Living Independently in Their Own Home

KOMPAS/ARSIP LAKOAT KUJAWAS

One of the weavers in Mollo, South Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara. Now fewer and fewer young people are engaged in weaving in the western part of Timor Island.

The people of Mollo are no longer dependent on food ingredients from outside. Local young entrepreneurs are pioneering to produce everything the villagers need by working hard to manage nature’s potential.

For decades, the people of Taiftob village in North Mollo, South Central Timor regency, East Nusa Tenggara, did not realize their own natural wealth. Nature’s potential was deemed worthless.

Through curiosity and a high learning spirit, people in the mountainous region are finally enjoying the fruits of their labor as they enter the second planting season this year. Dicky Senda, 33, just picked the kujawas (guava) in his back garden on Tuesday (21/7/2020). The farmer in Taiftob village will process them into a fermented drink for personal consumption and to sell at Lakoat.Kujawas, an entrepreneurship community pioneered by local youths. “The community often ferments various fruits and vegetables,” Dicky said.

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The beverage is among Lakoat.Kujawas’ products. Since 2019, the community has been intensively developing various processed food, beverages and snacks. The achievement is like a breath of fresh air amid a shortage of young farmers.

For local youths, farming in the village is a last option after finding opportunities in cities or applying to be migrant workers. Unsurprisingly, much of nature’s potential is neglected and local wisdom fades away. This is despite Mollo’s mountainous landscape being rich with sorghum, lentils, corn, forest honey and many other natural resources. These resources are complemented by a long tradition of oral history, dances and mixture of cultures.

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KOMPAS/ARMIN SEPTIEXAN BaKTI

Children read a book at the Lakoat Kujawas library in Taiftob Village, North Mollo, South Central Timor, East Nusa Tenggara.

Such concern led to the creation of the Lakoat.Kujawas community in June 2016. The local community development initiative aims to empower youths and women. It focuses on literacy, art, culture and creative economy.

Community members work with nature’s wealth and their own culture, which they neatly document and archive. This is not easy as they have to dig deep into locals’ collective memories, as well as old documentation and archives, including those obtained from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

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At first, community members established a small library at a local’s home. The library then grew into a youth community, an art and culture hub, a homestay and a travel agency. The library’s presence also fulfills local children’s need for reading materials. “No matter what we are talking about, the challenge is how to improve education,” Dicky said.

Books in the library came from private collections and donations from people across regions. Community members then create an active ecosystem of locals. Here, network and social media has a significant role in developing the community. Social media serves as a bridge that connects the village, with all its infrastructure limitations, to the outside world. From this, help comes in to nurture local children’s creativity in dancing, storytelling, poem recital, theater and making films.

These activities then attracted the attention of local schools, churches and government. Older people were then involved in Lakoat.Kujawas. Their participation seemed to be a response to their longing for becoming closer to nature and local wisdom. Their involvement began with two questions: what are you prepared to do and what are your ideas? Let’s move together.

KOMPAS/ARSIP LAKOAT KUJAWAS

Children in the Lakoat Kujawas community perform traditional Timorese dances, East Nusa Tenggara, in Taiftob Village, North Mollo, South Central Timor.

Couple Willy Oematan, 42, and Marlinda Na’u, 37, are reigniting oral traditions among children. They said parents no longer told local stories to their children.

Decades ago, parents used to tell stories in the ume kbubu (round house). “The tradition is almost completely gone. Now, we ask these storytellers to come into class, tell their stories and children write them down,” Willy said.

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Storytelling does not stop in the classroom. This is then developed into ecotourism that explores local mountains, rocks and springs while studying about nature’s wealth and local wisdom in Mollo. This began in collecting sorghum, lentils and tubers as a rice replacement. “We have no paddy cultivation culture. So, why do we depend on rice these days?” Marlinda said.

Locals’ finance

In other aspects, locals’ finance will not grow without savings. Lakoat.Kujawas then collaborated with a popular local cooperative to save the profit of social entrepreneurship initiatives and set aside a portion of the profit for education and health.

Four years after its inception, Lakoat.Kujawas keeps moving forward tirelessly. Their activities and products can be found on Instagram at @lakoat.kujawas, on the website lkjws.co and on Twitter at @lakoatkujawas.

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Community representatives in South Central Timor attended the traditional ceremony on Saturday (25/3).

Creative classes have become the most productive. These classes have generated five books of short stories, fairytales and poems. Collaborations between parties encourage local children to pour out their heart and their concern on nature, forests, stone sites, springs and ecology.

These creative classes push children to be more expressive. Alda Fobia, 17, is among them. The student hails from the slopes of the sacred Mount Mutis. He turns out to be talented in the tradition of natoni, or telling customary stories about local environment and culture.

Community members continue to hope that social entrepreneurship will keep growing as a center of art and culture.

Like clouds, rain and fog that are always present in the Mollo mountains, it is hoped that locals remain high-spirited. With this spirit and concrete steps, it is hoped that they can be independent in their own home.