“It was an unforgettable first-day
impression”.
I went to Saifi District, West
Papua, Indonesia, for summer 2016. Saifi, a district in South Sorong regency,
West Papua, Indonesia, is consisted of sixteen villages. Besides having a
growing population, many families are trying to get together to form a new
village because they would get government aid if they form a new village.
Although I grew up in Indonesia, an
archipelago country, which is consisted by five main big islands and
approximately around 13,000 small islands, it still remains mysterious to me. I
joined one of the activities at a local Non-profit Governmental Organization (NGO)
in West Papua, Bentara Papua, doing a
“community check-up” in Saifi District – I was assigned to two villages:
Mlaswat and Sira. To simplify, my job was to observe and analyze the potential
of economic growth for non-timber products in these villages.
After thirty
hours sitting on a plane, doing multiple transits, and six hours sitting on a
ruthless taxi, I finally arrived at the entrance of the first village. Also, right
before I got into the village, I got into an argument with the taxi driver
because he did not drop me at the destination but approximately two miles from
the first village. I paid him less eventually and had to walk through muddy
hills. “The road was not like this six months ago… it was nice, ” said my
partner, Yustin. I wondered the condition of the communities now compare to six
months ago.
 |
| Fig. 1 Muddy road to Mlaswat's entrance |
While we were walking our way to
Mlaswat village, we saw some Merbau or Kwila
timber laying down on the side of the road and heard chainsaw noise from a pretty
close distance. “They’re still chopping down their trees huh,” I said to
Yustin. Yustin began to explain me the culture of the communities who live in
Saifi District. Interestingly, he told me that there was only one family who has
resisted chopping down any Merbau or Iron tree for money. It’s the Woloin Family who live in Mlaswat
village, and I was going there to stay for couple days.
 |
| Fig. 1 Muddy road to Mlaswat's entrance |
 |
Fig. 2
Iron tree cut into salable blocks
|
When we arrived at Woloin family,
they served us an early dinner. They tried to minimize the activities during
nighttime because there was no electricity. After dinner, Agustinus Woloin
asked us to come along to a meeting for a wedding ceremony where they would
discuss how much bride’s price were collected so far. I felt better after I
filled up my stomach with Sago Conge, or Papeda,
and said yes to his invitation. So, I turned on my light from my iPhone and
followed Agustinus Woloin to the other house.
 |
Fig. 4
Me, Yulius Woloin, Agustinus Woloin during early dinner. Agustinus Woloin was
showing me how to roll Papeda
|
  |
Fig. 5
A man walking over Kain Timur
|
I was told by Yustin that the only
tradition that was being strongly held was bride-price as I unwittingly entered
the house full of chatter. I could see money become the reason why that
phenomenon happened. In addition to rough economy condition, as a result, women
are viewed as a valuable asset. The groom’s family would gather some ancient
Kain Timur (woven fabric made in East Indonesia), that will be counted for its
value, for bride’s family and plus an additional cash. The quote that they gave
me was this:
“A woman with high school diploma
usually receives about $10,000 - $15,000. A woman with master or Phd usually
receives about $25,000 - $35,000.”
So would
you marry a woman with high education level?
I
couldn’t event think of marriage at that point. They made me chug five glass of
enau, an alcoholic drink made by
fermented root. Agustinus Woloin gave me a sign to leave. He was trying to save
me from another drink. I didn’t dare to refuse it. So I went back to his house
and pass out. I thought it was a very nice introduction.
Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UMAEXElHZk
Comments
Post a Comment