Back to Ohoirenan, My Hometown

Sarlota Wantaar, S.Pd.          

"Wake up at four o'clock in the morning, get ready to go to a neighboring village for school, for a better future, that's the struggle of kids in Ohoirenan, South Big Kei. Due to the geographical location of the village that does not support for school buildings, not every village has facilities of school building from elementary to high school."

I’m Sarlota Wantaar, an alumnus of Satu Atap Nerong, State Junior High School. I live in Ohoirenan, a village on the east coast of South Big Kei sub-district, Southeast Maluku regency, Maluku province. When I was in junior high school, my parents were not allowed me to live in a neighboring village, so I had to get up early to prepare for school, walking with friends three kilometers from the east coast of Big Kei to the west coast via the up and down hill trail. Now, I am back to serve my home school as a teacher after finishing college and developing myself in Yogyakarta. It turns out that after approximately 7 years I left, the current conditions are not much different, kids are still walking to school. So, do I.

Kids from Ohoirenan Village who attend junior high school must go to the neighboring village, namely Satu Atap Nerong State Junior High School. They have to climb up and down the hill through a rocky path to get to school which takes one hour non-stop. The touching heart is that most children are walking without wearing their shoes, sandals or other footwear, they only wear them after near school because they need them stay longer.

Sometimes if they are lucky, there are water cars or trucks leaving for the city in the morning and giving them a ride. The kids feel happy because they don't have to tire of climbing hills, however it is not every day the trucks pass by, so they are more often walking. When they come home from school, they pass the same road and arrived home in the afternoon. It makes them have no much time at home.

After the three years of junior high school, some kids successfully complete their education and continue to a higher level, even to college and successfully take job tests such as soldiers, employees and others. However, some kids fail to continue their studies for various reasons, such as limited money, early marriage and choosing to stay idle at home. Some of the successful experiences can motivate other kids at Satu Atap Nerong, State Junior High School.

There is an interesting thing when some kids go to school and bring some food during the break time. During that break they have time to sell the food because there is no cafeteria at school. The food they sell is made by their parents, such as rice wrapped-noodles rice and wrapped-fish rice, donut cakes, fried bread, banana chips, and candle-shape ice. The kids sell food at school to help their parents.

This is a challenge for me in Ohoirenan, how to motivate them not to give up easily and keep fighting. I can equip them with an understanding what they can do to develop creativity in addition to the knowledge they get at school, such as by processing the natural products around them. I believe that every effort must give the result. ***