Risna Hasanudin: Bringing Change to the Face of Education in Manokwari

Risna Hasanudin: Bringing Change to the Face of Education in Manokwari

MANOKWARI: Christmas of 2019 and New Year’s Eve 2020 celebration had ended, but the festivity was still palpable in Manokwari, West Papua. The joyful air did not escape Risna Hasanuddin, 31, a Moslem woman living in a predominantly Christian Manokwari.

Despite being part of the minority, Risna could feel the abundance of tolerance from the local community. Not only she was invited to celebration events, her hosts would even serve halal food for her.

But Manokwari had not always been this way; not so long ago, a social conflict broke in Manokwari, forcing schools to close because of the dangerous situation.

Refusing to do nothing, Risna tried to create a safe space for finding a common ground. She then organized an open dialogue in South Manokwari, in collaboration with the Indonesian Youth National Committee (KNPI), to initiate peace and calm the situation down. She wanted senior secondary and college students to sit together and identify the cause of the conflict.

In short, the audience agreed that racism and human rights violation were the underlying problems. She hoped that the intensive discussion could contribute to mitigating the conflict. She also hoped that by engaging her participants in an effective dialogue, the students would be less affected and less likely to be provoked by the conflict.

Love for Papua

Risna fell in love with Papua ever since her college days in Ambon, a city in a neighboring island, starting in 2006. Papua had piqued her interest and she did her mandatory learning practice in Papua. Exposed to the complex issues in the island, Risna felt motivated to help.

Risna’s work started as soon as she had graduated. During her first two years in Papua, she lived in Kobrey Village with a local host. The challenges were not easy to endure; she wasn’t immediately accepted by the local community and was considered as an embarrassment.

Risna also felt the lack of support from the local government. Education was not a priority in Papua and there was a general lack of awareness about the importance of education.

But Risna was not ready to give up. She began educating women and opened a learning center called Rumah Cerdas Perempuan Arfak (A Smart Home for Arfak Women). She also helped the women to market their handcrafted product noken, a traditional handwoven bag of Papua made of wood fiber.

This year marked Risna’s sixth year of dedication in Papua. Besides working with Arfak women and teaching them reading and writing skills, she has also been successful in getting the local government’s support to provide learning facilities for several early childhood education centers in Manokwari where volunteers work. Moreover, Risna has opened a school library and even a mobile library free-of-charge to promote reading among children.

“I’m thankful that the local government is giving full coverage of our operational costs, including for volunteers,” she said. The government’s support is surely one of the things that has been keeping Risna and her program going. Not only that, from living in other people’s home, Risna now receives a residential facility.

Aside from education, Risna has other programs focusing on child nutrition – a serious issue affecting infants and young children in Papua. She has initiated the establishment of a community clinic Posyandu and distributes supplementary feeding through the clinic, such as milk and mung beans porridge.

Today, Risna has started to see the fruits of her hard work. However small, the education sector in Papua has been improving. One indicator is the increased level of education participation in Kobrey. “We now have more children attending schools in Kobrey in 2018. In the past, maybe just one or two kids would continue their schooling, but in 2018 there were 15 junior high students, 17 senior high students, and even 5 in college. I thank God that we are now seeing incredible excitement towards education,” Risna explained.

For her hard work and tireless dedication, Risna was honored by SATU Indonesia Awards 2015 as an awardee in the education category and was entitled to Rp60 million cash prize. Her hope is humble, yet powerful: to bring more change to Papua.

Risna’s dedication for the people of Papua is aligned with Astra’s mission of prosper with the nation.

For further information, please contact:

Boy Kelana Soebroto

Head of Corporate Communications

PT Astra International Tbk

Ph. 021-508-43-888

About Astra:

PT Astra International Tbk was established in 1957 in Jakarta as a general trading company under the name Astra International Inc. In 1990, for the purpose of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), the name of the company changed to PT Astra International Tbk, followed by listing its shares on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the ticker code ASII.

Astra has developed its business by implementing a business model based on synergies and diversification within seven business segments, consisting of: 1) Automotive, 2) Financial Services, 3) Heavy Equipment, Mining, Construction & Energy, 4) Agribusiness, 5) Infrastructure and Logistics, 6) Information Technology and 7) Property.

Astra conducts business operations in all parts of Indonesia under the management of more than 235 subsidiaries, joint ventures and associates companies, and was supported by more than 216,000 employees, as of March 2020.

As one of the largest national business groups today, Astra has built a strong reputation through offering a range of quality products and services, taking into account the implementation of good corporate governance and environmental governance. Astra always aspires to be the pride of the nation that participates in efforts to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people.

Therefore, Astra's business activities strive to apply a balanced mix in the commercial aspects of business and non-business contributions through 9 foundations and a variety of sustainable social responsibility programmes Astra Untuk Indonesia Sehat, Astra Untuk Indonesia Cerdas, Astra Untuk Indonesia Hijau and Astra Untuk Indonesia Kreatif.

Astra initiated the Semangat Astra Terpadu Untuk (SATU) Indonesia Awards programme, which has entered a decade this year, and has given recognition awards to 305 young Indonesians, consisting of 59 national level recipients and 246 provincial level recipients in the fields of Health, Education, the Environment, Entrepreneurship and Technology, which are integrated with Astra’s wide range of community activities through 87 Kampung Berseri Astra and 645 Desa Sejahtera Astra initiated in 34 provinces throughout Indonesia.

For further information, please visit www.astra.co.id & www.satu-indonesia.com, and follow Astra through Instagram (@SATU_Indonesia), Youtube (SATU Indonesia), Facebook (Semangat Astra Terpadu) and Twitter (@SATU_Indonesia).