Since the first grade of elementary school, Mekha had dreamt about Indonesia, enchanted by the strains of Balinese gamelan he heard on the radio.
By
Agustinus Wibowo
·4 minutes read
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Mekha Eho\'o teaching at Daru High School, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
My host in Daru, Mekha Eho\'o, was a math teacher at Daru High School, one of the best schools in Western Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG). He was a tall and chubby man, 45 years old. The first time we met, he immediately hugged me, greeted me with a long burst of laughter and asked, "Mas, iso ngomong Jowo? [Bro, do you speak Javanese?]"
I got his contact information from the Indonesian Embassy in Port Moresby. Mekha\'s relationship with Indonesia turned out to be much deeper than I thought.
Ten years ago, Mekha received a Dharmasiswa scholarship to study the Indonesian language at Sebelas Maret University in Solo. He then took a bachelor’s degree in Indonesian Language Education at Yogyakarta State University. Soon, he plans to go to Palembang, South Sumatra, because he has received a scholarship for a master’s in Linguistics at Sriwijaya University.
Mekha invited me to stay at his house, about 100 meters from the school where he teaches. The stilted house was made of wood with a perforated floor and smelled of cat litter. Paper was scattered on a large table, books were scattered and a map of PNG was stuck to the wall with one corner peeling off.
Mekha apologized for the mess, also for his inability to serve me fully. I too apologized for coming at a time that couldn\'t have been worse; Mekha is currently embroiled in a court case.
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Mekha\'s problem started in Indonesia. Since getting a bachelor\'s degree in Indonesia ten years ago, he has been registered as a teacher in PNG. However, he was never appointed a permanent teacher.
The return plane ticket, plus the hotel for a week, had to be paid for from his meager salary because he was only a nonpermanent teacher.
Because of his status, every year he has to go to Port Moresby to renew his teaching license. That costs him a lot of money. The return plane ticket, plus the hotel for a week, had to be paid for from his meager salary because he was only a nonpermanent teacher.
He also has to vacate the house he lives in as soon as possible if he really wants to go to Indonesia again to continue his studies. Mekha is not a native of Daru, and the house is a school facility.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Mekha Eho\'o feeds a cat at her home in Daru, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
All these problems made Mekha decide to take the school and the education service to court. Mekha suspected that all the difficulties he experienced were because he graduated from a university in Indonesia and his diploma was not recognized in PNG. Mekha demanded that the school and the education office repay all the costs he had incurred because of his unclear status, amounting to 40,000 kina (Rp 200 million).
"I\'m not fighting for myself but also for the fate of all PNG students studying in Indonesia," he said.
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Since the first grade of elementary school, Mekha had dreamt about Indonesia, enchanted by the strains of Balinese gamelan he heard on the radio.
Mekha first came to Indonesia in 1997. At that time, like most PNG people, he was also gripped by fear of Indonesia. He thought that all over Indonesia there were armed soldiers who would kill people of his ethnicity. However, when he arrived in Jayapura, he realized that Indonesia was not the scary country he imagined. Indonesian people were very friendly and that made him feel at home in the country.
Mekha\'s main sources of admiration for Indonesia were its technology, knowledge and efficiency. From Indonesia, Mekha learned business strategy, utilizing all assets to achieve profit. Thanks to that knowledge, he grew cabbage on a patch of land in front of his house, which he sold to a neighbour for 10 kina (Rp 50,000) a piece.
Indonesia has changed Mekha\'s life. That\'s why he began teaching Indonesian language classes at his school for all interested students.
He also always motivates his students, “Don\'t just learn from the West, but also learn from Indonesia. What they have, we have too. The difference is, they can cultivate their wealth, but we can\'t.”
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
One corner of Daru, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
The problem between these two neighboring countries is their lack of understanding of each other. Many PNG people think of Indonesia as a militaristic communist country, their only land-bordered neighbour, which they fear because they feel Indonesia could invade them at any moment. On the other hand, many Indonesians are also very unfamiliar with PNG.
Mekha recalls that when he was in Bali, he was often approached by Indonesians who were curious about his black skin and asked him where he was from. When mentioning the name PNG, the Indonesians asked again, “Is that in Africa? Or in America?”
We are the closest neighbors, yet the farthest as well.
