At the moment I am still conducting interviews with different stakeholders in education in Papua. For the last couple of interviews I have been accompanied by an amazing young lady from Papuan origin. Zora helps me conduct the interviews by translating my questions into Bahasa Indonesia for the respondents and translating their answers into English for me.
Last Monday we visited a junior high school close to where we are staying. Unfortunately the head of the school couldn’t have an interview with us, although we had an appointment for that particular morning. But that is just the way things are around here. We decided to make the most of our visit and asked if we could speak to a teacher and the osis (student leader) instead. The people were making every effort to make our visit worth our while.
First we talked to a honorary teacher (a teacher who not yet has a permanent position and the salary that goes with it). A young woman eager to perfect her English and her teaching so she would be able to teach her students better. She was also very keen on becoming my friend, allowing her to practice her English. During the interviews she told us that she thinks they should be open to other cultures and influences: to have an open mind about the way we teach. Next we spoke with the osis of the school. She considers scholarships abroad one of the potentials of education in Papua. Improving the name of education in Papua. One of her personal goals for the future is to be a good influence on her environment.
After the interviews the honorary teacher asked me to introduce myself to her students so they could practice a little bit with their English. This is probably the fate of every ‘buleh’ (foreigner) visiting Papua but I was happy to meet her request. After telling a little about myself the students were asked to ask me questions. One of the questions was after my hobbies. Among other things I replied singing, what of course meant that I had to sing for them. But I asked them to sing for me first. Instead of singing all together, one student was asked to sing in front of the class, in front of all her class mates. And she did, how brave! Especially considering how shy most of the children are to speak or even to tell you their name. She began singing: “I have a dream, song to sing…” (Westlife cover of an ABBA song). It was so pure and from the heart that I couldn’t hold back the tears. It was just too overpowering!
I will not tire you with an account of my emotions at that time but those two sentences do some up what I have discovered so far about the people here. Yes, they have dreams, for their future and that of Papua. And they have a song to sing, a personal story to tell and their own personal way of contributing to building their own land, people and future. Even under these circumstances they have hope for a better future. I wonder if I would be able to do the same.
IN4D 