Sister Lorraine Garasu who runs Chabai Nazareth, the only rehabilitation centre in Bougainville, has called on the PNG government to do more to help disadvantaged youth in Bougainville.
The centre opens its doors to the ‘Lost Generation’ – people who have lost parents in the Bougainville crisis of the 1990s. She says these people have turned to drugs and alcohol, or anti social behaviour to cope with their loss.
Sister Garasu told Radio Australia that the government is making a great effort to address the situation, but more needs to be done.
“In my work I don’t talk about lost generation, I know that’s the term used for young people in Bougainville who are struggling to get out of their experience from the crisis. What I talk about is young people, and I believe that if you keep labelling people then psychologically it does not help.
“So I talk about young people and the young people that I work with they come from all over Bougainville, and I believe that these young people they have potential it’s just that they have never been given the opportunity. And for me there’s really no lost generation. I think what we need to understand here is that the young people are there, what they have lost is time, time and opportunity.”
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