A School for the Children of Mentawai Islands

In 2002, Tarida Hernawati embarked on an adventurous journey to the remote island of Siberut in West Sumatra’s Mentawai Islands regency.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

Tarida Hernawati

In 2002, Tarida Hernawati, 43, embarked on an adventurous journey to the remote island of Siberut in West Sumatra’s Mentawai Islands regency. Arriving as an anthropologist with the initial aim to research the local culture, she was later encouraged to establish the Uma School for children in remote areas.

Uma is the name of the traditional houses of Mentawai. The name Uma School marks an improvement over the naming of the school when it was constructed, when it was simply referred to as forest school. "If we use the term forest school, it will exclude the children and can have a psychological impact on them. We were looking for a more appropriate name, but one that does not negate their identity as Mentawai people," Tarida said on Wednesday (17/1).

The Uma School differs from formal schools in terms of study hours, uniforms, teaching facilities, learning methods and learning resources, all of which are adjusted to local conditions. The environment, customs and everyday culture are the main sources of education. Parents and elderly people are involved as teaching resources in the learning process. Initially, as an anthropologist and cultural researcher, Tarida\'s main aim was to conduct studies on and document the Mentawai culture.

She lived with the people of Salappa hamlet in Muntei village, about a four hours journey on the river from Muara Siberut, the center of South Siberut district. The island is located some 150 kilometers off the West Sumatra mainland.

In 2003, Tarida met a resident of Bekkeiluk hamlet who had come to Salappa to sell patchouli and rattan. That meeting became the starting point for Tarida\'s involvement in education for children in remote areas of Mentawai.

"The resident frequently stopped by the village library of Salappa, which is managed as an education program of the Citra Mandiri Mentawai Foundation (YCMM), which I work for. That resident told me about a residential area in the forest and even invited me to go there," she said.

As a researcher, Tarida, who heads YCMM\'s assessment division since 2015, was interested and agreed to visit the area. "It took more than three hours to reach the location through swamps and thigh-deep mud," Tarida said.

The YCMM did not proceed right away with establishing a school in Bekkeiluk hamlet. She and her colleagues visited the hamlet several times and stayed at local people\'s houses. "In the beginning, we tried to assess whether the children actually needed education" she said, adding that they did not wish to act just out of a feeling of pity or concern.

After one year of exploration, they began to bring teaching materials to the location in early 2004 to teach children how to read, write and calculate. "We also brought writing utensils. At the time they only wrote on the ground. It took quite some time, as many of the children did not know the purpose of pencils. A rubber eraser was even eaten, because it was mistaken for candy," Tarida said.

After a while of door-to-door teaching, Tarida started to think about a formal school. The objective was to enable children to focus more on learning and to interact with each other.

"Initially, we wanted to build a house for schooling, but that plan was aborted. Finally, together with the local people, we build the first school in the form of a boarded-floor hut, without walls, equipped with only a roof," Tarida said.

News of the Uma School in Bekkeiluk spread quickly to villages around Bekkeiluk. ”It turned out that many were interested and were aware of the school despite living in the forest. Finally not only children from Bekkeiluk but also from other villages came to study," she said.

The news about the forest school also reached the Prayoga Padang Foundation of the Padang Diocese, which is engaged in education. The foundation later arrived and served local residents. However, as the location is deep in the forest, an idea emerged to move the settlement to a site near the river to be easily accessible. In 2004, residents from the remote areas moved to the riverbanks and formed Bekkeiluk hamlet.

Growing numbers

After Bekkeiluk, in 2008 the next forest school was established in Sangong, a four-hour river trip from Salappa. "The response of the community was extraordinary, as at the time they faced difficulties in accessing formal education institutions, which were far away from their villages. Leaving their villages was also impossible, as they relied heavily on the economic resources of the forests," she said.

Unlike in Bekkeiluk, the Uma School in Sangong faced obstacles, as Tarida could not routinely visit it. Moreover, she also had to continue her research. Finally, children could not go to school anymore, because they had to follow their parents to go to the forests.

"Initially it was difficult to find teachers, until finally there was someone who was willing to live there. The man had frequently accompanied me back and forth by pompong boat to Sangong. He also accompanied me on foot through swamps and mud for one hour when the water level of the river was too low. But the man did not become my husband," Tarida said laughingly.

After Sangong, which has meanwhile changed its name to Magori, three more schools were established, namely in Tinambu, Saliguma village, Central Siberut, in 2009; in Gorottai, Malancan village, North Siberut, in 2015; and in Siata Nusa-Attabai, Madobak, South Siberut, in 2016.

Gorottai is an old kampung. Some of the residents were forced to move, leaving only 13 families. As a result, the school there has only five students. Meanwhile, the area of Attabai is hard to reach. "My friends and I need at least two days to get there. We started to open the Uma School with 16 students in total," Tarida said.

Tarida said that she and the YCMM would continue to encourage education in Mentawai, adding that the Uma School was expected to become a model of education for remote areas with difficult access.

"I have the dream that the Mentawai people can go to school without separating from their natural environment and culture. It does not matter if a school is in the middle of the forest, as long the quality is not inferior in terms of character-building and generating local knowledge," she said.

According to Tarida, the forests and natural resources around the Mentawai people constitute sources of cultural inspiration and resources to meet the economic needs. Preserving the forests principally maintains the life and identity of the Mentawai people. The main objective is not academic education such as in formal schools, but rather strengthening the identity and character of the Mentawai people.

Some of the Uma Schools have been certified by the government and have become state schools. The Uma School in Bekkeiluk has become the Santa Maria elementary school belonging to the Prayoga Foundation. The Magosi Uma School — which was established under the name Sangong Forest School — has become state elementary school SD Negeri 12 Muntei Filial Magosi. Similarly, Tinambu Uma School cooperates with SDN 16 Saliguma and Siata Nusa-Attabai Uma School with SDN 21 Madobak. Some of their graduates continue their studies in the district capital or even in Padang.

Tarida, who is now well known among residents of remote areas in Siberut, said she had not achieved much. "If we look back 15 years, there has not been much change in Bekkeiluk and Salappa,” said Tarida.

She added she wanted to continue digging and searching for the most appropriate approach to building Mentawai.

KOMPAS/ISMAIL ZAKARIA

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Tarida Hernawati Elisabeth Simanjuntak

Born: Medan, March 12, 1974

Husband: Suwendi Salaisek

Child: 1

Education: Anthropology graduate of the School of Sociopolitical Science of the University of North Sumatra (USU), Class of 1992.