Contribution of Oelnaineno\'s Poor People to the Nation

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Chairs and tables in the classroom were brought by students from home as on Saturday (24/7/2021). SMA Negeri 4 Takari in Oelnaineno Village, Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, was built with community self-help.

As many as 10 buildings stand with leaf roofs, midrib walls, wooden beams and earthen floors in Oelnaineno, a remote area in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The residents use their own resources to establish a school for their children.

Each building has an average size of 8 meters by 6 m. The leaves and midrib used for the roof and walls were taken from the gewang (corypha utan) trees that grow wild in the forest. It is cool inside the building, even though the temperature outside is more than 35 degrees Celsius.

For the last five years, the children living in Oelnaineno on Timor Island, NTT, have been able to comfortably receive their high school education inside the buildings. Previously, many village children dropped out of school because it was difficult for them to reach high schools in Kupang city, which was about 140 kilometers away. Another alternative was that they had to get up at 3 a.m., then take a shower and have breakfast before going to the school. Using a bamboo torch, they had to walk 12 kilometers through the forest and across the river to the nearest school, SMA 2 Takari state high school.

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In NTT, the number of the school dropouts due to the distance of their home to schools is quite high. In 2019 alone, 111,000 children dropped out of school.

In 2016, the Oelnaineno elders built their own school so that their children could continue their education.

"We all went to the forest looking for materials," Unismis Topmuti, 45, a community leader in Oelnaineno, said on Saturday (7/24/2021).

The residents used their own money to buy other building materials such as nails. It took more than four days for the school to be ready for use. For tables and chairs, every child must bring them from home. The blackboard, markers, table and teacher\'s chair were purchased using the money contributed by the residents.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Head of the Education and Culture Office of East Nusa Tenggara Linus Lusi Making (left) came to Oelnaineno Village, Kupang Regency, on Saturday (22/7/2021). Linus came to inaugurate the establishment of SMA Negeri 4 Takari in the village.

The next step, representatives of parents went to the administrators of the SMA 2 Takari state high school to propose for the establishment of a filial high school in Oelnaineno.

After consulting with the NTT Education Agency, the filial school was allowed to open. After that, the parents and the village administration looked for teachers to teach there. They also agreed that the parents of students should contribute Rp 100,000 (US$6.90) per month each to pay for the teachers’ salaries.

That was the most difficult decision because most of the people in the village live from farming and raising livestock with uncertain income. They often fail to harvest. Almost every year, livestock die because of the long drought.

According to the data issued by the Statistics Indonesia (BPS), as of March, there were 1.169 million poor people in NTT or 20.99 percent of the province\'s total population. Oelnaineno is one of the pockets of poverty in NTT. The expenditure of almost all residents is below the poverty line of Rp 415,116 per capita per month.

Eager to learn

Orip Atte, a biology teacher, was the first person willing to teach at Oelnaineno. The native of Oelnaineno then invited acquaintances from a neighboring village and from Kupang to teach, even though they would not get paid.

“In one month, we were paid Rp 50,000 for three people. We cannot ask for more because the people are poor,” he said.

Every two or three weeks, the teachers also get chickens from residents, who try to make the unpaid teachers feel as comfortable as possible.

A number of teachers from outside the village live in a house built by the residents. Almost every day, the residents provide tubers, beans and vegetables for the teachers. Every two or three weeks, the teachers also get chickens from residents, who try to make the unpaid teachers feel as comfortable as possible.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, learning and teaching activities are still being conducted face-to-face with strict health protocols. Apart from being in the green zone (region with low COVID-19 transmission risks), the school cannot hold online lessons because of the lack of internet in the area.

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

The nameplate of SMA Negeri 4 Takari in Oelnaineno Village, Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday (22/7/2021). The school was previously filial.

The school has produced four generations of students. One of them has just graduated as a flight attendant for a private airline. This made the 2,655 villagers proud, including the 122 students who are still studying there. They no longer hesitate to aspire high. Gusjuana Tanau, a grade 12 student who previously wanted to work as a migrant worker in Malaysia, now wants to become a doctor.

When the head of the Education and Culture Office of NTT, Linus Lusi Making, arrived on Saturday afternoon with a letter that formally approved the status of the school as the filial of the SMA 4 Takari state high school, with the national school number 70011353, the residents were moved.

"We must respect to the contribution of the Oelnaineno people to this nation," said Linus. He also promised to improve the school\'s infrastructure and facilities starting next year.

Linus conceded that most of the 903 high schools, vocational high schools and special schools in NTT still do not have complete facilities. The government will gradually improve the school facilities even though regional government funds are limited, he added.

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)