Building Hope in Dark Huts

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Boats stop at the Kapuas River in Kapuas Hulu regency, West Kalimantan, as the engine of one of the vessels is broken on Wednesday (14/11/2018). The river is the only way for residents of the upstream Kapuas areas to travel to Putussibau, the capital of Kapuas Hulu.

Pitch-dark, a shabby hut in West Kalimantan looked deserted on Friday (16/11/2018) evening, but it turned out that six high school students from remote areas of the province were living and studying there.

Lukas Budin, a twelfth-grader of state senior high school SMA 01 in Silat Hulu district, Dangkan, Kapuas Hulu regency, West Kalimantan, sat on the floor of the hut. Chemistry textbooks and tables of chemical elements were laid out on the floor in front of him. His eyes wrinkled as he bent over to study the tables. Five of his friends were studying with him, with furrowed brows.

Lukas\' right hand was holding a cheap mobile phone, which he was now using not for chatting, browsing or gaming, but as a light source.

Studying after dark, they were relying on mobile phones as the only sources of light in the hut. "Six students live here; two are in junior high school and four in senior high school. Initially, learning with minimal lighting was difficult and hampered by eye sores. However, [we] are gradually getting used to it. These are the conditions ahead of semester and national exams," Lukas said.

The area is, in fact, supplied with electricity, but these students cannot avail themselves of the electricity from neighboring homes, because their parents cannot afford the cost. They only ask for permission to charge their mobile phones at the homes of other residents, which is more economical than buying candles or battery flashlights.

The 4x6-meter hut is divided into two bedrooms and a living room, where a stove is located. The back part is used for washing dishes as well as cooking with firewood. A nearby river serves as the toilet.

Some of the wooden boards of the abode look weathered. The back wall is made of hastily arranged bamboo. The windows and the floor are covered with wooden boards.

Many holes mean mosquitoes easily get into the hut, which is located near a forest. Plastic covers the many holes in the zinc roof to prevent water dripping in when it rains. "When there are mosquitoes at night, we study inside a mosquito net. During the day, it is very hot, so it is impossible to take a nap. We just wander around outside the hut during the day," Lukas said.

The inhabitants have to be careful when walking about the hut, because the poles are not as strong as they once were. Together they put up additional support poles in the back to keep the hut upright.

There is no room for cabinets in the limited space; clothes are just hung up on the walls and poles.

“Free housing”

The hut used to belong to a resident, who made it available free of charge. The students depend on it, because their home village, Kampung Perjuk, is 30 kilometers from Dangkan, the capital city of Silat Hulu district. The roads leading to the village are badly damaged.

They are forced to go to Dangkan to continue their study. While there is a dormitory in the district, these students’ parents, who live under the poverty line, cannot afford the fees.

School holidays are no time to take a rest, let alone go on a vacation. They use the holidays to earn some income to help pay for their living costs and school expenses. Some do gardening at homes in the area for Rp 30,000, others work on local farms.

“The daily meals of the students consist mostly of cassava leaf vegetables. Eggs and instant noodles, bought with money from side jobs, are a luxury. With nutrition like this, we can still enter the top 10 on average,” said Oktavianus, a ninth-grader at state junior high school SMP 01 Silat Hulu.

The limitations they face compel them to share what they have, especially when one of them receives packages of side dishes or rice from their parents in the village. If they do not receive anything, they are forced to travel to their village to fetch the rice.

For the sake of schooling

Dozens of youths from Kampung Perjuk live in similarly harsh circumstances for the sake of going to school.

Other children from poor families of Kampung Perjuk live in the homes of residents of the area, in return for working in the house. Children of better-off families usually live in the dormitory.

In another village, Kampung Salin in South Putussibau district, in the upstream area of the Kapuas River, the local elementary school only provides the first four years of education. To continue their study, students have to go to the center of the village by motor boat along a strong-current river.

Another option is to go to Putussibau, the capital of Kapuas Hulu regency, four to five hours by motor boat. No wonder many children drop out of school and marry at a young age.

This is the reality in remote areas of West Kalimantan at a time when the world of education is challenged to prepare a generation to support the Fourth Industrial Revolution. What can be expected if they must work hard like this just to finish the nine years of compulsory education?

Such hardship seriously impacts development in West Kalimantan. West Kalimantan Governor Sutarmidji has said at various occasions that province ranks 29^th nationally on the Human Development Index with a score of 66.26. The national average is 70.81.

This reflects shortfalls in a number of the indicators forming the index, especially in education. , Only an average of 7.5 years of schooling are achieved in West Kalimantan, which compares to the targeted 12.5 years, hence the province’s slow progress on the human development index.

Kapuas Hulu Education and Culture Office head Petrus Kusnadi admitted there were still many problems. In the future, the agency he leads will work with the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration to build dormitories for disadvantaged children.

Aswandi, an education expert at Tanjungpura University, emphasized that public dormitories were badly needed. Of course, the dormitories have to be built near the schools rather than near the students’ parental homes, which are located deep in remote areas.

Let us not leave the young generation of this nation to struggle alone, living in empty huts without proper facilities, as the “ghost” of Industry 4.0 moves by.