Jubilee Campaign USA, April 1, 2003
Summary Indonesia Trip
Dear Friends,
Sunday, March 09, 2003
The enthusiasm and anticipation as the team gathered was intoxicating as Kie Eng
Go, Jubilee USA's Indonesia coordinator, David Mundy, a new attorney in my office
handling primarily Jubilee projects, and I arrived at Jakarta. At the hotel we met up
with Matious Ho, a dear friend of Jubilee, who has participated in all of our initiatives
related to Indonesia. Also, Weilan our travel agent from past trips, who now feels
inspired and called to encouraging the Indonesian church to be involved in society
building, Lina and Angky, representing donors from a church in Singapore, and Inda, a
young Indonesian living in Houston. We discussed logistics, financial trip expense
administration, and the fact that the permission for me to go to Ambon still had not
been issued. Shirley Doornik, always a vital part of setting up our logistics and
participating in each of our past fact-finding trips to Indonesia, joined us at the hotel
after dinner. I was the first to run out of energy and go to bed about 9:00 pm. However,
I was up at 3:30 am Monday to reorganize the cards from Fairfax Covenant Church
(FCC) and other small gifts we had brought for the orphans that we support in order to
hand them to Inda and Lina to take with them to Ambon.
Monday, March 10, 2003
Team 2-Kie Eng, Matius and David Traveled to Balikpapan, Kalimantan on schedule at
5:00 am. Their objective was to interview Christian church leaders and Muslims in
Balikpapan to determine how the local community there was handling attacks by
"provocateurs."
Team 1 - Angky, Lina, and Inda proceeded 4:30 am as scheduled to Ambon. As our
contingency plan in the event that I could not travel to Ambon, I provided them with the
FCC notes and gifts to distribute to the children in the areas where they would be
traveling.
Shirley and I stayed behind in Jakarta in order to meet with government officials to
seek to obtain the permission to enter Ambon. First, we met with Christian officers of
internal police, one of which had previously been stationed within Ambon and claimed
to be close with the Vice Governor of Ambon. He offered to arrange a meeting with the
Vice Governor for us. Of course, it turned out that there was currently no Vice
Governor in Ambon making the small talk completely useless. It is culturally typical
for Indonesians not to simply tell you "I don't know" or "I can't help". For example,
Shirley and I were given simply wrong information in a mall as to the location of an
internet café by two different information desks and one shopkeeper. To a Western
mind, I cannot comprehend how it is more face saving to give wrong information then
to admit you don't know.
From there we went to where the permission appeared to be held up which is a new
office called Bakoronis, for the Coordination Institution for Internally Displaced People
(IDPs). This office building was under refurbishment with new furniture still being
unboxed and with what appeared to be empty offices and meeting rooms all very
nicely furnished. Shirley and I found it very unusual that the permission to enter
Ambon would have to be signed by an administrator within Bakoronis. It was
conjectured by several individuals that one reason may be that the government was
concerned the relief funds were going directly to a charity and not being gifted to the
government.
As the day progressed, it became all too abundantly clear that I would not be given
permission to go to Ambon. At the Bakoronis IDP office the person whose desk the
request sat changed to a different person. The substitute named, Supriyatna, advised
Shirley that the original faxed request was not in proper form because the Governor's
office in Ambon failed to carbon copy it to the Bakornis IDP office. On-going endless
speculation and confusion ensued as to whether the proper procedure required the
Governor to forward the request-which had been done but to a wrong fax number-or
whether the request needed to come directly to the IDP office-which had also been
done to the correct fax number-or whether it was really the international affairs office
which needed to approve the request-which no one thought of before. Finally, in
Ambon Hengky learned from the Governor's Office that it had failed to fax the request
to the correct fax number for Bakornis in Jakarta. Apparently, the procedure had
changed after four Pakistani foreigners were discovered on an island in Maluku about
a month ago and had been deported. So I flew to Unjung Pandang, South Sulawesi
and waited there for Team 2 to arrive on the 12th, although not aimless in that I spent
the time praying and working on reports.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Meeting 1
After Kie Eng, David, and Matius joined me in Unjung Pandang, we met with a
well-known moderate Muslim named, Dr. M. Qasim Mathar, who teaches Islamic
theology and philosophy at a local university. Our meeting with him was very
informative.
Qasim attributed the rise in attraction toward Islamic extremism in Makassar to the
temperament of the local people, to growing poverty, and to increasing vices
experienced within the Muslim populations. Diminishing education as well as a
decreasing ability of ordinary people to impact the social and economical conditions
is fueling the dissatisfaction and search for an alternative within extreme Islam. Qasim
also blames the poor law enforcement across Indonesia for the rise in attraction of the
Shariah Law. Dealing with the lack of law enforcement is difficult at all levels. There is
pessimism concerning enforcing the law at all levels. The general population also
notices that corruption cases are not dealt with properly by the security forces.
