Abaijah, Josephine (1942—)

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Abaijah, Josephine (1942—)

Papua New Guinea health educator, political leader, and entrepreneur. Name variations: Josephine Abayah; Dame Josephine Abaijah. Born in Wamira Village, Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, in 1942; one of the first women to be educated in New Guinea.

Became a health-education administrator and the first female member of the House of Parliament (1972–82); an entrepreneur with several retail businesses, returned to politics to serve as chair of the Interim Commission (governing body) of the National Capital District; created Dame of the British Empire (1991); published novel A Thousand Coloured Dreams; leader of the Papua Besena Party.

Some 100 miles north of Australia, Papua New Guinea is one of the last "unknown" areas of the globe. With fewer than four million people, the country is underpopulated. Many tribes—cut off from one another by precipitous mountain ranges, tropical rain forests, and fast-flowing rivers—speak over 700 languages. One-third of the population lives in the mist-shrouded Highlands. Though born in 1942, Josephine Abaijah grew up in the ways of her ancestors because her people had not been discovered by Europeans until the 1930s. Until then, they knew nothing of metal tools or the wheel. Sorcery and tribal wars were a part of everyday existence, though during Abaijah's youth it became increasingly common to halt warlike contests to permit tourists to cross the battlefield. In her lifetime, Papua New Guinea would make the remarkable transition from the age of stone to that of the microchip. During these decades of change, Josephine Abaijah, born in Wamira Village, Milne Bay, was one of the country's most successful denizens.

Education first separated Abaijah from the members of her tribe. Educated in the late 1940s and early 1950s, she was the first girl to attend the Misima government school, where she remained the only girl in her class throughout her schooling. She then attended an Anglican boarding school in Queensland, Australia. An excellent student, she earned certificates in health education, public health, teacher training, and rural reconstruction. She also finished courses in nursing, serving as secretary at Papuan Medical College. Her skills as a health educator brought her into a number of positions of responsibility, including regional health educator at Lae, the second largest city of Papua New Guinea. As an administrator in the health-education field, she served in a senior capacity in the Department of Public Health and as principal of the Institute of Health Education.

In 1972, Abaijah and her Australian advisor Dr. Eric Wright founded the Papua Besena ("Hands off Papua") movement to push for independence from Australian governance. She initially appeared on the national political stage in April 1972 when she became the first woman delegate to the national parliament, the 100-seat House of Assembly of Papua New Guinea. As Papua's leading feminist and a passionate political activist, she raised a number of bitterly controversial issues in her campaign speeches, including what she characterized as the "suppression, isolation and the brutal treatment of the people by patrol officers." Abaijah's political career in the House of Assembly ended in 1982 with her defeat at the polls. She used her new freedom to prosper in the private sector, successfully managing several retail businesses. In 1989, she returned to center stage of public life as the first woman to serve as chair of the Interim Commission (governing body) of the National Capital District. In 1991, she was named a Dame of the British Empire. That same year, Abaijah published her novel A Thousand Coloured Dreams, which was based on her life story; it was the first novel ever published by a Papua New Guinea woman. In 1992, she ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the House of Assembly. She remained, however, the leader of the Papua Besena Party.