Obituary for PBI partner, Obed Rawar

Obed with colleagues from GKI and YSBA in 2007

PBI is sad to report the death of a partner, Obed Rawar (also written as Obet) from the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Unit of the Protestant Church of Papua (GKI KPKC).

Obed died on 20 October 2009, of a heart attack, he was in his early forties.

Obed was originally from the island of Biak off the coast of Papua, Indonesia. He worked for many years in human rights and peace, mainly based in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. He was a long time member of ELSHAM-Papua Human Rights organisation. It was Elsham-Papua which first invited PBI into Papua province in 2004. The first PBI volunteers in Papua remember Obed as an invaluable contact and advisor, meeting every two weeks about the human rights situation in Papua. In 2007, he joined GKI KPKC and was a facilitator in a workshop with PBI which helped to build understanding of conflict resolution and human rights throughout their church organisation. Throughout the workshop he demonstrated his passion and commitment to building peace and promoting and protecting the human rights of the indigenous peoples of Papua

He leaves a wife and four children.