This blog needs an update. The show in Maine (DowlingWalsh.com) went well and brought in almost enough to finish the Hungku Water Project, but then came the bills... pay the gallery, framers, etc. and it was almost gone so i created a poster to sell at lectures, film showings, etc. and feedback on the road raising money. The poster is a collaboration with Moses. He made the central map of Mt. Hungku and I made the surrounding endemic and endangered birds found on his land.

We've had a few large donations but need more. In October, I traveled to West Papua (that is what they call Irian Jaya now). I found Moses and part of his family in rapidly growing Manokwari on the coast of the Vogeltrop. This I fear is the part of the process of the "Indonesian policy of getting the indigenous people out of their traditional habitat and transforming

them into Indonesians... The army builds(concrete) houses, moves the people into them and from there on they have to fend for themselves." And so they were in a concrete house with a few of their little stripped wild pigs and a tiny parched garden all hot and dusty.

Earthquakes were disturbing Indonesia and disrupting transportation. I experienced a small one. My guide Yoris was not his usual self and required a thousand dollars to go with me to Hungku. Moses wanted to take me a "new" way but it would take time to arrange porters and I'd be without Yoris. After weighing the options I decided to wait a year so i could check on the "new" route and change Yoris' mind. Instead, we took Moses and his grandson to the new modern Manokwari supermarket. The little ten year old was terrified but soon helped Moses fill two grocery carts with items of their choice (soap, toothpaste, salt, rice, canned meat, etc.) Cash courtesy of Greta Howard of Marblehead.

Before leaving I was able to arrange a showing of "The Clever One" at a local hotel where it was met with cheers by the locals, staff, Moses, and sons. Other Saiba's and Demis are still in Hungku working the gardens and sending vegetables for sale in Manakwari. Moses proudly presented the finished woven bags for

our largest donors, Kim Harbin and Hunt Slonem. I left Moses a disposable camera and in November he returned it with very good pictures of bowers "one" and "two". I was disappointed it was not Leanardo or Warhol, but glad to know he had returned to the mountains and could use the camera.

All Money donated has been converted to local currency and remains in Manokwari at Bank Mandiri gaining interest. Martin Watofa, our engineer will tell us when we have enough to do serious buying(to avoid storage charges and damp cement). At least the tribe is learning about money and banking.

Thank you for helping.

The Dowling Walsh Gallery show in Rockland, Maine was a great success. The audience opening night was attractive and inspiring. Paintings sold well and many bought posters to help fund the Hungku Water Project. The documentary "The Clever One" will be included in The Maine Film Festival, October 2 - 4 and will be followed by another reception at Dowling Walsh just two doors from the Strand Theater. Producer Josiah Hooper is expected to attend this second reception. Moses steals the show.

September 25Th I will leave for Indonesia to work on the water project, visit Leonardo(Bower four) and hopefully find a new artist, perhaps Raphael.

Thank you Joe Puleo, at http://www.portraitsoflight.com/, again for your wonderful pictures.

I am leaving tomorrow for Fridays' fund-raiser in Sag Harbor, New York at Benson-Keyes Gallery.

Joe Puleo has made us a great poster using a painting prepared for the Dowling Walsh show which opens in Maine on September 16th. It's now less then a month away and then its off to Hungku...

Joe Puleo donated his time and materials. Thank you, Joe.

News from Moses~

They have purchased the pipes, but are now out of money so progress is on hold. I'm hoping my show at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in September will produce needed income. In October I will speak on Hungku and the work of the Bower Birds at the University of Papua in Manokwori. Hopefully this trip will include time in the Mountains to paint.

"The Clever One", a documentary about the work in West Papua is now on the web. See pbs.org/frontlineworld. They have done a wonderful job presenting the project and the delightful people of Hungku. My thanks to PBS Frontline and Josiah Hooper. Moses and his people will be delighted!

