Women Role in Development and Humanitarian

Women Role in Development and Humanitarian: 

My Life Story as a Humanitarian Worker

I wrote this to commemorate this year World Humanitarian Day's theme on Women Humanitarians. I am very grateful and appreciate that the YukSiagaBencana (https://twitter.com/yuksiagabencana or https://www.instagram.com/yuksiagabencana/?hl=en) has chosen me to be the face for Women Humanitarians, it is a great honor to be parts of these women warriors!.

I started to build my career in the humanitarian sector formally when I was 20 years old before then I actively engage in the communities as the Youth Group Leader. I remember spending my youth time managing complicated cases of my peers which were mostly dealing with drug use, unplanned pregnancy, and domestic violence. At the teenage age, I barely could enjoy having my own personal life, since I spent most of my time either engage with the schools' extra-curricula, school organizations, or in the community events.  I am quite lucky that I have both parents that fully supported my activities, both of them were also former activists from HMI (Indonesia Muslim Association), with background on legal and tax. I would say that I idolized my parents. 

By the age of 20, I received a scholarship from Bank Mandiri-People to People Aid-Nurani Dunia. I remember standing in the toilet after I received the announcement as the selected candidate for the award. I looked myself in the mirror and reflected on how young I was at that time (I was in Class 2001, while most of the recipients were Class 1999) and how I had to ensure my self to not disappoint my parents and family, as the award required the awardees to continue their work for community development. Among the Awardees which we called Team - 9 as it consisted of nine university students, three of them including women, are women. The women held a significant role as a program officer, finance and administration, as well as government relations.

At that time, I was actively engaged in promoting anti-drugs campaign for the youth groups, involved in several types of research with the faculty laboratories, took part in the community programs, an Olympian for Athletic, Volley, and Basketball, as well with active members of several organizations such as the Student Executive Body, the Student Senate, the Soccer Associate, the Student Military Regiment, and Indonesia Women Coalition. I always consider myself lucky to start up my career in local NGOs of Nurani Dunia, I have learned so many things in the community development program from the expert himself, Mr Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist, lecturer, and activist.

When I graduated with my bachelor degree in Social Science of Criminology, I thought I will have to struggle to find a job, but it only took 3 months before I landed working as a Program Assistant in a French NGO, ACF (Action Contre la Faim) for Disaster Preparedness Indonesia Project working on Flood Preparedness in Jakarta. I remember that there were three women out of seven staff in the program. The other two were the liaison officer and GIS officer. My assignment in the organization is quite short, only 4 months, including as their consultant for community assessment. I remember, my supervisor at that time, Mr Edward Turvill gave me a bible of ACF Water and Sanitation Guideline and said to me "read this book, I believe you will have the opportunity to be an expert in WatSan". Which was actually turned out to be the truth, by 2011 I joined with the CDC of Ministry of Health for the Bilingual Secretary and Desk Officer for Health Water and Basic Sanitation Program, famously known as CLTS (Community Total Led Sanitation/STBM).

Based on my professional short experiences in Nurani Dunia and ACF, it turned out to be an entry pass for me for another assignment for the next 15 years ahead, including (in order) with  MPBI-2006 (http://mpbi.info/), Islamic Relief UK-2007 (https://www.islamic-relief.org), SIGANA-2008 (https://sigana007.wordpress.com/), UNORC-2008 , Mercy Corps-2008 to 2009 (https://www.mercycorps.org/), HFI-2010 (http://www.humanitarianforumindonesia.org/), Ministry of Health-2011, WHO-2012-2013 (http://www.searo.who.int/indonesia/en/), Save the Children-2013(https://www.stc.or.id/), UNESCO-2013-2018 (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/jakarta/), and ended up with UNDP started this April 2019 (http://www.id.undp.org/).  

