How it started…
I first started to know Ranu Welum Foundation work in 2019 when they’re running a Kalimantan Climate Strike and opening Haze Relief Shelter as the response to the heavy deforestation and haze that impacting the livelihood of people in Kalimantan. I was very amazed at their work and at that time I was thrilled to know that there is a group of people in Central Kalimantan that deeply cares about the issues hampering my homeland and working on a real solution towards it.
Long story short, when they’re running Kalimantan Indigenous Film Festival 2019 and looking for a translator, I do not hesitate to apply. Unfortunately, at that time I wasn’t present in Palangkaraya and I couldn’t attend the event physically. Still curious about their works and what they do, when they opened for a job application as a copywriter, with some doubts I had in my mind, I decided to apply. My application did not get a response for several months and I started to believe that I probably got rejected. Until in October 2019, Ms. Emmanuela Shinta, the Founder of the foundation reached me back and in just a few weeks we held an interview and I got my position as an intern working on a 3 months contract.
Indigenous Film Festival
My very first job was as an organizer for Bali International Indigenous Film Festival 2020. I was very excited since I never got to be a part of any Film Festival before, let alone being the organizer but I was also afraid that I will not be able to do my job well. Knowing my position as a non-indigenous, I believe I have to be very careful to carry the purpose and the value of this event to the global community.
Through this opportunity, I get to be in touch with amazing filmmakers from all over the world, especially the indigenous filmmakers who sincerely curated the story and the messages from their indigenous community. Sometimes, throughout the movie, I cried because I realized how amazing the resilience and the culture of the indigenous people from all over the world and how at the present moment they were being persecuted and exploited by the government and the big corporations. I was very glad to be given a chance to learn each unique story and be a part of the festival that brings this story out to the world. All the challenges and difficulties during the festival are not comparable to the pure joy and happiness that I felt during this experience.
Behind me is the village destroyed by flood and landslide.
Flood Relief Effort
In January 2021, Indonesia was shocked by the ecological disaster that happened in South Kalimantan. As a Banjar tribe, who is currently spending my college years in that province, it hits me personally how heavy flood was possible to happen, impacting almost the entire province. With the Ranu Welum Foundation team, I was trusted to organize South Kalimantan Flood Relief Efforts where we organized fundraising and helped the community impacted by the flood.
I can’t hide my sadness and anger when I see directly how many people are being displaced and seeking help. How many people were unaware that this disaster was caused by the greed of the corporation that continually cut down our trees and exploited our resources. Through this relief mission, I learned the importance of solidarity. I was continually being amazed by the work of the people for the people. I saw a lot of people from different countries, from different cities, and from different communities hand by hand donating and helping the community directly.
Live-in Experience in the Dayak Maanyan village
Fast forward to February 2021, with the support of UNESCO and AIYP, Ranu Welum is trusted to run a COVID-19 response project and we’re initiating a digital offline learning kit as an alternative solution for the school in remote areas in Central Kalimantan that had difficulties to use ‘online’ school policy as suggested by the government of Indonesia. This project is called “Smart Voice”.
This project is a big reminder for me personally, to see a policy from a different perspective and being more sensitive to the remote areas that had different conditions and struggles. Difficulty in accessing signals, as well as an economic background that does not allow students/guardians to have smartphones or buy data packages are several things that are not commonly talked about in mainstream media or at the government level.
Perhaps, for those of us who live in cities, access to signals is not something we should think about or work about. The signal is always available wherever and whenever, either cellular signal or Wi-Fi signal which is very easy for us to access.
With teachers in Talekoi village
In Talekoi Village itself, a village where our pilot project is being implemented, the online learning system is not as effective and as easy as it is in urban communities. The difficult access to signal is one of the biggest factors hindering the learning process here. The students here have to walk several kilometers to get a good signal, some of the spots are located on the pier, some are on the hill, also on the company road. Until a new vocabulary appeared, 'manyinyal', which means looking for signals. Every day, students here walk to find signals in these spots. And not only students but teachers also have to walk to these certain spots to be able to send assignments to their students.
Together with teachers at SDN Talekoi, we created a digital offline learning device called Smart Voice which is expected to be an alternative solution to the problems faced. This offline learning device consists of a collection of audio recordings from the teacher accompanied by a learning module for students. This recording is sent to the student's parents' telephone device along with the module.
I am very grateful to be able to witness firsthand the dedication of the teachers who serve here without getting tired and hopeless. Listening to the experiences and challenges they face, I hope that education policies and policy makers in Indonesia can be more sensitive to the conditions of education in remote areas so that the quality education that is always encouraged can be accessed by everyone, in spite of who they are or where they come from.
Overall, I am very grateful and blessed for the time I spend at Ranu Welum Foundation. Not only I learned about a lot of things, but I also get to experience firsthand the beauty of my homeland and how we, as young people, have the power to contribute and to love our land with a handful of souls.
Written by Nabila Fatiha
Instagram @bellafth