A Canadian man who is cycling through seven countries over six months in an effort to raise awareness about human rights abuses in West Papua, has reached New Zealand.
Jeremy Bally began his campaign in Canada and will complete the tour when he finishes his final leg in Australia in December, clocking up about 12,000 kilometres in the process.
Mr Bally told Bridget Tunnicliffe how he got interested in the political situation in West Papua.
JEREMY BALLY: I had a friend about four years ago now who was working on the issue in a club at our university called Rights and Democracy. And everyone had graduated so she just needed some extra help and asked me if I'd ever heard about West Papua before and I said no. And never said that answer again. (Laughs)
BRIDGET TUNNICLIFFE: So have you actually visited West Papua?
JB: Yes. I did this campaign across Canada last summer. And before that, in the fall of 2011, the autumn back home, that September to December I went to Indonesia for language lessons and then to West Papua for about a month and a half to do research for that first campaign.
BT: And, obviously, it's had quite an impact on you. Why has it become so important to you?
JB: I think it has a lot to do with the story. I think of myself as a storyteller and that's sort of my main professional attachment to this campaign and what I'm doing. And the setting of West Papua is just incredible. Matching that with the story of what's happened to its people and to its environment to me is an incredibly engaging narrative and one that I'm always excited to talk about and to tell.
BT: How are you telling the story? I understand it's sort of delivered in a performance?
JB: Yes. So in January and February this year I interviewed nine West Papuans who are living internationally as refugees or in exile, over Skype. I recorded those conversations and I edited them into a 60-minute narrative track. Through my sponsorship I was able to have that track set to animation, which is projected next to me on stage. And my role is to pause and play the animation and narrate it using spoken word poetry and ukulele-based hip-hop music.
BT: So Pedalling for Papua, you're obviously going to be cycling a lot. DO you have a background in cycling?
JB: Not really, except for I cycle around town when I'm back home. But I don't have any professional experience cycling. I just kind of like it. And since having started cycle touring in 2010 I've developed a love for this form of travelling. And I find it a good way to contribute to a world issue and something you care about is to attach it to things you're passionate about. For me that's where the cycling attachment comes from. I have a Morning Star flag flying from my bike, and I think that's the best tool that I have with me to draw people's attention in. So people are asking 'What is that?' 'cause it looks familiar but not exactly. So that way we're able to engage about the story and that way I'm able to take the time that I spend on the road and make it campaignable.
Jeremy Bally is also aiming to raise funds for Papuans Behind Bars, a collective project initiated by Papuan civil society groups.apua