Working with these agencies, gave me the opportunities to explore some parts of Indonesia, from Aceh, Nias, Pandeglang, Bogor, Malang, Yogyakarta, Bali, Riau, Ambon, Manado, Flores, and Lombok. In most of these regions, women's participation can be considered as low, even worse in Lombok where you can only find 3 women out of 20 or 30 men participants. Yet, I notice that these women, despite how small of their representatives' number, they have a very strong and focal voices. These women are able to provide detailed information and share the issues in the areas in a very comprehensive way, such as sensitive issues concerning women's and children's needs, disabilities, environmental, and policies. 

The women representatives in many forums have a strong supporting system from their families. Their husband support and allow them to engage in the community activities, they have family members or relatives that look after their children while they're gone, or without hesitate they will take their children to participate in the activities. I reflect them into my own life, as a wife and a mother of three children. I have a great partner (who is happened working in another province as well) that understand my potential and ability to give some space for my creativities, also I have a wonderful assistant, friends, neighbors, and family members who are willing to share their love and attention to our children. 

Becoming a humanitarian worker doesn't mean that you have to sacrifice your family matters to the sake of people at needs. A humanitarian worker means that you have the ability to balance your personal life and society. Being a woman in the humanitarian world should able to encourage you to support women to have a better life (better education, access to health, increased income) and improve the qualities of their families. Sometimes, when we are on top of having the luxury and privilege from our works, we have the tendency to lose our identity and involve more in the competitive world with others to improve our worthiness for the employer. As I look back and mirroring myself, 15 years of struggling up a hill and down the valley, it is a good time to give back. Give back to the societies that will receive more benefit from the experiences that I have. Though it is very hard to keep on moving and leaving the children behind. Yet, a very close colleague of mine recently said to me that "There are reasons why you are here, as long you can let it go and trust the God, everything will be just alright". 

Having realized the fact that for a woman, the hardest thing is to leave the children and deal with the public assumption of heart cold career woman who just chases her career. I feel that the monetary benefit from the work is not worthy enough compare to the mental breakdown every time other people said this harsh thing.  Even, among the soccer moms, your own presence will be aside and receive their ignorance. For some women, who do not understand the struggles and condition of humanitarian works; to meet the deadlines, assignment to remote areas, short-notice deployment, being harassed by the co-workers and partner agencies, and not having the time to pamper themselves, should really understand that the women who do this kind of work is actually trying to ensure that the other women needs and participation can be fulfilled. We, as women should support each other. Not just to ensure our participation and representatives, but also to educate our sons on how to respect their women partner and future wife, and for our girls to have the opportunity to build a career in the humanitarian world.

Chocolate Factory in a Small Village

Cocoa Plantation: A Hidden Gem in the West Nusa Tenggara

Let us admitted, who doesn't love chocolate?. I think it has been everyone's dream to own their own chocolate factory. I am one of the luckiest person who happen to have a chance to work closely with this commodity. Cocoa, a raw, and let us assume it as a rough diamond before it turns into chocolate. 

Welcome to Kampung Coklat Senara. This Chocolate Village is located in Genggalang Village, Gangga Sub-district of District of Lombok Utara (KLU). In this village, the communities rely their income on agricultural, farming, and tourism sectors. Beside cocoa, there are also vanilla beans, goat milk, honey, and waterfalls that become strategic commodities of this village. Only few people know that the KLU itself is the highest producer of cocoa bean in the Province of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), as accordance to the data from the Central Bureau of Statistic (BPS). The District Government of KLU launched and promoted the Sub-Village of Senara of Geggalang Village as Chocolate Village in 2017. 

The sign board in front of the Chocolate Centre of Senara

The launching of this village is based on the fact that there are 100 hectare (1 hectare = 2,4 acre) of cocoa plantation  that are managed by the community farmers for more than 20 years. Cocoa farming has been  the main livelihood income source for the village community. Each farmer in this village has at least 0,5 hectare to 7 hectare of cocoa plantation. The plantation is being managed through farmers group.  Due to NTB 2018 earthquake, only 20 out of 36 cocoa farmers that are still cultivating their cocoa plantation.

