27th AIDS Candlelight Memorial 2010 “Many lights for Human Rights”

Perayaan AIDS Candlelight Memorial untuk tahun 2010 ini dilakukan di beberapa gereja di seputaran Wamena. Antara lain, gereja GBI Siloam di Jalan Thamrin Wamena, Gereja Baptis Maranatha di Jalan Sudirman Wamena, dan GKII Efata di Jalan SD Percobaan Wamena.
Berikut ini masing-masing catatan untuk kegiatan di beberapa gereja tersebut:

Perayaan AIDS Candlelight Memorial di Gereja GBI Siloam berlangsung hari Sabtu tanggal 22 Mei 2010. Sekitar 40an pemuda gereja dan anak-anak muda seputaran Wamena mengambil bagian dalam acara ini. Acara dimulai dengan penjelaskan mengenai apa itu AIDS Candlelight Memorial, bahwa even ini yang sering di Indonesiakan dengan nama ”Malam Renungan” merupakan even tertua yang sudah berlangsung sejak tahun 1982. Setelah menerima penjelasan dari fasilitator yang berasal dari Wahana Visi Indonesia, acara dilanjutkan dengan menonton film berjudul ”Ketulusan Cinta”. Film ini berkisah tentang kehidupan muda-mudi remaja di kota Merauke dimana sang pemuda akibat kelakuannya yang tidak baik (melakukan seks bebas) terkena infeksi HIV. Namun sang pemudi tetap mendampinginya sampai si pemuda kembali ke jalan yang benar. Acara kemudian dilanjutkan dengan renungan dan penyalaan lilin. Penyalaan lilin dilakukan oleh pemuda-pemudi gereja sambil masing-masing mendoakan orang-orang yang mereka ketahui meninggal akibat AIDS. Para pemuda dan pemudi juga menyalakan lilin berbentuk pita HIV yang ada di depan mimbar sebagai bentuk kepedulian dan kesiapan mereka sebagai cahaya yang akan menerangi situasi HIV dan AIDS di Wamena. Dalam renungan singkat disampaikan juga jumlah kasus terakhir per April 2010 yaitu sebanyak 698 kasus (KPAD Jayawijaya).

Perayaan AIDS Candlelight Memorial di gereja Baptis Maranatha berlangsung hari Minggu sore tanggal 23 Mei 2010. Acara berupa ibadah bersama pemuda-pemudi gereja Baptis di seputaran Wamena kota karena acara ini juga mengundang seluruh pemuda-pemudi gereja Baptis di Wamena kota antara lain Gereja Baptis Sion, Gereja Baptis Ninabua, dan gereja Baptis lainnya. Acara kemudian dilanjutkan dengan penyalaan lilin sambil mendoakan orang-orang yang telah menjadi korban HIV dan AIDS. Sekitar 40an pemuda-pemudi terlibat dalam acara di gereja Baptis Maranatha ini. Fasilitator pembawa renungan berasal dari Wahana Visi Indonesia.

Perayaan AIDS Candlelight Memorial di gereja GKII Efata didukung sepenuhnya oleh KPAD Jayawijaya dan berbagai NGO dan LSM lokal seperti: Wahana Visi Indonesia, Yayasan Tangan Peduli, Yukemdi, dan LSM lokal lainnya. Acara ini termasuk yang paling dipadati pengunjung karena lokasinya yang terbuka dengan panggung yang menampilkan lagu-lagu dan band bertemakan pencegahan HIV dan AIDS. Sekitar 500an anak muda di seputaran Wamena kota berpartisipasi dalam acara ini. Acara diawali dengan sambutan-sambutan dari berbagai pihak dan kemudian dilanjutkan dengan renungan yang dibawakan seorang pendeta. Penyalaan lilin dipandu oleh Pdt. John Naap dari GKII Efata Wamena. Acara ini sepenuhnya difasilitasi oleh Wamena Youth Forum dengan dukungan dana dari KPAD Jayawijaya serta bantuan teknis dari Wahana Visi Indonesia Wamena.

