THE COLORS OF PAPUA

What had been the image of Papua in my cognition? Black and white, until last month when I had a chance to visit Papua. Papua is now a vibrant and multi-colored place for me. A place where beauty lies in abudance and yet a vivid picture of irony.

I landed in Sentani airport after 6 hours flying. The airport is just another typical major airports in Indonesia, small and not well managed. The plane landed and all the passengers had to walk to the main entrance of the airport. The view was heavenly green. I only had one line to say:"I love this place" and I believe that explains everything. .

Another Desa Kita in Papua. Our branch office had given us a short list of three. The trip was aimed at capturing the baseline survey. I had missed the other two surveys but still had one to follow. The one that we went to was Koya. It lies near the sea at the border of Papua and PNG. We were welcome warm heartedly by the formal and informal leaders of the village. We sat in a circle by the sea in a traditional meeting place.

It's not really easy to deal with the indigenous nor is it hard. It's just a matter of being sensitive to the local culture. Menginang is one traditional way of dealing with the indigenous. Tracing it back to the year of 1930, menginang was considered as an ethical way in developing relationship in Papua. In every cultural gatherings, meetings, menginang is considered a must. Menginang is a symbol of equality. No issues will be discussed in any gatherings and meetings unless buah pinang, batang sirih and kapur are served on the table.

On our way to Koya, the driver stopped on the curb of the street and bought "Buka Kontak" in a black plastic bag. I saw the black plastic bag and a glue pot in the middle of the circle. Everybody in the circle took buah pinang from the plastic bag and dipped batang sirih in the glue pot which contained kapur. They chewed them together until their mouth got burned and their saliva turned red. They spit the saliva to the ground or anywhere around. It is common to see the walls with red spots. Red is another color of papua. The discussion went smooth. I saw the light of hopes in their eyes, but we managed to make them understand that this was just a base line survey.

On the way home from Koya, we held a discussion and decided that we were going to promote the previous village as another Desa Kita. There other village is equipped with one good school and acres of fertile land. Two families from outside Papua came there to grow cocoa and enjoyed a well to do life. Koya might be in a less fortunate condition compared to this village. However, this village has more potentials compared to Koya. Developing Desa Kita is a project that speaks with the heart but it also requires us to be rational. We have to work hand in hand with the local people. So there should be an asset that we can start with. It takes two to tango.

Prior to going back to Jakarta, I had a chance to go to the Baliem Valley in Wamena. This is the richest and the most beautiful area in Papua yet this is the less developed part of Papua. It took one hour to fly from the city to the Valley. Upon my arrival at the small airport in Wamena I was greeted by the local people in his local traditional wear.

The view in Baliem Valley was incredible. The richness of the culture is astounding. I went to Kurulu and visit the village of the indigenous who still lives in their traditional environment. They live in Honai. They still kept the mummy of the warrior and the mummy is more than 350 years old. The females breast feed both their babies and their pigs. As with the man, according to the culture, if one member of the family died, the man has to cut a part of his fingers. Ownership of land is determined by the culture. Goverment land regulations are ignored.

Along the way I saw deserted brick houses. The brick houses were built by the government for the local people. However, the brick houses turn out not to be their home. So they built Honai at the back part of the house and live there peacefully. Another affirmation, being sensitive and appreciating the local culture need to be underlined or else Desa Kita will have a tendency to fail.

On the way back to Jayapura, I felt like I had been living in this place for ages. It's like being exposed to countless snap shots of Papua within fleeting moments. The total journey painted a mixture of black, white, blue, red, green, yellow and various colors of Papua in my mind. Papua, the land of abundance yet the people are living in a depriving condition. A well suited place for Desa Kita.