Hope from Indonesia’s Veranda

Kompas/Agus Susanto

Mosso state elementary school children take a math lesson taught by RI-PNG border security task unit officers from Yonif Para Raider 432/Kostrad in Muara Tami district, Jayapura, Papua, Monday (17/7).

BELU, KOMPAS — The revitalization of cross-border areas in Indonesia is not only the work of the government. Recently, there have been several youth led initiatives to help improve the lives of people in border areas. As the country celebrates its 72^nd Independence Day anniversary and we look out into the future from Indonesia’s veranda, the initiatives of these young people offer the sight of a new hope.

The activities of these young people serve as a driving force to strengthen the development of border areas. These initiatives were witnessed when Kompas visited the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border in Skouw (Jayapura, Papua), the Indonesia-Timor Leste border in Atambua (Belu, East Nusa Tenggara) and the Indonesia-Malaysia border in Krayan (Nunukan, North Kalimantan). Here, young people were making important contributions to the social, health, education and digital sectors of their communities.

Inayah Wahid, a young activist and founder of Positive Movement Indonesia, on Tuesday, in Jakarta said it was important for young people to do something for their community and surrounding society. If young people want to make a positive change, it must be more than the illusion of “if they become or if they are in certain position.”

“Change starts now by doing what we can. That will change something,” said the daughter of the country’s fourth president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Erdianus Eko, 32, or Edi, a resident of Napan village, North Bikomi, North Timor Tengah, NTT, began uploading content related his village to the website napan.desa.id. Over the past two years, Edi has acted as the operator of the website as part of a program between the Information and Communication Ministry and the regional administration. The website promotes the potential of the region.

“Aside from village activities, I also write articles about residents who produce honey, woven fabric or organic sweet potato. I post them on the website so more people can learn about our village,” Edi said.

Thanks to the website, people have ordered forest honey from outside the village, including from Depok, West Java.

He hoped the positive content would also help create jobs for the local people. “The development programs are heading east. We in the border areas lack human resources training. In my opinion, a more developed Indonesia would make it easier for people to get jobs,” said the father of one.

Meliana da Silva, 40, has since the age of 33 been a teacher at the pre-kindergarten education (PAUD) in Tenukik subdistrict, Belu, NTT. Although she only receives Rp 200,000 per month the low pay does not concern her because she wants to instill positive values in the children while they’re in their golden age. “Let the children have the will to love their nation,” she said.

In Krayan, Nunukan, Jemmy Yusten, 30, an English teacher at high school SMAN I Krayan, searched for and bought books with his own money to enrich the literature options for his students. The books at his school had been few and outdated. “The government set the 2013 Curriculum. Ideally, the students would have the literature. But, such an ideal condition is not experienced in Krayan,” he said.

In the health sector, youths in border areas also play an important role. Ancelma Takayeitou, 29, a resident of Jayapura, has since February 2016 served as a physician at a community health center in Skouw, Muara Tami, Jayapura, which borders Papua New Guinea. Similarly, Aprianus, 31, also works as a doctor in Krayan.

Ancelma lives at an official residence at the community health center complex to serve the local people. On weekends, he goes home to Jayapura. He had the option to work as a doctor in the city center of Hamadi but chose to work on the border.

Ancelma said maintaining peoples health was of equal importance to helping people socially and economically. “Young people are the backbone of the nation so they have to do something useful for society,” he said.

Aprianus, another young doctor and graduate of Krida Wacana Christian University, Jakarta, decided to return to Krayan although he had many offers to work in other places such as Tarakan and Nunukan, despite the limited facilities in Krayan.

The push to motivate young people to do something for their communities was not easy. Ronal Patipeme, 40, a resident of Skouw Yambe, Muara Tami, Jayapura, along with local community figures and with the help of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office in Jayapura has since 2015 encouraged young people to get involved in turtle breeding. However, many young people did not get involved because they felt there was no incentive.

Aside from aiming to preserve the environment, turtle breeding also aims to attract tourists to trigger growth in the local economy. Each visitor who wants to experience releasing a baby turtle is charged Rp 10,000 per turtle for operational costs.

Slank guitarist Ridho Hafiedz, 43, who is also active in social movements, believes youth movements could expedite development in both remote areas and in border areas.

“The border areas are the vanguard of the nation. A few days ago, I visited Merauke and saw the local communities, such as the Vespa lovers club, taking care of the environment by cleaning up the border area,” Ridho said.

One thing that held residents and youth in border areas back, Ridho said, was the lack of government attention to the border areas. Consequently, many young people did not really know their place. However, by learning about and caring for their environment, small and concrete actions could be made to help support development.

(JOG/GAL/AGE/JAL/IRE/REK)