Ke depannya kemandirian gereja dalam melakukan program ini sangatlah diharapkan. Gereja-gereja diharap tidak bergantung kepada lembaga yang akan membiayai kegiatan ini namun bersikap independen dalam dana dan daya sehingga kepedulian gereja terhadap situasi HIV dan AIDS di Jayawijaya ini akan lebih baik dan lebih baik lagi.

Yerias now able to walk again!

“Now I’m able to see happiness in my son face again.” Said Terli Wenda (Female, 30 years old), mother of Yerias Wanimbo (Male, 2 years and 5 months old). “I can see progress within my son that finally he is able to walk again.” Terli continued.

This was the expression of Terli Wenda when she told the story of her son Yerias. Yerias is the second son of Oban Wanimbo’s children. Yerias’ father Oban Wanimbo (35 years old) working as farmer to fulfils daily family needs. When Yerias age two years old he was still not able to walk. Yerias development on growth seems a little bit late compared to children as his age. In their village when children already 2 years old then they are able to walk even to run when playing with their peers. “I was once feeling ashamed when I have to face another mothers in my village” said Terli. “I couldn’t answer anything when they asked me how and why”. Terli then brought Yerias to NERS post that available in Nambume village in cooperation of community with World Vision Indonesia. NERS post is a program carried out by Nutrition project of Eruwok ADP. This project is a continuation of SEHAT project that already closed in the last fiscal year. SEHAT project was nutrition project aimed to increase nutrition status of children under 5 years old. This project was using Positive Deviance (PD) method. The project then funded using sponsorship budget and expanded to other areas that not covered in previous SEHAT project. In the NERS post mothers were equipped with knowledge about food diversification.

They were practiced and applied the knowledge to their home so they able to provide nutritious food for their children. At first, it was difficult to train mothers in food diversification since them only able to cook in a simple way using hot stones (bakar batu) but after 2 years implementation of SEHAT project some mothers adopted training materials in their daily life.
Yerias’ brother Peles Wanimbo is a registered child of Eruwok ADP. He is 8 years old now and often playing with his little brother Yerias.

“I keep feeding my son with different kind of nutritious food every day and I can see the progress that month by month the weight of my son is increasing” said Terli, “Yerias also begin to like eating fruits and vegetables compare to before joining this post”.
One day, Terli was astonished seeing view of her son walking. “I was very surprised at that day” she said. “Although he still can not run and walk wobbly I believe that someday my son will be able to run like another children in my village” Terli continued. We saw Terli’s smile and that smile brought hope to us that this program need to be continued and replicated to other areas as so many children like Yerias might present in other remote areas.

In the future, several special funding needed to extend this nutrition program into other Eruwok ADP ministry areas.

Posted by Willy Sitompul for Eruwok Development

Maria's Story - Voice of Baliem Children

“Good evening Wamena, meet with me again Maria in our regular program folk stories” said Maria through a microphone standing in front of her. Maria is an announcer of VBC community radio founded by WV in Wamena. Though she was born in Sorong in 1992, Maria Asso is one of indigenous people of Wamena. Her father Mikakogo Asso is a government officer that sometimes has to move from place to place based on letter of assignment from the government while her mother Yosinia Fatubun is a private worker. She has one sibling which is her brother that still study in Jayapura.

We met with Maria in VBC radio station located in Mandiri Dormitory Wamena. This dormitory own by WV and practically use for many activities such as computer course and community radio. VBC itself was founded in early February 2009 and stands for Voice of Baliem Children. The aim of this community radio station is to improve local youth capacities in disseminating child rights.

“I am very happy to join VBC” Maria said. “It is very interesting to communicate with audiences without facing directly, we have to guess their expression and we only recognized by our voice” she continued. Before joining VBC, Maria is a regular student of one of senior high school in Wamena. She is in third grade now and planned to do something big for her future. After joining serial of training run by WV, Maria became confident and courageous of becoming radio announcer after school time.

“I like to try new thing although for becoming announcer though at first I was nervous” said Maria. “But I’m very happy now that I can see that all announcers are local youth”. Maria is happy to see that all of child announcers are indigenous from Wamena. She said this is a proof that indigenous people also able to be announcer and do a lot more like every child able to do in other part of Indonesia or even the world.

