Dedication of a ‘Displaced Person’ from Poso

Jiji Suhaiji migrated from Poso about a decade ago. His career and family life was going very well until the Poso conflict broke out. He and his family were forced to flee to his hometown of Sukabumi. Life as a "displaced person" does not prevent Jiji from serving as a teacher. He succeeded in establishing a school for the poor.

Kompas

Jiji Suhaiji

Jiji Suhaiji seems to have been destined to serve in the world of education. After winning a science contest held by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and state television broadcaster TVRI in 1987, he received a scholarship to study nutrition at the Bogor Agricultural University’s (IPB) School of Teacher Training Polytechnics. After graduating, he was immediately placed as a teacher at a vocational school in Poso, Central Sulawesi. Initially, he taught nutrition. After continuing his undergraduate program in biology, he taught biology.

He spent his first year in Poso living modestly. He lived with bakers. Because of that, he also learned how to make bread. After getting married, he and his wife, Nopi Pahriawani, opened a bakery to gain additional income.

"Being a teacher means earning a small salary, but we get a lot of free time. I remember my father’s message, ‘it\'s better to get a sunburn on our back [because of work] than having a painful stomach due to hunger," he said.

Every morning, before heading to school, Jiji delivers his wife\'s homemade bread to several shops or customers. From the bread business plus a salary as a teacher, they had a better livelihood and were able to build a home and buy a car. "In Poso, our life was good, we felt at home," recalls Jiji.

I remember my father’s message, ‘it\'s better to get a sunburn on our back [because of work] than having a painful stomach due to hunger

However, their lives were suddenly disrupted when the Poso conflict broke out in late 1998 and peaked in the 2000s. He said the horizontal conflict in Poso created a very tense atmosphere. Because of different faiths, people killed each other.

In the chaotic situation, Jiji and his family decided to leave Poso. At that time, getting out of Poso was not easy. He and his two young children had to walk down the route where Jiji usually delivered the bread. Although some of them have different faiths, they protected and helped Jiji and his family.

"My family and I might have died when our settlement was invaded," Jiji said.

After leaving Poso, they returned to their parents\' house in Cibadak, Sukabumi, as "displaced people". They started life from scratch. "It’s like I only had shorts. For three years I was worried had nothing," he said.

KOMPAS/RATIH P SUDARSONO

Jiji Suheji poses for a photograph with his students of SMK Patriot Mandiri vocational school in Poso, Central Sulawesi in the background. The school accepts disadvantaged students academically and economically, so that all receive a more equitable formal education.

Returning to the village

Luckily, because Jiji\'s status as a civil servant, he got a placement as a biology teacher at a high school in Sukabumi. After several years of teaching, he found that education problems in his village were more complicated than in Poso. He found that a lot of children left school, especially children who were less intelligent and came from poor families.

"If the children are smart and their parents are poor, they can qualify for public school and look for scholarships. If the children are not smart, but their parents are well off, they can still go to school. What about children who are less smart and their parents are poor? They cannot go to school, they are forever left in poverty," he said.

What about children who are less smart and their parents are poor?

For Jiji, such a situation is unfair. Those who are less intelligent and from disadvantaged families should still have the opportunity to continue their education. Given this situation, Jiji and his relatives took the initiative to establish a vocational school in Cimanggu village, Cikembar district, Sukabumi regency in 2015. The school is for junior high school graduates from disadvantaged families.

To develop the school, Jiji and his relatives used 2 hectares they inherited from their parents and donated it to the Sudarma Patriot Mandiri Foundation as a patron of SMK Patriot Mandiri vocational school. Jiji also borrowed Rp 100 million from a bank using a document of his appointment as a civil servant as collateral. In addition, he spent almost all of his savings.

KOMPAS/RATIH P SUDARSONO

Jiji Suheji

After the school was established, he recruited junior high school graduates who were not accepted at public schools and his parents were unable to send them to private schools. To earn admission to Patriot Mandiri vocational school, students do not need to pay a base payment.

A year after its establishment, the school received assistance for the construction of a new school unit (USB) with six classrooms, two laboratory rooms and one office room, which was worth Rp 2.5 billion. Since then, there have been 87 students enrolled in the school.

He was once rescued by his bread customers in Poso and now he is helping children from poor families.

Now, there are 200 students. They are only charge a school fee of Rp 75,000 per month. That amount is far lower than the school fee (SPP) in other private schools. Until now, the students are not charged additional fees.

Read more : School for Migrant Workers’ Children

The establishment of the school was not originally intended for the education business, but to provide access to education for children from poor families. Jiji proved that he still had the energy to help others through the world of education despite the situation in Poso. He was once rescued by his bread customers in Poso and now he is helping children from poor families.

Jiji Suhaiji

Born: Sukabumi, 6 August 1968

Wife: Nopi Pahriawani

Children: Lilis Roslina, Ispe Hidayat Sarip

Education:

- Undergraduate degree in biology at Sintuwu Maroso University in Poso, Central Sulawesi (1996)

- Master degree in Education at Pakuan University, Bogor (2014)

Achievement: Youth Science contest participant in Singapore (1998)