He fortuitously assisted us with setting up a meeting at our next destination in Palu,
Central Sulawesi, with Noor Hassan a moderate Muslim from the PP Mohadiya Palu
and who teaches in the University of Hamadiya in Palu as a faculty staff. In that
meeting which took place on March 15, Noor Hassan invited H. Shofyan Lembah. We
later realized that it was Shofyan who provided to KOMPASS newspaper last year's
warning to put Jubilee Campaign on a watch list of dangerous foreign organizations in
Central Sulawesi. We had no idea that we would be looking our enemy in the eye and
having lunch with him.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Meeting 2
Right after meeting with Qasim, we met with members of the Chinese community in
Massakar, including Anton Obey a wealthy businessman, Iskandar Nawing, an
attorney, and Ir. Yonggris, Secretary of the Buddhist Association in Massakar. Since
the 1997 riots attacking the Chinese community in Makassar, the Chinese
community has been systematically making efforts to create communication forums,
build harmony, and better integrate within the general population. Anton Obey has
started three such communication forums. The government has also invited Obey to
help bridge the Chinese and the native communities. The various communications
forums are to address ethnic, racial, and religious issues. Concerning militant
Muslims, the Chinese community believe that it is not as much based upon religion
as based upon politics. They want to build a religious state through the implantation of
Islamic Shariah Law. These hardcore Muslims are aggressive and militant and leave
the impression that they are big. However, they are only a small minority.
These men then invited us to Dinner, which was appropriately Chinese cuisine.
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Kie Eng, Matius, David and Ann
Meeting 1
A meeting was arranged by Ibu Soepamena, General Secretary of the District Church
Counsel of South Sulawesi. The meeting took place at the Regional Church Council
Office Building. We interviewed Paulis who is from the Toraja ethnic group and is a
pastor from the Toraja Christian Church. This ethnic group is 95% Christian who are
localized in an area north of Unjung Pandang. Since 1998, his activities have been at
the community level to prevent the violence in Ambon and Poso from happening in
South Sulawesi. There have been small disturbances in Masakkar from groups who
want to take revenge because they view the Ambon conflict as Christians oppressing
Muslims. From 1999-2001, police conducted ID sweeping to check religion, and
several church attacks occurred. The building in which we were meeting as the
Regional Church Council Office was firebombed with cocktails and torched April 19,
1999. The structure was in the process of expansion when it was fire bombed.
Construction had to be halted and funds for expansion used to repair the structure. Ibu
Soepamena has requested to vacate and sell the property, but the church council
refuses. The location is very strategic and prestigious. It was attacked because it is
viewed as the Christian leaders' center-who instigate and organize oppression of
Muslims. It is also 1 block from the KPPSI General Secretary Offices (which we drove
past and took pictures of), which is a small and radical Islamic group seeking Shariah
law. In order to improve communication and reduce tensions, Paulis holds various
forums for dialogue across various provincial and local levels.
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Kie Eng, Matius, David and Ann
Meeting 2
We interviewed Rahim Younis who is Secretary of the Ullama Council for South
Sulawesi. He is also a Professor at the Institute Iain, Institute for Islamic Studies as
well as the Assistant to the Director of the Unismus University. Also present during
this morning was an Australian Muslim student, Hamdan Juhannis, interviewing the
professor for his doctoral dissertation (which may have tainted parts of the interview
from purely Prof. Younis' viewpoint.) This meeting was extremely helpful to gain
understanding of a moderate Muslim perspective concerning Shariah Law
implementation in the Province of South Sulawesi as well as the actual, official
progress of that implementation. Finally, he revealed the tactics and strategy of the
KPPSI, which is a small minority radical Islamic group that seeks implementation of
Shariah as well as obtaining a veto power by the Ullama over the other branches of
government. In order to check the progress of the KPPSI and give a balanced societal
perspective, the government created the TPKPSI, which is the government-appointed
implementing Committee for Shariah Law. Prof. Younis is one of the government
appointed members to review the implementation process.
Maluku Orphan Project
Thursday, March 13, 2003
Hengky Hattu, Nona, Shirley Dornik, Lina, Inda, and Ann
Meeting 3
Team 1 from Ambon joined us in Ujung Pandang and brought Hengky and Nona with
them so that I would have an opportunity to directly question and interview them
concerning the Maluku Orphan Project as well prospects for the Chandler Maluku
Orphan Fund. Lina and Angky from Singapore had traveled to the islands and visited
orphans as well as the sites of construction for emergency schools. Lina and Angky
also conducted an audit of the accounting procedures and books kept by Penubru,
the Christian branch of Saluwaku, particularly concerning the expenditures of project
funds previously sent. Shirley and Inda also traveled to Seram parts of Ambon Island
in order to visit and interview the orphans supported by Jubilee Campaign. The
unanimous consensus was that the funding for the orphans remains desperately
needed and the assistance critical to the well-being and educational futures of these
orphans. Some remarks are as follows. A full seven page report of the meeting is also
available upon request.
Lina and Angky went by boat to Separua where they visited 21 of the 34 orphans
sponsored by Jubilee Campaign and took pictures. At Baguala, Ambon Island Jubilee
Campaign supports 74 orphans, and Lina and Angky met 61 of them, took their
pictures, and interviewed them.
