Indonesia-Overcome Geography&Poverty

Independent Films, Travel, Social Responsibility Movies, Health

Indonesia is rapidly emerging as a new economic tiger, with a blessing of resources and people. However, it's geography and ongoing struggle to overcome poverty is also ever-present.

An outrigger slices through the clear waters that surround one of the 17 and a half thousand islands in the Indonesian archipelago.

Onboard is UNICEF Malaria Officer Dr. Olivi Silalahi. She’s visiting Atubul Dol, a village on Yamdena Island.

Located in far south eastern Indonesia, Yamdena is closer to Australia than Jakarta.

With its lush scenery and deserted beaches, it seems like paradise.

But to get here, Dr. Silalahi had to journey by plane, car, ferry, and finally, this small boat.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Olivi Silalahi, Malaria Officer, UNICEF:
“In the last few years flight have improved, we can reach here by plane daily. But before it was so difficult, we might have to wait one or two weeks to get here by plane.”

That remoteness means that for those who live here, paradise comes with a price.

SOUNDBITE (Indonesian) Alexander Snyompwaim, Atubul Dol Village Leader:
“I am very worried, not just for my children but for everyone in this village. I am worried because we don’t have the opportunities and services because we are a small village. We need help.”

As UNICEF refocuses on achieving the Millennium Development Goals with equity, it’s rededicating itself to the families in remote and poor regions across this vast country.

The fact that the economy is strong and growing quickly is irrelevant to too many. Half of Indonesians live either at or below the poverty line.

SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Kearney, Representative in Indonesia, UNICEF:
“We have a very high rate of maternal mortality and it’s the poorest women who make up those statistics generally. We also have lot of children who may go to primary school, but they cannot graduate into junior secondary school as they are too poor to pay the costs.”

Lorolun Village is on the same island as Atubul Dol, but because the road is impassable the journey must be made by boat. Poor as it is, Lorolun’s health centre is a lifesaver for its even less fortunate neighbours.

SOUNDBITE (Indonesian) Agustinus Jabarmase, Head of Lorolun Village Health Centre:
“Before our health service was okay, it was working, but needed improvement. Since UNICEF has come, it’s much better, especially the support to the remote villages. Now, from our health centre, every month we provide service to those remote villages.”

In the past, the villagers’ main fear was dying from malaria. Mothers now watch their families grow in good health.

SOUNDBITE (Indonesian) Kristina Batliol, Mother of five:
“Has anyone died of malaria here in the past few years? No, no one has, because they get immediate treatment from the health centre.”

But equitable change must do more than plug gaps. It requires a comprehensive refocusing of national priorities.

SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Kearney, Representative in Indonesia, UNICEF:
“We must support the government to use the resources that it has to make it pro-poor, so the resources that are available are for the poorest. That decentralization, on this large archipelago, which is a reality, that decentralization works for children. And thirdly, that the expenditures that come, whether it’s forestry, whether it’s fish, whether it’s mining, whatever it be, those resources must be used for children.”

At Beten Elementary school in West Java, children play supervised, educational games. Almost half of Indonesian children from low income families cannot afford secondary schooling. That hurts their future and the future of their country.

SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Kearney, Representative in Indonesia, UNICEF:
“Indonesia must use the money that is has in support of the MDGs with equity, because if it does not the opportunities lost will be absolutely huge. The number of children that will drop out of school and cannot later be part of economic growth. The number of people that may get sick and require curative health care. So the costs of not doing it absolutely far outweigh the benefits of doing it.”

Those benefits cannot come too soon for the families of Atubul Dol. There is no phone service and only twelve hours a day of electricity.

Like so many millions of their countrymen and women, the families of Atubul Dol hope for the opportunity to fulfil their rights and take their place in the success of their country.

Directors:

• Muhamed Sacirbey UNTV-UNICEF

Producers:

• Susan Sacirbey