I've just returned from Indonesian New Guinea where I stayed at one of the few remaining hotels in Manokwari after the January earthquake. A warning system saved all lives except that of a little girl who was killed by a falling wall. Moses was in Hungku and said the twenty minute shake made them sick and dizzy, but reports no damage.
We held project meetings at the Mansinam Beach Resort now maintained by several familiar faces from the ruined Hotel Mutiara. Present were engineer, Martin Watofa, Susan Mores, team manager in Manokwari, Chief Moses Saiba, his brother August and three of his sons, Seth, Oni, and Seblum. Professional guide Yoris Wanggai translated.
We have collected twenty five percent of the money needed for the project and it is held in a bank account belonging to Moses Saiba(at a good interest rate I understand). The tribe is discouraged as the mining companies are approaching and the environment will be ruined by mining waste. Why save Hungku when there will be no nature? Yoris and I agree we must make the tribe str0ng and fight the pollution along the way. Martin is in charge of engineering the project and reluctant to buy materials until we have fifty percent of the money(another five thousand). Purchased cement may get damp and ruined.
We have decided to order pipe from Surabaya, Java immediately as it will not spoil, sea freight is slow and the price is rising.
The tribe needed encouragement so I purchased a brass faucet at a local hardware store and gave it to them. They passed it around turning it on and off with wonder and renewed faith. Moses has made a wonderful colored map( 20 inches by 34 inches) of Mt. Hungku, the boundaries of the village, the bowers, rivers, and gardens which I will have copied and use for promotion. He was pleased to announce that the Harpy Eagle still resides atop Mt. Hungku, that there are new Bower Bird and Bird of Paradise babies(chicks) and that he has discovered a cave inhabited by fruit bats.He gave me a red and old crocheted bag made by his daughter for her grandfather "Isak Ahoren". It gave me and idea for a way to involve the tribal women in this Project. Materials were purchased and bags will be made for large donors(five hundred dollars or more) integrating their name. The first will go to Kim Harbin our largest donor. The second will be for New York artist Hunt Slonem.
I met a team of scientists studying the impact of mines on the environment. They invited me to speak at the University of Papua in Manokwari in late September.
The Bower Bird paintings have been transfered to the Dowling and Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine(http://www.dowlingwalsh.com/) for a show in September.
There is a benefit planned for late summer for the Hungku Water Project in Sag Harbor, New York.
These paintings were inspired by Sougb expressions as they fingered the single water spicket. "what will the first water look like?" Please send money if you can. We will get there one drop at a time.

Uranium has been discovered at Auggi Lakes (where Hungku is). Trans-migrants are coming in by the thousands. Thus along with the gold and copper Moses' land is more saleable. Will the tribe resist the temptation to sell to mining companies?

The Water Project has slowed down due to lack of funds, but Moses has opened a bank savings account and is sending us the deposit slips. This is encouraging. Learning about money is another bridge crossed. Your continued support is requested and the rate of exchange is very favorable right now. The 501C3 is still in place. The coastal part of the tribe did sell their land and now work upon their own land as slaves. Moses' tribe is well aware of this example. I'll hope to return in March. More good news. We now have a lawyer volunteering her time.

I just returned from three weeks in Indonesia where I worked on the Hungku Water Project and continued to paint adding to the "Storm Series" and Jembaran Bay "Fish Series". In Irian the Water Project is under way. The missionary with the funds will be in the Arfak Mountains with Chief Mose Saiba for two months and supervise the work of the engineer who has designed the project. I'll hope to have a progress report in December. We have six of the twenty thousand dollars required for this project, but this is encouraging to the tribe.

The documentary on the Bower Birds in Hungku, "The Clever One" was shown on a wide screen to a small group in Ubud, Bali who have met and aided the Irian Chief Moses Saiba. It was met with enthusiasm especially by the children who also share a love of birds. Hopefully, it will be on P.B.S. soon.

Five New canvases for the "Fish" and "Storm" were removed from their canvas stretchers in Ubud and now await re-stretching on their US standard equivalents.