strategy of unemployed youths
within their respective communities. This media strategy is a community-based communication technique for communities with low
literacy and low access to the popular media.
3. To use the energy of the unemployed local talents in creatively andinnovatively using drama, dance and music as ways of helping theirown community for education and entertainment, and as a communication tool for social gathering and art.
The bulk of the members of Seeds Theatre Group are from Kalvary
Lutheran Church, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua
New Guinea (elc-png), where they participate as gospel outreach ministrygroup reaching people through drama, dance and music.
Seeds Theatre Group artists have attended in-house and outside theater training workshops. In-house training is attained during rehearsals andbriefings before a project is undertaken. Partners are also invited to train themembers of the group. In addition to Sam Solomon Sommi, the following
artists run the Seeds Theatre Group:a. Peter Murawa, the Assistant Director, has twenty years of theater
experience and is a former member of Dua Dua and Raun Raun
Theatre Group. His role includes dramatizing theater drama skills
and techniques as well as dancing and music composing.
b. Willie Doaemo, the Technical Director, has training and experiencein campaign against gender-based violence; project management,
monitoring and evaluation; community development; and cam-

Papua New Guinea: Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group

c.
d.
e.
f.
g.

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paign on hiv/aids. He runs training activities and coordinates thewebsite and the social media page of Seeds Theatre Group.
Esther Sam is a former member of the National Performing Arts
Troupe, National Cultural Commission, trainer and specialize inrole-plays, dramatizing, and singing.
Teddy Iwara is a senior artist with ten years of experience in theater
work. He plays musical instruments like piano and base guitar.
Zamoa Noine, music composer, plays leading roles and is also
rythym guitarist.
Merelyne Koe, a senior female artist, plays leading roles in mostdramas.
Pais Koe has vast experience in drama and drama production in
performing arts for more than ten years, and plays drums andpiano.

Seeds Theatre Group is not a profit-making organization and most of its
members have continued to use their talent in the performing arts for selfeducation, self-employment and self-reliance in community development
and mobilization.
For the last fifteen years, Seeds Theatre Group has been actively involved
in undertaking awareness-raising and promotion activities on hiv/aids andother health issues as well as in running theater training and workshops forother community theater groups, non-governmental organizations ngos,
and the Morobe Health division.
Aims
Seeds Theatre Group aims to raise awareness among women, girls, men andboys in urban communities in order to change their attitude and behavior by
acknowledging that women and girls have human rights and dignity
It also aims to contribute to the development of local, national and regional commitments to ending violence against women bya. Raising the level of understanding and awareness on the legal consequences of domestic violence to both the victims and offenders at
the village/settlement levelb. Pressing for the enforcement of laws and policies in place and ensuring that the communities in the villages recognize them through16

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

c.
d.
e.
f.

their assistance to victims of domestic violence in seeking proper
advice and support from appropriate authorities such as Health,
Women & Children Support Centre and the local system.
Fostering the promotion and preservation of, and education on,
cultural practices to enable illiterate communities to benefit fully
from their own cultural values
Effectively enforcing and sustaining messages through theater inraising awareness on domestic violence and hiv/aids
Supporting legal institutions by raising the level of understanding
and awareness of both the victims and offenders on the powers ofVillage and District courts
Using theater as a powerful communication tool in fighting injustice and poverty, and improving the quality of life in Lae urban
settlements.

It uses theater drama play as a major tool for communication in educating the vast illiterate communities in Lae district urban settlements on how
a. To effectively address domestic violence in their homesb. To enforce, and ensure that the communities in the Lae district
urban settlements recognize, the laws and policies in place by assisting victims of domestic violence in seeking proper advice fromappropriate authorities
c. To stop harassment by offenders who deter victims from seeking
support and also to stop offenders who do not realize the legal consequences of domestic violence.
Activities
Aside from the main activities of staging theater drama, Seeds Theatre
Group directors and play writers direct radio plays for radio stations carrying out awareness and promotions on health, environment and other issues
that are affecting the illiterate communities in png.
Seeds Theatre Group is using online media to disseminate information such as Facebook account (www.facebook.com/pages/SeedsTheatre-Group/237143369632964/) and blogs (http://stheatre.blogspot.
com/2012/01/religion-gender-equality-and-violence.html?spref=fb
andPapua New Guinea: Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group17