When you entering the gate, you will find a lot of cocoa trees with wise message hanging in these trees. There are also some gazebo and souvenir shop, where you can sit, enjoy drinking a hot chocolate while shopping with various chocolate products. Mr Pardan, Head of Bunga Mekar Cocoa Farmer Group, manages the place and will take you on a De Tour  in site. It might not as modern as Kampung Coklat Blitar (https://www.kampungcoklat.com/profile/) but surely it is a great education and attractive place to visit in Lombok.

Cocoa indeed is part of the strategic commodity of the District Government of KLU beside: cor, coffee, chicken egg, horticulture vegetables, and honey. Yet their focus currently is set on the developing and expanding the production of honey by cooperating with private health companies, such as: Nutrima, PT Lampung Sejahtera, PT Farmasi Fajr Malaysia, and PT Astra Ventura. The cocoa farmers group itself has limited access to target marketing of these cocoa products, only for local based consume of communities and industry in the district, and Mataram City.

The Senara Chocolate Processing Centre

In this district there are thousands hectare of cocoa land that can produce nearly 500-600 kg of cocoa beans per hectare/year, or around 24 thousand ton per year. The average monthly gross income that receive by the farmer from the selling of the raw cocoa beans is around 3 to 4 million IDR (1 dollar = 14,356 IDR). 

The farmer group such as Bunga Mekar that led by Mr Pardan, are still struggling to promote and their local cocoa industry and improving their production. Everyday, the village of Senara Chocolate Centre produces 3,5 kg of chocolate powder, 1,8 kg of fat chocolate, and 2 kg of variant processed chocolate candies. The chocolate products mix with other commodities around areas, such as: coffee and ginger.

Mr Pardan, Head of Cocoa Farmer Bunga Mekar

The farmers group's effort in developing the chocolate industry attracts government attention and received their supports  through several stimulant programs, such as: comparative study to cocoa plantation in Blitar, East Java; construction of sign board to the village; provision of equipment to process, roast, blend, and filter the cocoa beans into chocolate powder (the equipments were received on September 2018 by the Ministry of Villages, Disadvantage Regions and Transmigration/Kemendes PDTT), and; provision of 3 hectare of land for construction of Chocolate Processing Centre by the Ministry of Agriculture. Until now, there are two government bureau that are continuously providing their support, include: the Bureau of Agriculture and Food Security, and Bureau of Industry and Commerce. 

This Chocolate Centre is scheduled to re-open on August or September 2019, after completing its renovation post earthquake. I would definitely recommend to bring cash, as it is located remotely and you will get temp to swap all the products here. The price for chocolate or cocoa powder is around 30k IDR (original), to 60k IDR (combine with coffee, or ginger), while the candy is around 25k IDR to 30k IDR per box with original, combination of peanut, and fruit flavours. For more information, please contact Mr Pardan in +6282341902245. 

Museum Negeri NTB, Post EQ 2018

Improving Museum Role on Public Education and Awareness:

Case Study of Museum Negeri NTB

by Yuniarti Wahyuningtyas

A. Background on Museum Negeri NTB (State Museum NTB)

As per April 2019, i am hired by UNDP as their Community Mobilization Officer to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction project in Mataram, NTB. Like any other of field assignments that i have taken, i usually spent few days adapting with the local settings and mingle with the communities. There was a traditional idiom in our country known as "Dimana Bumi Dipijak, Disitu Langit Dijunjung", in other words is where ever we go, we have to respect the local traditions.  I have managed to install GoJek App (as a Criminologist/DRR Practitioner/Defense Contrator, i believe that social media and application have the tendencies ruins the social construction of our societies, so yeah i am a bit old school when comes to the apps, but not anti tech-since i am good at web design, mapping, etc), found guest house to crash in for few days, and more permanent place or studio apartment room for settle in. 

When i got assignment in the field office, my first destination would be visiting their local museum. So here i am at Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) for 6 months assignment and onward (hopefully). There is only 1 museum in this city, which is the Museum Negeri NTB. The museum is located in Jalan Panji Tilar Negara No.6, Mataram (8'584799'S, 116'085947'E), and it was launched in 2000 under the management of Education and Tourism Bureau of NTB Province. The museum has its vision  as the information window for  knowledge and science. Its missions are: 1) to collect, research, maintain, preserve, and display cultural and scientific artifacts, 2) to introduce and disseminate the cultural and scientific artifacts, 3) to provide assistant on cultural education and presenting creative artifacts with cultural and scientific values, and 4) to manage library and scientific research documentation, as well administrative matters. 

