Wallace Wiley, Saving the Education of Papuan Children

Fabio Maria Lopes Costa

· 6 minutes read

Wallace “Wally” Wiley came from the United States and worked for four decades at an aviation company in Papua. Through his business trips to hundreds of remote provincial villages, his heart heard the call to build appropriate facilities to provide education to young children.

Learning activities ran as usual at around 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday (23/5/2019) at Sekolah Harapan Papua (Papau Hope School) in Doyo, Jayapura regency. Wiley, 71, arrived at the school in a black car after an hour-long meeting at his workplace, the Indonesian branch of the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Sentani.

MAF is a non-profit Christian organization that provides aviation and communication services to humanitarian agencies around the world.

The students and teachers cheerfully welcomed Wally, who is a strategic advisor at MAF Indonesia and monitors the classroom learning and teaching activities at Sekolah Harapan Papua.

Half an hour later, Wally continued his trip to Sekolah Harapan Papua’s Kemiri campus, about 5 kilometers from Doyo. Just like at the Doyo campus, the teachers and students at the Kemiri campus welcomed him happily. Wally is like a father who constantly pays attention to his children’s activities.

Wally founded Sekolah Harapan Papua-Doyo in 2010 and Sekolah Harapan Papua-Kemiri in 2012. The Doyo campus has 10 classrooms from kindergarten to grade three, while the Kemiri campus has 13 classrooms for grades four through 11 (year 2 of senior high school), as well as student dormitories for children from the rural districts of Yahukimo, Intan Jaya and Tolikara.

Sekolah Harapan Papua only charges monthly school fees for students from middle- to upper-income families. Students from rural areas and lower-income families attend classes for free.

Wally wants the teachers of both schools to provide exemplary learning for students, such as English-language mastery at an early age. Children are also taught religion, constructive behavior and productive habits.

"We will open classes for the third year of senior high school in the new academic year of 2019. At this time, our children, both from urban and inland areas, have achieved a 100 percent graduation rate at national and elementary school exams," said the father of two.

Hundreds of villages

One reason has driven Wally to be passionate about the education of Papuan children. On his journey as an MAF engineer who had built runways and hangars for hundreds of aviation routes in Papua since 1 Jan. 1977, Wally discovered that many children had dropped out of school in remote villages.

These villages have schools, but they are closed because of the minimum availability of teachers in the remote areas of Papua.

"I have visited 134 rural villages in Papua over 40 years in charge of MAF. I generally found the problem of children dropping out of school. I wanted to cry at seeing this condition, because these children are very keen to go to school, but do not have the opportunity," said Wally.

While serving as the head of MAF Papua in 1993-2004, Wally found that many native Papuans had difficulty passing the selection process for new pilots. They were particularly hampered by their poor problem-solving skills. Wally sought a solution by consulting with a number of education experts on the issue.

"They said that there were few Papuan pilots because of the poor education quality. So I vowed to develop [early childhood and primary] education in Papua," he said.

Wally fulfilled his vow in 2008, when he brought eight children from Pogapa village in Intan Jaya to attend a school he founded in Sentani, Jayapura. This was the first school he founded: two classrooms in a house.

Two teachers from Pelita Harapan University taught the eight children in subjects ranging from the Indonesian language to reading and counting. In 2009, Wally brought another six children from Silimo district, Yahukimo regency, to the school.

"We selected them through a rigorous selection process. The average age of the children was 6 to 7 years old. They were very keen to learn. Today, these children are in high school and can speak English," said Wally.

This school was the start of Wally\'s contribution to education in Papua. In 2010, Wally founded Sekolah Harapan Papua in Doyo after receiving a 2-hectare plot under the Jayapura land assistance program from then-regent Abel Suwae. In 2012, the Kemiri campus was established with land assistance of 5 hectares from the Papua provincial administration.

Most of the schools’ teachers come from Pelita Harapan University through the assistance of its founder, Johannes Oentoro.

"This work is not the result of only my own efforts. It is a miracle from God through a number of people, such as Mr. Johannes and foreign donors. They were touched after learning about our efforts to help the Papuan children," he said.

Wally, who has four grandchildren, became an Indonesian citizen on 23 May 2019. His wife, Joan Wiley, and his children, who also live in Papua, have remained US citizens.

Wally decided to become an Indonesian citizen because of his love for Papua. He felt that he was better able to contribute to education in Papua as an Indonesian citizen. He also resigned as the head of the MAF Indonesia (2004-2014) so he could focus more on developing education in

Papua. He then collaborated with the Lippo Group through Pelita Harapan University to build schools in the six rural areas of Kampung Karubaga and Mamit in Toliy regency, Deboto on the Nabire-Paniai border, and Nalca, Koropun and Danowage in Yahukimo regency.

The six schools have so far provided free education to 510 students from a student body of 780, taught by 70 teachers. Sekolah Harapan Papua charged school fees to 250 students, according to their financial ability, while 20 other students from inland areas were not subject to school fees.

For his constant dedication over the decades to providing education to Papuan children, Wally received an honorary degree in April 2016 from Corban University in Oregon state, US.

Wally will be assisting the Papua administration in training 50 high school graduates from several districts in English and other languages. These students have won scholarships to continue their studies abroad.

"I only follow God\'s call to work in Papua. I will continue to contribute to the development of education in this land until my eyes are closed [forever]," he said.

Wallace Wiley

Born: Vancouver, Washington (US), April 5, 1948

Wife: Joan Wiley

Children: Jacinda Wiley, Jared Wiley

Occupation: Strategic Advisor, Mission Aviation Fellowship Indonesia

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