http://genderwordpress.webs.com/). It is a member of the United Nations
online volunteering service (www.onlinevolunteering.org/).
Seeds Theatre Group also collects data on domestic violence against
women for script writing.
It tries to strengthen organizational development and capacities at provincial and community levels to enable effective implementation of programs for the elimination of all forms of violence against women. It also
trains other theater groups on gender, hiv/aids, good governance and on
using theater skills and techniques for awareness purposes.
It coordinates activities, and builds partnership among, government
entities and civil society organizations (especially women’s rights groups
and networks). It carries out awareness-raising activities for the Morobe
Provincial aids Council, the National Department of Health (ndoh) as wellas other organizations like the Literacy Volunteers of Morobe. It performs
during the celebration of the World aids Day, World Health Day and thesixteen-day Women’s Rights Day. Seeds Theatre Group is a stakeholder,
therefore, in the activities of the Morobe Provincial Aids Council and thendoh.
In 1997, the png Institute of Medical Research (pnf imr), Lae branch,
worked with Seeds Theatre Group on the Transex Project (1996-2000). The
png imr Transex project primarily targeted the people in the transport industry, namely, the maritime workers, the dockside workers, and the sex
workers. It wanted to facilitate behavioral change and the practice of safe sex
in the transport industry. The png imr staff trained Seeds Theatre Group
members on the basics of hiv, aids, sexually transmitted infections (sti),and peer education. Between 1998 and 2000 with the support from png
imr, Seeds Theatre Group received funds from the Australian Agency forInternational Development (AusAid) to carry out awareness-raising campaign on hiv/aids in the workplace, schools, villages and the urban settlements surrounding Lae city.
In 2000, Seeds Theatre Group was also featured in an abc documentary
film entitled “hiv aids in png,’’ see content on the website: w.w.w.ausaid.gov.au
The ndoh also engaged Seeds Theatre Group to attend two training
workshops: “Traditional and Popular Media Workshop” in 1998 and “Using
Theatre for Health Communication’’ in 2002. After these workshops, Seeds
Theatre Group carried out health promotion and awareness-raising activities in Lae city and other urban settlements specifically on malaria, hiv/

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i caids, safe motherhood and family planning. It promoted treated net as
anti-malaria measure and also produced a radio drama with the National
Broadcasting Commission (nbc), Kundu FM 105, addressing health issues.
Seeds Theatre Group was actively working with ndoh between 1997 to2009 in all the Health Expos during the Morobe Agricultural Shows.
With funding support from the United Nations Women’s Pacific Fund
to End Violence against Women, seeds held forty-two performances inpublic venues, such as markets, bus stops and settlements.
Theater Performances
The theater performances of Seeds Theatre Group promote awareness onviolence against women, and human rights. In one of its theater projects,
the aims are the following1
1. To use theater/drama to help educate the people and improve theirknowledge of the importance of human rights and to stop the violence against women, girls, men and boys
2. To reinforce and sustain the awareness and education on the violence against women undertaken by other ngos and government
agencies
3. To help victims know where to obtain help and protect their humanrights
4. To mobilize women’s groups in communities to come out and speak
against domestic violence
5. To establish closer link between the communities and the support
centers that can provide help.
Seeds Theatre Group has nine gender-based scripts written in png
setting and mindset, and which were approved by the gender experts in
the Pacific office of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women (UN Women). The scripts are the following:• School is a place for learning and not bullying. This play tells thestory of secondary school kids of Lae city where bullying, schoolfights and cargo cult2 activities are rife.
• Wife bashing is a crime. This play tells the story of the villagers who
migrated and resided in a settlement in the urban area, bringing
with them their traditional beliefs and thinking.

Papua New Guinea: Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group

•
•
•

19

Domestic violence, rape and hiv/aids. This play tells the story ofdomestic violence that led the husband and wife to contract hiv/aids.
Money lures young girls. This play tells the story of the sugar daddy
attitude of png men in png setting
Advocating for change. This play talks about the way to advocate
to another person about ending violence against women in png
setting.

The scripts are mostly written by the project director, Willie Doaemo,
based on the actual situations of life in the settlement communities and villages of png. The scripts reflect the lives of people in the community that
the Seeds Theatre Group members have heard, seen, and experienced byliving in communities themselves. The songs were composed based on written stories of real life situations of domestic violence. Most of the songs arecomposed by one of the artists, Zamoa Noine, of Seeds Theatre Group.

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

Most of the performers are youth, including one performer with disability, female artists, and young kids. They have been trained in theater
performance. Before any major awareness-raising activity, the performers
camp out for a week and thoroughly rehearse and test the plays.
The plays are short, of fifteen-minute duration, to make the audience
keep track of the story. The performances use backdrops as well as open
spaces with the aid of microphones, amplifier and mixer, guitars and keyboards for songs, etc.
People are interviewed before and after the performance. They answer
questions from the facilitator who explains in detail the drama (why, what,
how, etc.) to the audience.
Under this project, Seeds Theatre Group started a series of performances in Lae city in December 2011. As of mid-2012, Seeds Theatre Group covered ten locations in Lae city with three performances per location, alongwith two other districts in the province with twenty performances per district. In one location (Waria compound), people from three other locations(Bukawa, Mendi and Wasara compounds) learned of the performance andjoined it on their own initiative.
In addition, the project facilitated the following:
•
•

•
•

Establishment of informal network between the community councilors and Seeds Theatre Group to facilitate the future awarenessraising sessions in their area at anytime
Training of artists (including an artist with disability) on gender andgender-related issues and the use of drama techniques and skills
to eliminate violence against women (vaw). Training of membersof Seeds Theatre Group on how to make referrals to the relevant
institutions.
Writing of nine gender-based scripts
Awareness of two women members of Seeds Theatre Group about
the existence of support institutions and that rather than becomesilent victims they must go out and seek help when faced with violence. The institutions that can provide services refer to the Womenand Children Support Centre (counseling, treating and referring
victims), Soroptomist International, the Angau Memorial Hospital,
the police, the local court system and ngos that support and carefor the victims of vaw. Referrals to these services are also done inafter-play discussions with audiences.