Her favorite program is folk stories. By telling folk or local stories she believed that many children will understand about culture and prevent their culture of being extinct. Most of local stories gathered from mouth to mouth telling and sometime Maria had to rewrite the story as not many local stories are written in a book. During her vacant time Maria also love to sing. As her confident built in VBC, she then joined “radio star” singing competition and win as a third champion. “I was very happy at that time, again it was an evidence that native also able to sing well as I defeated almost 30 other participants” she smiled. “I want that someday more and more local youth involve in cultural activities” she continued.

It was a happy day met with Maria a girl full of spirit and fun. We hope that someday she will able to achieve her idol of doing something big for her future. May God bless you always Maria…

Posted by Willy Sitompul for Eruwok Development

Sipanus' Story - Voice of Baliem Children

“I want to be an announcer someday” said Sipanus when we met him at VBC radio station in Mandiri Dormitory Wamena. “By becoming announcer I will get into people live, knowing their feelings and opinions about some topics” he continued. “It is very interesting when you involved in a conversation especially when talking about hot issues”, he said.

Sipanus Magayang is the first son of Matius Magayang and Ogga Keroman. He has 4 siblings and all of them attending school in Wamena. Sipanus already involved in WV activities since 2 years ago with one of WV HIV and AIDS prevention project. As a third grader of senior high school, already put Sipanus on track of becoming a professional announcer. He plans on attending specific school for journalistic after he graduated from high school. Before got involved in VBC Sipanus never thought he would become an announcer. “In the beginning I was very shy, I got no confidence in sharing opinions or even involved in a debate” he said. “But now I’m very confidence to share my feelings to others, even I’m able to influence someone when I believe I was right about something” he continued. After joined VBC radio station it was undoubted that his name is now very famous among children in Wamena that regularly listen to his program. During afternoon he portrays education info followed by band info. In band info program an interactive dialog with listeners is available using phones that directly connect to a mixer and transmitters.

Voice of Baliem Children (VBC) is a special project funded by WV in building child capacities in expressing child rights through a community radio station. It was built in early February 2009 located in Mandiri Dormitory Wamena. Until August 2009 VBC already has 6 child announcers from high schools students around Wamena. Although it was very difficult to train several children of becoming child announcers finally it comes to a result that someday this radio station will be independent and able to finance itself. Some specific income came from air time like jingle or reading some information for third parties such as stores, institutions, and churches.

“Now I’m able to operate some radio equipments” said Sipanus. “With the experience I received here I believe that someday I will be a professional announcer or journalist”.
Sipanus then back to his seat in front of microphone grab the headphone and open conversation with his audience. “Good afternoon, to whom am I speaking?” ask Sipanus to his audience. We were smile watched at his action. “Hmm... so professional...” we mumbled. Deeply in our heart we believed that someday Sipanus will be a professional announcer.

Willy Sitompul for Eruwok Development

Tarinus' Story - Birth Certificate

That day seems different with Tarinus. He looks so happy receiving visit from our office staff. “Hey sister, how are you?” said Tarinus to us when we get closer to his house in Nambume village. Though a little bit exhausted after 20 minutes climb through steep road, we smile at him and took the nearest spot to sit. Then after few minutes we explain our purpose to visit him. A month ago our field staff visited Tarinus during quarterly monitoring process and one of the need came from Tarinus family was the need for birth certificate. This need came up after routine socialization towards sponsorship socializations runs in every village in Eruwok ministry area.
“Hi Tarinus...” said one of our office staff, “We bring your birth certificate and going to give it to you” Tarinus was very happy to hear the news, and eagerly wait for us to open the envelope contain his birth certificate. He smiled when reading his name stated in birth certificate.
“For long time we don’t know the importance of birth certificate, but now we knew...” said his mother Taiba. Tarinus is the second child of Manongga Wenda’s family. His older sister already has her own family, while his youngest brother still study as third grader in elementary school.