In visiting Seram Island and parts of Ambon Island, Shirley and Inda were
accompanied by Vebby and Geerma. Geerma is in charge of Finance and
Administration, and Vebby is in charge of Women Education. Both work under Nona,
in charge of the orphan program. The three traveled by boat to Seram Island on which
JC supports 21 children. Shirley was able to visit 14 of the orphans. There was a
problem with seven (7) because the new "Raja" (an elected chief) of Kamarian did not
want to permit any pictures to be taken nor any interviews made of the seven children.
There was a small village conflict between the former chief and current chief. The
current village chief wanted to just deliver the funds to the children. Shirley explained
that they wanted to see the children and make data reports of the children. The new
village chief refused to permit them to see the orphans. Saluwaku has to re-approach
the Raja at a future time and to come to an agreement with him. Shirley was able to
see and take pictures of the other 14 children. Shirley reports that all of the families
on this island are extremely poor, and the area is extremely poor. For example, there
is a family with three JC-supported children, and the youngest child of that widow not
supported by JC appeared malnourished. During her interaction with some of the
children, she spoke to them about their school likes and dislikes.
Shirley also went to Kota, on Ambon Island where there are 21 children. Someone
from Seram moved to Ambon to take care of the children. One of the children, Kalvin
from Seram, moved to Ambon to live with his uncle, therefore there are 22 children
now in Kota, Ambon. Shirley met two of the children Wednesday night and three of
the children Thursday morning.
Shirley tried to identify whether the children needed special attention. They took note
of those children who clammed up. After a few minutes of observation, it was obvious
that some of the children needed special attention and were not getting it in the
homes they were staying. These children would be prime candidates for the new
dormitory project, which the Chandler Maluku Orphan Fund will be used for combined
with additional funds from Singapore donors.
Meanwhile, Lina, Inda, and Angky reviewed in detail the property that the donors in
Singapore have purchased. As already noted, the funds raised from the tragic death of
Caleb Chandler of Fairfax Covenant Church will be used to construct a dormitory on
this property. (Photos of the property are available upon request.) The three of them
also visited school structures which the Singapore donors have been funding.
Overall, our meeting with Hengky and Nona provided an excellent and useful
opportunity to further gain understanding about how we can better serve the orphans
and better communicate.
Friday-Monday, March 14-17, 2003
In the morning, all team members headed to the airport to fly to our next leg of the
journey to Palu, the Capitol of Central Sulawesi. A year previously in January, we had
traveled extensively through the villages which had been attacked, pillaged and
torched to the ground by Laskar Jihad militants, and through an area called Tentena
which is the last place of refuge for 10s of thousands of Christians. Tentena is and
has been the headquarters for the Crises Center from which Rev. Rinaldy Damanik
serves the humanitarian needs of refugees who were displaced by the inter-religious
violence occurring in Poso District and the surrounding villages since 1999.
Our objective this trip was to focus on the on-going trial of Rev. Damanik, to meet with
him, to discuss with his defense team strategies of international attention and
cooperation, and to meet with and interview both Christians and Muslim
non-government organizations and opinion leaders. We sought to understand the
progress and implementation of the Malino I Peace Accord struck between the
Christian and Muslim communities last year. Our notes of these extensive meetings
are available upon request.
As noted previously, we met at length and through lunch with a Muslim leader known
to be the second most influential Muslim leaders in this Poso District. The time spent
meeting with Shofyan revealed the viewpoint of the Muslim community, including
answers to why the Laskar Jihad were invited into the conflict in the first place and
why Christian villages were attacked. Shofyan admitted that he was responsible for
putting a price on Rev. Damanik's head, but stated that he was now on friendly terms
with Rev. Damanik- facts we later confirmed with Rev. Damanik. Shofyan also
declared that he personally had invited the Laskar Jihad militants to come to Poso
and orchestrated the attacks in 2001 against the Christian villages. I discussed with
Shofyan the concepts of trust and forgiveness from a Christian perspective, not
knowing that I was looking our enemy in the eye.
Another unanticipated memorable experience was the opportunity to spend Monday
at Rev. Damanik's trial. Although we had scheduled to meet with Rev. Damanik in jail,
we enthusiastically accepted an invitation to join him at the prison chapel service on
Sunday. We also stayed over an extra day specifically to accept the Defense teams'
invitation for us to meet with them, meet with the Chief Judge, and attend the opening
day of questioning of the prosecutorial witnesses. A complete report and photos are
available upon request.
We pray that the Lord will use this trip in a multifaceted way for us to be more
effective in supporting our suffering brothers and sisters with advocacy and practical
financial assistance.
Sincerely,
Ann Buwalda
Jubilee Campaign USA
email: jubilee@jubileecampaign.org
voice: 703-503-0791
web: http://www.jubileecampaign.org
This email was sent to shortcut2justy@yahoo.com.au, by Jubilee Campaign USA.
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