It was the beginning of January, their school break had ended, and it was time to go to school in the city. Gathering in the middle of the kampung before the youngsters head off to study has become a ritual. During this ritual, community leaders give advice and pray for the students’ success.
“Study well, so that you can get a better life and help others,” said Tos Tosil, the community leader of Hukuanakota.
After receiving the advice and prayer, the children quickly left their kampung in a mountainous area for Kairatu on the coastline of Seram. There are junior and senior high schools in Kairatu.
The road to Kairatu is a narrow dirt trail, only hardened in some area by severely damaged asphalt. For years, it had only been accessible on foot, now you can see some small trucks as well.
After leaving the village, the group reached a steep trail descending at around 45 degrees. So as not to slip and fall, the children had to take off their footwear. Those small feet quickly stepped on between rocks and roots and then took steps on the edge of a steep cliff.
Landslides often hit this track and have killed people in the past. Some of them were only injured at first, but later died because of the lack of medical help. The steeply descending trail has also witnessed the death of pregnant mothers or severely ill persons, who were carried by residents to the coast.
The 2-kilometer long steep descent forces walkers carrying heavy loads to take a break at least five times – more often at night or during the rain. Local residents have repaired the steep trail several times, but it is damaged by erosion every time there is heavy rain.
After the steep descent, the children met a tributary. Some of them went down to cross the river, while others chose to take the makeshift bridge made from a big log. The 10-meter long log measured about 30 centimeters in diameter and was slippery. During heavy rain, people sometimes fall down and are swept away.
Next, the youngsters faced a steep climb of about 3 kilometers. They would stop for a while to catch their breath. Some of them cracked jokes to get rid of fatigue. They also took selfies using their smartphones, which could only be used to take photos and play music, because there was no telecommunication transmitter in Hukuanakota.
For almost two hours, or 12 kilometers, Kompas joined them until they arrived in Honitetuh village, a district center. There, two small trucks were ready to take them to Kairatu, some 24 kilometers away. Hukuanakota and Honitetuh are located in Inamosol district in the western part of Seram regency.
In Honitetuh, their parents, who had left the village earlier in the morning, welcomed them. They had brought food, such as bananas, sago, cassava or sweet potato. The children would take the food with them to eat for months, or until the next school holidays.
The fare for a motorbike taxi from Hukuanakota to Kairatu is Rp 100,000 per person. That’s why the parents do not go to see their children often. In Kairatu, the children live at a boarding house or at a temporary house their parents build for them, or they stay with a relative.
Will and spirit
They have to take the long and tiring journey, because there is no junior or senior high school in Hukuanakota or Honitetuh. Yohanes Soriale, 18, a grade 12 student at SMA Negeri 1 Kairatu, has embarked on these walks for six years, ever since he attended junior high school. He graduated from SMP Negeri 1 Kairatu, close to SMA Negeri 1 Kairatu.
Yohanes, a coordinator of the Hukuanakota students, said during the holidays they would collect money by working or singing door-to-door. The money would be used to pay for the truck, which charged them Rp 300,000 from Honitetuh to Kairatu. Sometimes the students would have to borrow money.
“People in the city are successful, because they have attended school. We want to be like them, so we have to attend school,” he said.
Yohanes, who is 165 centimeters tall, wants to become a policeman. He believes that only through education would they have a brighter future.
Helmi Rivaldo Kapitan, 12, grade 7 at SMP Negeri 1 Kairatu, wants to be a doctor to help ill people in Hukuanakota. Since they were kids they have witnessed people die because there was no medical worker.
In August 2017, twin babies died in the womb of a woman. There was also a woman who gave birth on the way to Honitetuh.
At the elementary school of Hukuanakota, the students were full of spirit. A poor service by state-owned electricity provider PLN did not stop them from studying at night. They studied under the light of oil-fueled lamps. The kampung applies a mandatory study hours rule, starting from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. During the study hours, local residents are told to keep silent.
Actually, the kampung deserves a junior high school, with around 30 students graduating from elementary school each academic year. However, the residents are worried that poor road access would be an excuse for teachers to refuse assignments to the village. Parents and students prefer to study in Kairatu, despite the long walk.
Hukuanakota village secretary Benny Tosil said awareness about the importance of education had begun to grow in the past 10 years. Information from the media and the success stories of educated people in the city have boosted the spirit of the families and their children to study at schools.
No doubt, the limited access is considered an obstacle for the children of secluded villages in the interior of Seram Island to reach their dreams. But they are willing to do what it takes to fight for a better future.