The socialization about the importance of birth certificate was already done since the past fiscal year. This fiscal year the activity followed by proclamation of ownership of birth certificate by head of Jayawijaya region. The proclamation then followed by ease of birth certificate developing process and improvement in region demography office. The proclamation itself was run in July 2009. Wempie Wetipo, head of Jayawijaya region announced that in 2011 all children in Jayawijaya should have birth certificate. Since Jayawijaya is the main region, the policy of birth certificate then followed by expanded region including Lanny Jaya region.

Taiba Wanimbo, Tarinus’ mother had a unique way in socializing birth certificate to other mothers. She often talks about birth certificate during washing clothes and sweet potatoes in the river with other mothers. She was happy that Eruwok ADP facilitated the process of birth certificate for her second child. She promised to do the process by herself for her third child. “I knew now that the process is easy...” said Taiba. “At first, we though the process will be complicated and the cost was expensive, but now after seeing by myself this birth certificate I will try to do it by myself.”
Both Taiba and her husband Manongga work as a farmer. They promised to allocate some money for the next birth certificate for Tarian, their youngest children.
After some time, we then say good bye to the family and back to our field office. We were very happy met with Tarinus and his family.

Willy Sitompul for Eruwok Development

Making AOP of FY 2010

Pics were taken in Nambume, May 2009

In May 2009, all of Eruwok ADP staff were involved in making Annual Operating Plan for fiscal year of 2010. The discussions with community were taking places in 4 areas which are: Nambume, Yalipok, Niknek, and Milinggame.

During the discussions some activities were created based on problem trees that already developed before, again, with the same community member. The identification of problems already carried out in April to May 2009. About six major issues identified to be problems that should be addressed by ADP working together with community. Those problem trees were Education and Child Rights, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), Nutrition, HIV and AIDS, and Economic. In order to addressed those problem trees, community try to change what were stated as problem into community expectation regarding those issues. Thus, after the expectations made, they will create activities to manage their expectations working together with Eruwok ADP.

Those activities then recapitulated into worksheet that became document of AOP of FY 2010. Not all expectations will be answered in AOP but community had to learn to solve the problems not only with ADP but also together with other stakeholders such as local government or other NGOs.

Posted by Wills for Eruwok Development

Apia's Story

“I want to be a nurse” said Apia when WV staff asked her about her ideal. “Someday I will be a good nurse, I want to take care my family when they get sick” Apia smile. From her face that day we can see that she has hope for the future. Apia is one of WV registered children living in Tiom. She studied in Guwopaka Elementary School and now in 5th grade. She is one of WV sponsored children involved in ALM program run by World Vision in her school. ALM means Active Learning Method is a method introduced by World Vision to be used in teaching and learning progress. WV cooperated with Surya Institute – a well known organization involved in education and preparation of children to participate in International Education Olympic such as Mathematics Olympic and Physics Olympic – to use this method in teaching Mathematics in a fun way. The method in Bahasa is Gasing means easy, fun, and enjoyable.

It has been a long time that Mathematics becomes a spooky subject, most of all students not interested in learning Math. By using the method, we able to see some changes especially in school were we placed assisting teacher from Surya Institute. Some students eagerly attending every session from their new teacher, Apia is one of them. Though Apia had to walk 25 minutes from her home, it’s nothing compare to every fun she has in class. A daughter of Mr. Yupiter and mother Artnis, Apia is the fourth daughter in her family. Her father works as a farmer and member of SHG founded by World Vision.

“I’m very happy to learn with my new teacher, I never though that I will like Math as it is my favorite subject” said Apia. “The method is fun that I can understand to calculate numbers even a big one” she smile again.

“Though Apia is a little bit slow in catching every lesson, she has a full interest in every session and diligent also. If she carries on learning, I believe she can manage and reach her ideal” said Maya Tamba, an assisting teacher from Surya Institute that placed in Guwopaka Elementary School.

“We hope World Vision still continue this program” said Mr. Dorkas one of the teacher in Apia’s school. “No students like Math before, but now we can see some progress. Student like Apia still need support, and so is other student especially in Tiom because Tiom is a remote area” he continued.

Posted by Willy Sitompul for Eruwok Development