The museum has around 50 staff and 35 out of the staff are civil servants. There is no museum specialist, historian, curator, librarian or any other technical experts in this museum. Most of the staff are generalist. No training have been provided by the national or local government to improve the capacity of the museum staff. The museum also does not have special and specific program that are developed to increase the visitors and attracts interest of particular donor or partner. Most of the program are in line and supporting the national and local governments program. 

In front of the Permanent Exhibition Building

The museum entry fee cost 4,000 IDR or around 25 cents. There are 5 building blocks around the museum compound, which include: the permanent exhibition room, the temporary exhibition room, the auditorium room (which is being reconstructed due to major EQ  2018), the secretariat room, and the storage room. The room that is fully functioned so far is the permanent exhibition room with total width 340m that is divided into 2 parts: The Permanent Exhibition 1 and Permanent Exhibition II. 

Map of the Museum Compound

B. The Museum Negeri NTB Collection

As the museum is categorized as General Museum, means that the collections that are displayed in the museum are general, mostly represent the culture and tradition of NTB. In total the museum has around 7,698 collections that are classified into 10 types of collections: geological, biological, ethnographically, archaeological, historical, numismatic, philological, keramology, technology, and art. From thousands collections, only 10% out of them that are displayed in the museum. The theme of the permanent exhibition is "Natural and Cultural Heritage as the source of History and Science". 

At the Permanent Exhibition Room, which is divided into 2 parts, the collections that are displayed represented several sub-themes, include:

1. The Permanent Exhibition I: 

a. The Natural Potential of NTB - in here you can find explanation on the geological and volcanology of NTB. There are some example of rocks and soils, as well display of Rinjani and Tambora Mountains. 

The Permanent Exhibition 1 -Natural Potential of NTB

b. An Introduction to Flora and Fauna of NTB - in this corner, you can find specific species in NTB that are taxidermy. If you bring your kids with you, they will amaze with the preserved alligator in the middle of the room :) 

The Permanent Exhibition I -Flora and Fauna NTB

2. The Permanent Exhibition II:

a. The History of Struggle of NTB Society - the collections consist of tradition weaponry and war map. The one that attracted me most is the medieval chainmail shirt that reminded me of the Knight Templar since it looks similar to it.

chainmail, helmet, and remaining rifle

b. Knowing and Understanding The Language and Written Alphabets of NTB - in this corner, you will find the traditional script that is using in the NTB, as well some ancient writing tools

The traditional script in NTB is influenced by many other traditions in the same island, as well Arabic

c. The Society Economic System - NTB, like most of the areas in Indonesia, the communities are depending their livelihood from agriculture and fisheries. In this part of the museum corner, you can find a diorama that described the living condition of the traditional fishermen.

It can look real at night

d. The Development of Equipment and Technology in NTB - the collection in this part of the museum shows various types and techniques in developing their craft, including traditional weaponry.

Diorama of local community who are making traditional sword 

e. Arts as Medium for Entertainment, Creativity, and Information - various arts represented NTB can be found here, such as wooden horse, shadow puppet, etc.

wooden horse or known as Jaran Praja, which is used as part of the traditional dance played by the boys

f. The History of Religion and Belief - In every countries you can always find Saman, hHealer, Sorcerer, Witch or others. Same like in other place, in NTB, the ancient communities were influenced with the traditional belief or dynamism and animism. You can find some of the crafts that were using for the ritual as part of the display

g. Traditional Ritual as Manifestation of Local wisdom and Instilling of Social and Cultural Values - various ethnics clothes and their traditional or local crafts are also part of the exhibition. Surprisingly in some of the display, if you keep your eyes wide open, you will find old jewels made from gold that are also display here.

Guess which bride costume that have jewels made from gold?

