For three years, Natasia Astria Wakono, 18, a student of SMA 1 Nusalaut state senior high school, Maluku, has had to walk 26 kilometers every day to get to school and back. She leaves home at 4:30 a.m. and returns from school at 4 p.m.
After walking past the gate of Titawai village where she lives, Natasia turns on a flashlight so she can walk through the darkness that stretches in front of her. She walks around 13-km to reach her school in Ameth village. There are no street lights. There are also very few motorbikes that pass by - in fact sometimes only once every hour. There are also no public transportation vehicles.
For three years she has been walking this path. She has become very familiar with the details of the track, such as its dozens of bends, eight uphill climbs, followed by downward slopes and countless potholes, as well as trees and big rocks on the side of the road.
What she is afraid of are reptiles. The path that was initially 4 meters wide has narrowed and become surrounded by bushes that have grown all over the side of the road. Snakes, lizards and monitor lizards are often seen on the way to school.
She only wears sandals when she makes her way to school. She deliberately keeps her shoes in her bag because the rough asphalt and sharp gravel would quickly damage the sole of her shoes. By wearing sandals on her way to school, in the last three years, Natasia has only had to replace her shoes twice.
If one step is equal to a distance of 30 centimeters, then to travel 13-km would mean taking approximately 43,000 steps. This means that every day she walks 86,000 steps to get from home to school and back. In three years of school, Natasia has walked 92 million steps!
She is the only student on Nusalaut Island who walks such a long distance every morning. Some of her friends from Titawai have chosen to stop going to school because the journey to school was too tiring. Now, a lot of her juniors from Titawai that go to school in Ameth travel by ojek (motorcycle taxi) or private motorbikes.
“Now I’m the only one who walks [to school]. At first I was afraid because it’s so scary. Now I’m used to it,” she said when interviewed ahead of the national exams in April.
Coming from an underprivileged family, she does not have much choice other than to go to school by foot. She does not have a bike. To go by ojek, which costs Rp 50,000 a ride, is of course difficult to afford. She only gets around Rp 5,000 of pocket money a day.
Natasia lives with her sister. Her mother has passed away and her father has remarried. To make sure that she is not late to school, which starts at 7 a.m., she leaves home at 4:30 a.m. School then ends at 2 p.m. and she reaches home by 4 p.m. at the earliest.
There is actually a shorter alternative route that she can go through, which is 11-km long. However, that route is extremely risky because numerous mysterious shootings have taken place there. The track is rarely passed by ojek drivers.
It does not mean the route Natasia takes every morning is safe. A swarm of mysterious gunmen in Nusalaut have not been successfully dealt with by law enforcers. There are also no security posts in shooting-prone locations.
A girl that is prepared to face such risks draws similarities to Martha Christina Tiahahu, a national heroine from Nusalaut who had the courage to fight the Dutch despite still being in her teenage years. Two centuries ago, Martha fought against the colonizers, today, Natasia, who dreams of being a teacher, is fighting to achieve her dreams by walking.
“However, if my sister does not have money, I want to work as a waitress in a shop first. Then, when there is enough money, I will go to college,” he said.
There are students from a number of other villages who also walk to school, but none walk as far as Natasia. Alin Tomasoa, 18, a student at SMA Kristen Ameth senior high school and her friends from Sila-Leinitu village also walk 14-km back and forth to school every day. When it rains, they take shelter under a tree or big rock on the side of the road. If they have to, they grab a banana leaf to protect their heads. “I want to be a policewoman,” said Alin.
Natasia, Alin and a number of other students that have been walking to school since they were in junior high school on the island, which is 58- km southeast of Ambon Island, believes that education is the key to success.
Many prominent Malukunese figures come from Nusalaut Island, which is part of Central Maluku regency, such as Central Maluku deputy regent Marlatu Leleury, Maluku deputy governor Zeth Sahuburua and many others.
Dormitory
SMA 1 Nusalaut principal Carel Silahoy said the school understood the situation of the children that go to school by foot every day. “When they come all wet, we just tell them to go back home,” she said.
Ameth village is the central district and where SMA Negeri 1 Nusalaut and SMA Kristen Ameth are located. There are seven villages on Nusalaut Island.
Carel spoke of this situation to a Culture and Education Ministry official who visited Ambon a few years ago. Her request at the time was for the establishment of a student dormitory managed by the schools. For students from underprivileged families, the dormitory would be free of charge. The suggestion did not receive much response.
SMA Kristen Ameth principal Frans Syaranamual added that the island also needed a school bus. Ideally, every morning and afternoon, the bus would go around the island, which has a ring road of only 24-km long. If it cannot be free of charge, the students would pay an affordable fare for the bus ride.
The enthusiasm of Nusalaut Island students has not been affected by limitations. They walk long distances for a better future. Happy National Education Day to students on isolated islands.
