Those Who Are Willing to Be in Remote Islands

"I was almost stressed. I couldn't imagine," said Infak Insaswar Mayor as she recalled her first days in Wau and Weyaf Villages, Abun District, Tambrauw Regency, West Papua. This English Literature graduate was taken aback by the loud noises from the local children in the village.

As part of the Field Companion team recruited by the Research and Community Service Institute (LPPM) of the University of Papua (Unipa), Infak was indeed required to be in the midst of the community. This included being in Wau and Weyaf Villages, located in the remote areas of Tambrauw Regency.

Being far from the hustle and bustle of the city and in a secluded area posed its own challenges for the women on the LPPM UNIPA Field Companion team.

"Tambrauw is where I was born, but I grew up in Manokwari. So why not return to my birthplace," Infak explained, sharing why she dedicated herself to a remote area. "I want to be able to work directly with the community," said the woman who graduated in 2019. In a program funded by Blue Abadi Fund, one of Infak’s tasks is to teach English to the local residents, along with other subjects. Education becomes a crucial element in improving the capacity of the community. However, teachers are a luxury in the location of the LPPM UNIPA program.

"Our task is to teach at the school, then at the learning center. I felt called because there are few teachers there," explained Maria Meidiana Rellyubun, Infak’s colleague, who joined the LPPM UNIPA Field Companion team earlier. The woman, who is affectionately called Mia, has been part of the team since 2018. "Many young people leave the village, but they return because they feel ashamed of their low education," said the woman who holds a degree in Forestry.

The concern about the education condition in Wau and Weyaf or Saubeba village made Mia willing to be away from her husband for months at a time. She had to stay at the program site to teach local children and women in the villages how to process coconut oil better and make noken (traditional woven bags from Papua).

LPPM UNIPA realizes that poverty and low education are barriers to the turtle conservation efforts carried out in the Jeen Womom Beach conservation area. Therefore, community empowerment in the coastal areas is essential. With a program funded by the Blue Abadi Fund (BAF), LPPM UNIPA strives to improve the living standards and education of the Abun community in five villages in Abun District: Saubeba, Womom, Warmandi, Wau, and Weyaf.

In these empowerment efforts, the role of women is crucial. Kartika Zohar, the Program Coordinator of LPPM UNIPA, explained that involving women as Field Companion team members would bring positive impacts to the program. For instance, a softer approach in negotiations and problem-solving, as well as more effective guidance for the mothers.

The mothers at the program site were taught how to make noken (traditional Papuan bags made from woven materials). "We taught them from scratch until they could do it," said Tika. Not only with noken, but the LPPM UNIPA team also taught the mothers how to process coconut oil to achieve better standards, resulting in a relatively higher selling price. As a result, through noken or coconut oil sales, some mothers were able to finance their children's education to pursue higher education.