In the Permanent Exhibition II there is a special room named Khasanah Room. This room stored master pieces collections or heritages treasures from Bima Sultanate, Dompu Sultanate, Sumbawa Sultanate, and Bali Kingdom that located in Lombok. The collections in this room are all original and made from pure golds or a mix between it. It was closed during the time i visited the museum due to rehabilitation post EQ. Despite the fact that the room stored precious and high valuable items, yet the security measure is loose. The entry door to the collection room is protected only with cell door. No alarm, CCTV, nor heat censor that can prevent any thieves from stealing. 

Khasanah Room - Heritage Collection made from gold and other high value materials, originate from the Sultanates

C. Museum Construction and Risk Reduction

Physical Condition of Museum Post Earthquake 6.4 SCR

I am not an engineer, however once you look at the museum wall, you will realize that the building is sturdy. The damages caused by the 6.4 SCR EQ on July 2018 had effected other parts of the museum compound, such as auditorium and few part of museum roofing. Some reconstruction works are being done that is expected to be completed on June 2019. The reconstruction cost is covered by the Ministry of Public Works and People Settlement, post EQ an assessment on damages was done by the ministry with the Government of Australia. Despite the reconstruction process, in overall the museum looks pretty clean. 

Security of Interior, Exterior, Lighting, and Facilities of the Museum

The lighting inside the museum is quite dark, the air conditioners are on but not cold, and some cables are spreading around hanging above the ceiling. All collection are stored inside glass wooden boxes, well preserve, but the placement of collection boxes are scattered. There are several medium size fire extinguisher which are hanged in the wall. They look heavy and in case of fire, it would be difficult for the staff to pull them out the wall. No sign of evacuation map, or assembly point found in inside or outside the museum. There are some tags from the collections that are missing, such as the canon, in front of the permanent exhibition building. In regards to the high value from several collections, it would be necessary to install CCTV, alarm, or censor. Surely we do not want another case of gold collections missing, like the ones that happened in 2010 in Museum Sonobudoyo.

Disaster Risk Management of Museum

As the museum is prone to various disasters, such as fire and earthquake, therefore disaster risk management plan and the emergency SOP should be developed, the staff should be well trained, drill and simulation should also be conducted, and the public visitors should be raised their awareness in securing and maintain the collections. As the collections of the museum are not moving objects, the staff need to be more proactive in guiding the visitors, no need to ask them whether they want to be guided or not. several objects, such as diorama, warfare corner, and geological sub-theme can be improved by using technology, such as audio visual, augmentation reality, and others. The museum can also opens its own souvenir shops as well cafe that can offer and provide range of traditional foods and merchandise. It can be operated as One Stop Centre. However, based on the brief discussion that i had with Mr Hubert or Ubet, it seems that budget is the main problem for the museum to implement and improve its performance. Another reason, is also related to the ownership of the museum at the high level managerial. 

Conclusion and Recommendation

Beside all issues identified above, the museum also needs to attract more visitors (the number of visitor during the peak season after the school test can reach about 2,000-3,000 visitors per month or 75,000/year, or only 0.30% compare to National Museum Jakarta with 240,000 visitors per year). When i went there, there were only a group of family and myself that were touring inside the museum. Some activity such as drawing competition, museum roadshow, and tradition costume competition have been done as strategies to attract them. However, it would be necessary to gain support from international partner for further improvement of the museum and its staff. Night at Museum, Museum Vlog, and Museum Application are the easiest and simplest ways that can be used as starting points to another intervention. Surely these kind of activities can gain interest from national and local partner, including private sectors.

Sadly not all people interest in museum, art or culture, after  spending 3 days in NTB i notice that most of the people have more interest on culinary or beach. Through this blog, i wish that you can help the Museum Negeri NTB in small or big kind of way. 

For more details about the museum:

Website: https://museumnegerintb.com

Email: museumntb@gmail.com

Instagram: @museumntb

Twitter@museumntb

Facebook: Museum Negeri Provinsi NTB

Contact Person: Mr Hubert (+6282147820056/+62370 632159)