Early Marriage Comes at a Price
Early marriage is definitely not a way out of social and economic problems. On the contrary, it often triggers a source of new problems, not only for the couple but also their children.
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A pair of teenagers, a 17-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, got married in Kalumpang Village, Mantangai District, Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan, on Tuesday (19/7/2022).
As their livelihood is dwindling due to being deprived of farming land, the people of Dayak Ngaju in Central Kalimantan are beginning to grapple with poverty. Children are prone to dropping out of school. Early marriage is seen as a solution, while in fact, it turns out to be exacerbating socioeconomic conditions.
It was Tuesday evening (Jul. 19). A teenage couple sat on the floor of a stilt wooden house on the bank of the Kapuas River. They were seated opposite each other before the couple’s respective family members. Next to them was the wedding officiant.
The would-be groom was 17 years old. Only an elementary school graduate, he works at an illegal gold-extracting quarry. The bride was 15 years old, who had dropped out from junior high school. The two are neighbors, both born and raised in Kalumpang village, Mantangai district, Kapuas regency, Central Kalimantan.
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The 2 by 3 meter living room, where the marriage ceremony took place, was without any special decorations. Among the guests were several relatives and neighbors. The utterance of the ijab and qubul (offer and acceptance) had to be repeated before the officiant turned to the appointed witnesses to seek their assent over the would-be groom’s utterance of acceptance. "Is it valid?" he asked. It was instantly responded with approval. The ceremony attendants concurred almost simultaneously, in overwhelming feeling of relief and thankfulness.
The groom was her senior when both were in elementary school, while the bride was her junior in junior high school.
Tera Listi, 16, made a video of her friend's marriage ceremony using her smartphone. The groom was her senior when both were in elementary school, while the bride was her junior in junior high school.
"For me, I don't want to marry quickly," Tera, who is now in senior high school (SMA), said.
Tera is lucky to be able to continue her school given that many teenagers of her age, especially girls, have dropped out. "I want to continue my study [to university] and go out for work," she said.
However, Tera is well aware about the tough challenges in pursuing her dream. Like other farmers in Kalumpang, her family's economic condition has deteriorated since local people were banned from opening land for farming in 2015.
Ambun Suteng and her husband Sanyo, residents of Kalumpang Village, Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan are looking for wild vegetables in the former field where she used to grow rice, on Wednesday (20/7/2022).
The situation is massively gripping the farmers in rural areas across Central Kalimantan, which has had an impact on education as data on Central Kalimantan in Figures shows. The net enrollment rate (NER) of children in Kapuas who enter elementary school (SD) is indeed increasing, but the NER for junior high school has decreased from 85.95 percent in 2014 to 75.16 percent in 2021. It means that many children have not gone further beyond elementary school.
“In the past, we could meet our needs from farming. The rice harvest was enough to eat, we could even sell the surplus. We did not buy vegetables or fish. The earnings from rubber plantations could cover school fees," Sanyo, who is a relative of the bride, said. He is also the head of Kalumpang village.
He said the government had imposed the ban on opening land for farming following severe forest fires in 2015. The fires raged the farming lands. Some were arrested for clearing and burning land. This traditional way of opening land for farming, which had been passed down for thousands of years by the Dayak Ngaju Dayak people, who were blamed for the fires and carbon emissions.
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Vegetables that used to be available in the fields now have to be bought at vegetable vendors. Local residents can no longer farm.
“We have since had [to rely on other livelihood sources] to buy rice and other foods. In the end, the children have to sacrifice their school," he said.
Fellow villager Etnawati, 42 complained how the government’s policy over farming had affected the household’s livelihood. She said her husband had to work at an illegal gold quarry and would return home only once a month. Even then the earnings did not suffice to pay out debts – she had to turn to in meeting her daily needs selling at a neighbor’s stall.
She has become a laborer herself since the beginning of the year, at an oil palm plantation. She is paid between Rp 110,000 and Rp 140,000 per day, depending on the extent of the plantation area she can clear.
She wakes up at 3 a.m. to prepare food for her two children, one of whom is 3.5 years old. She usually cooks rice, instant noodles, eggs or salted fish. She said the menu did not take her long to prepare for her children’s breakfast and lunch meal.
While away, she has her 15-year-old eldest son take care of his younger sibling.
She sets out for work at 4 a.m. and will not return home until 4 p.m. While away, she has her 15-year-old eldest son take care of his younger sibling.
His son has quit his school. “I told my son to quit school to help us, but [I reminded him] not to tell his father," she said.
Her son could have been working at the oil palm plantation, had it not been for his age, which does not qualify for applying for an ID card.
Young victims
Early marriage is considered a shortcut to help ease a household's economic burden. According to Margaretha Winda, chair of the Mamut Menteng Women's Union, early marriage has actually been commonly practiced in Central Kalimantan for a long time.
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A resident of Kalumpang Village, Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan, shows the fish he caught in the Kapuas River, Central Kalimantan, on Monday (18/7/2022).
"In Kalumpang village alone, at least three children have been married young in the last six months," she said.
The girls were still 16 years old or less when they got married, with the intention to help their economically struggling parents.
Early marriage is definitely not a way out of social and economic problems. On the contrary, it often triggers a source of new problems, not only for the couple but also their children. In addition to the effects on the physical health of the brides who are not yet mature enough to reproduce, early marriage bears cases of domestic violence and spousal conflicts.
Cases about early marriage arise from problems not only in the economy but also education. They may even be rooted in the cultural background of a community. In the case of Kalumpang, the ban on farming appears to have contributed to early marriage among young citizens, who by doing so put their future at risk.
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
