The Spirit of Kartini Lives On

ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

· 6 minutes read

“Kawin bae ambiran dipangani wong lanang (Just get married, so you’ll be supported by your husband).”

Aisyah, 16, still remembers the words as if she had just heard it yesterday. The school dropout rejected the suggestion, even though it had come from her friends and family.

On Tuesday (16/4/2019) afternoon, Aisyah and several of her friends studied the history of elections in Indonesia. They were sitting in a building without doors, measuring 8 meters by 6.5 m, in Karangdawa hamlet, Setupatok village, Mundu district, Cirebon regency.

It is located in the middle of a plantation, some 8 kilometers from downtown Cirebon. They brought books and pens wrapped in plastic. Other than holding discussions, they read articles on the teacher’s smartphone. This was how Aisyah opposed pressure to marry young.

The girls have been studying at the Wangsakerta Nature School for a year and a half. The free school has no uniform requirements. There, students learn how to write, express their art, create organic fertilizer, process waste and grow crops. This has how Aisyah has kept her chin up after dropping out of school in 2017.

She only got to the ninth grade. Her father Ilman drove a pedicab and is often unable to work when he gets sick. Her mother Tisni once worked at a vermicelli factory with a daily wage of Rp 50,000 (US$3.56) whenever it was not raining. However, when she was pregnant with Arman, now 1, Tisni stopped working.

Aisyah’s older brother Kadiman also did not graduate from middle school. Now, he works as a home furniture seller in Batam, Riau Islands. Similarly, Aisyah was forced to drop out of school and work.

The small girl with thick eyebrows and dimples once worked as a housemaid at a nearby housing complex with a wage of Rp 250,000 per week. This was common for girls in her village.

Around a dozen housing complexes surround the ever-narrowing rice fields. Rice fields in the region were among the 835 hectares of agriculture fields in Cirebon that were converted between 2013 and 2017.

Another popular way to earn money is by peeling garlic or picking chili pepper. The wage is between Rp 20,000 and Rp 60,000 per day. In Karangdawa hamlet, the old adage of “women born out of men’s rib” is not entirely true as women are often the families’ breadwinners.

Aisyah once worked in a nugget factory from morning until the afternoon every day for a monthly wage of Rp 500,000.

“I quit. I could not stand getting scolded all the time. I want to get back to school. I don’t need money. I just want to get back to school,” said Aisyah, who had to walk for an hour to get to school every day as there was no public transportation.

Early marriage

After quitting from the nugget factory, Aisyah’s family told her to get married, as many others of her age in the village were also getting married.

“I told them that I didn’t want to. I did not know anything about anything,” she said with watery eyes.

Beah, 16, another local girl, suffered through a similar situation. She only graduated from elementary school. Her parents are a pedicab driver and a vermicelli factory worker. Continuing her education would have been too costly for her family.

“Once, I was told to get married, but I said no,” she said.

“I also refused to get married. It would have only led to fights and I would have looked older. My friends are still young but they already have babies. They look like our mothers,” said Linda, 15, another school dropout.

A mapping by Wangsakerta school and Karangdawa hamlet residents shows that 198 children aged between 6 and 18 are not enrolled in schools. This was more than 30 percent of the entire school-aged children in the hamlet with 2,695 residents. Some 235 locals are identified as illiterate.

On average, people in Cirebon get married at 18-19 years old. As they marry young, families’ resilience remains poor as couples cannot become financially independent.

Advocacy, communications, information and education section head Kustriyanto at the population control, family planning, women empowerment and child protection agency said that early marriage and pregnancy might lead to maternal mortality and stunting. Divorce is another risk. Last year, 60 percent of the 5,065 divorce cases in Cirebon were caused by early marriage.

The agency’s records showed that the infant mortality rate in Cirebon was 209 in 2016 and 185 in 2017. The Cirebon regency administration has named Karangdawa a family planning hamlet to prevent further deaths.

However, neighborhood unit (RT) 006 head Tini said this was not yet optimal.

“Many do not take part in the KB [family planning] program here. Rather than paying Rp 25,000 for a KB injection, people rather buy rice. They realize only now that KB injections are free for participants of BPJS Kesehatan [Healthcare and Social Security Agency],” Kustriyanto said.

Aisyah and her friends found a solution to continuing their education through the Wangsakerta school. In the morning, they bring water, take care of their smaller siblings and pick chili pepper. At noon, they study.

“I have read six novels,” said Aisyah, who loves to write.

They have even learned how to map the hamlet’s potentials and problems, such as well ownership and locals’ spending, most of which are used to buy food. When Aisyah presented her findings in front of other villagers, her parents were overwhelmed with emotion and cried.

“We try to provide alternative education so that they can continue their education and do not marry young. They have a strong will to go to school,” said Wangsakerta school cofounder Farida Mahri. The students have created a song titled “Sebuah Harapan” (One Hope) about their wish not to marry young.

Aisyah and her friends’ spirit to continue their education amid various obstacles remind us of the life story of RA Kartini. She was a pioneer in women’s emancipation in Indonesia. Now, 140 years later, her spirit lives on with all the problems faced by women in the country.

Editor:

kompascetak