Papua New Guinea: Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group

•
•
•

21

Translation of one pamphlet into Pidgin and the distribution of
copies of the pamphlets in the communities visitedOffer of support from institutions (Women and Children Support
Centre, Morobe Provincial Aids Council) on the implementation of
the program of Seeds Theatre GroupMedia coverage of the program (including news coverage by UN
Women website).

Seeds Theatre Group launched another series of performances under
the sponsorship of a government agency during March to July period of
2012.
Audience Responses
Most audiences are illiterate, with majority of them being older men andyouths. Most of them do not know anything about gender and equality.
They believe what their tradition and culture tell them: men are superior towomen.

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

They are somewhat surprised to know that violence against women isagainst the law and can lead to imprisonment. Some feel guilty, while others
are concerned about violence against women. Some want to report domestic violence cases and support the victims in seeking help. Because of illiteracy, their access to information about domestic violence is limited. Thus
the performances provide the needed information that make them becomeaware of the issue.
Most women in the audience speak and express the desire to have support centers or some sort of support within their community where theycan easily get help whenever they face violence. They see them as an option
instead of being silent victims in their community.
Some want the men to take ownership of the issue and fight genderviolence. They say that fighting gender violence is a two-way process where
both the husband and wife must be educated.
Others worry that png laws on gender are very weak, and that progress toward gender equality will not happen unless laws disadvantaged to
women are changed.
Examples of response are the following:“The training and my participation increased my skills andconfidence to carry drama to end violence against women andalso educated me to gain more knowledge on gender and violence against women issues” (Seeds female artist)“In court hearings, I usually take bribes to let the perpetrator of domestic violence go free. But now I realize that this isagainst women’s rights and I will change my way of dealing withlocal court cases of domestic violence by giving a tougher penalty to the perpetrator.” (Community councilor)“I did not know that wife bashing was against the law. I realized that I could go to prison for that. Thank you for making usaware.” (Community resident)“We in the community of Yanga need a community support center where the victims can get help. Currently, we silent-Papua New Guinea: Seeds Performing Arts Theatre Group23

ly become victims of domestic violence and need more of this
support and awareness to educate the men in our community.”(Community resident)
The Role of the Communities
Seeds Theatre Group encourages communities to take important role in its
activities instead of mere hosts of the performances. Communities support
the performances by:• Helping gather data for the pre-survey of the people of the communities prior to the performances;• Providing volunteer drama artists, musicians and musical instruments for the performances;• Building stages for performances, designing costumes and providing other supportive work during the performances;• Training of members of Seeds Theatre Group on traditional dancesand songs that go along with the drama plays and scripts developed;• Participating in project management by answering questionnaires
and other questions necessary for project reporting.
Partner institutions in the government and other institutions provide
technical advice, information and education materials, training, funding,and also staff in staging the performances in different locations.
Challenges in Using Theater
There is not much problem in using theater in carrying out awareness-raising activities. But unforseen circumstances ranging from bad weather toethnic or tribal fights force the rescheduling of performances. Lae city was
declared a fighting zone in November 2011 when ten people were killed.
Consequently, public gathering was restricted, and people were afraid toleave their homes.
Illiteracy and existence of different languages require the services oftranslators or facilitators who have to explain the purpose of the awarenessraising activity.

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H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c

Some Reflections
Being a registered community-based theater group in Lae city, Seeds Theatre
Group looks to stable, and longer-term financial support for its program. Its
current funding support is still not enough to reach many other disadvantaged people who are illiterate, isolated and have been denied their basic human right to have access to information on the many issues affecting themincluding violence against women.
It hopes to have good working relationship with a donor agency in carrying out its activities effectively and with desirable outcomes and indicators.
Endnotes
1
This is the project entitled “Using Performing Arts to evaw in Lae District,
Papua New Guinea,” being supported with a grant from the Pacific Regional evaw
Facility Fund of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowermentof Women.
2
Cargo cult refers to any “religious movement based on the observation by local
residents of the delivery of supplies by ship and aircraft to colonial officials. Cargo
cults were observed chiefly in Melanesia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
They were characterized by the expectation of a new age of blessing and prosperity
to be initiated by the arrival of a special “cargo” of goods from supernatural sources.
Such beliefs may have expressed traditional millennial ideas, often revived by theteaching of Christian missions.” Source: Merriam-Webester - www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cargo cult.