Unconditional Love of Sumba

KOMPAS/NINUK MARDIANA PAMBUDY

Pastor Robert Ramone CSsR

For decades, Robert Ramone worked hard to improve all things on his home island of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, so that its good parts could be preserved. He felt he was alone in his efforts, as not many seemed to understand what he was trying to achieve. Today, his arduous efforts have borne fruit.

More and more people are looking toward Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, participating in its development to help improve the people’s welfare. One organization involved in the effort is Rumah Tenun (textile house) and the Museum Atma Hondu of the Sumba Cultural House complex in Kalembu Nga’ Bangga, Weetebula, Southwest Sumba. The museum, inaugurated on Aug. 29, 2018, exhibits traditional clothing, most of which are nearly obsolete, and new textiles produced by women in Southwest Sumba.

Rumah Tenun and museum, built in the Sumbanese architectural style, were established through the funds designer Biyan Wanaatmadja raised during a fashion show. Other buildings such as administrative offices, a meeting hall, chapel and Robert’s house, were also built on contributions from donors.

Robert Ramone is a priest of the Redemptionist order, or the Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris (C.Ss.R.), and has been systematically promoting Sumba since 2004. Through his photography, a skill he has been developing since 1992, Robert recorded Sumba’s natural environment and the life of its people, and turned his photographs into postcards. “At that time, only I could do it,” he said in late August at Sumba Cultural House.

His photographs of a thousand words were displayed in a series of exhibitions in Jakarta and elsewhere. They were also published in Sumba yang Terlupakan (Forgotten Sumba) in three languages: Indonesian, English and Dutch. The greatest achievement of the photos he published and exhibited was that it drew people to Sumba from many cities and countries.

Robert had good reason to made continued efforts to raise the quality of life of the Sumba people: the Human Development Index (HDI) – which measures prosperity and living standards – was 62.3 for West Sumba and 64.19 for East Sumba in 2017, below the national average of 70.81.

Not alone

Robert worked to build customary houses across Sumba, so they could be used as a place to transfer cultural values between generations, where all people – old and young, man and woman, community leaders and ordinary people – could discuss many issues. “Children learn about life as they play near their mothers who are weaving textiles, or when elders gather at a customary house,” he said. Robert has been devoting himself fully to attention cultural development since 2010, when he retired as a priest.

Robert did not expect much from the local administration. Funding from the central government for the Sumba Cultural House was cut; the local administration never fulfilled its promise to help renovate the cultural house.

It is not surprising that, for decades, he felt he was alone in his endeavors. “Not anymore. Many friends walk with me [today],” he said.

Establishing cooperation with architect Yori Antar, who founded the Rumah Asuh (foster home) Foundation, has made it easier for Robert, particularly in convincing donors about the importance of passing down cultural values from generation to generation.

The Sumba Cultural House complex, which stands on 50 hectares of land belonging to the C.Ss.R., is proof that Robert’s dream has begun to bear fruit. In 2011, two Sumbanese customary houses were built upon a donation from the Tirto Utomo Foundation. The complex’s customary houses, with roofs made from rumbia (sago palm) leaves, include a museum and a communal hall. Yori Antar designed the two customary houses and a textile museum. The complex also offers rooms for rent as a way to fund its activities and to contribute to the local economy.

The complex is now a primary destination for tourists and those seeking information on the Sumba culture. Other Christian orders are also learning from Robert about alternative ways of serving their congregations, as well as tourism.

Some, however, question his work, saying that a religious leader should focus more on serving people. “It’s easy to answer that question. I serve the people through cultural inheritance,” he said.

Robert has initiated the development of more than 150 customary houses through various means, including through the Education and Culture Ministry’s program to reestablish cultural centers across the archipelago, which commenced in 2013. The current outcome is better than in 2011, when Kompas interviewed him.

Robert worked closely with Yori. Yori’s Rumah Asuh program, which involves active community participation, fits Robert’s ideas. Yori said that people only expected donations for the four corner posts of a customary house. They built the rest through gotong-royong, the cultural tradition of mutual help, so needed only Rp 50 million in donations for each house.

Robert also teaches people to make detailed records of all expenditures and file all invoices. These records help alleviate any doubts philanthropists and donor organizations may have in contributing to the community development effort.

Maintaining roots

Robert’s love for Sumba is unconditional. He first heard about Sumba from his mother, whom he knew only briefly. He barely knew his father, a sculptor, who died when Robert was small. His mother raised four children alone a until her death when Robert was 10.

Robert learned about the Sumbanese culture through the values passed on by his mother, who wove textiles to make money. His mother taught Robert about Sumba’s traditions. He grew to love Sumba through his mother, who was illiterate and believed in the Marapu traditional faith. As Robert writes in Sumba yang Terlupakan, Marapu is a belief composed of animism, spirituality and dynamism. Marapu derives from the words mar, meaning “the creator of the universe and the source of all life”, and apu, meaning “grandfather”.

About 60 percent of the Sumbanese people follow Marapu and the remaining 40 percent are Protestant or Catholic, with the remaining minority following Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Robert followed Marapu until he turned 17, when he was baptized a Catholic.

His determination to develop Sumba is never dampened, even by his poor health, which has made his close friends concerned. Many things remain to be done to ensure that Sumba’s knowledge and culture are passed down, so that the Sumbanese people will not be uprooted by the growing modernization. There must be a balance between modernity and preserving the local wisdom.

“Sumba is a beautiful island, but the people’s lives have not been as beautiful as its nature,” he said.

KOMPAS/NINUK MARDIANA PAMBUDY

Pastor Robert Ramone CSsR

Born: Aug. 29, 1962; Gallu Wawi, Kodi Bangedo, Southwest Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara

Education: Philosophy and Theology, Wedabhakti Theological School, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, 1985-1992

Activities:

Director, Sumba Cultural Studies and Conservation Institute (2010-present)

; Director, Sumba Culture House (2010-present)

; Photography, particularly in capturing the culture and landscape of Sumba (1992-present)

Awards:

Natural Heritage and Museum Conservation Award, Education and Culture Ministry (2014); Vice Presidential Award for Promoting Sumba Tourism (2011); NTT Academia Award in Humanities and Cultural Conservation (2011)

Publication:

Sumba yang Terlupakan (Forgotten Sumba), photography book