Travel Stories from Remote Areas of My Country
I was born, raised and grew up in the main island Java and in several of the biggest cities in this country such as Jogja and Jakarta. In a country with so many islands and also extreme economic and development inequality, I was lucky to have a privilege to experience a higher quality of life and education here. It was the education that have allowed me to find such a decent work and salary which further, made me possible to afford traveling to few remote parts of this country.
There were a few stories during my travel which had opened my eyes about the other side of the reality there. Things that I’ve never heard on the news. I was one of those who had always assumed that going to remote areas in a developing country as someone from the big city would be dangerous (let alone going solo). But no, that was not what I had experienced. On the contrary, I once heard the opposite story when I visited East Lombok. There were people there who were discouraged to come or try to find work in the capital city or other major cities in the main island because of what they saw on TV — which were mostly bad news like crime, protests, slum areas and poverty, etc. They thought it is not safe there. Hmm, statistically, that is probably actually true, but I’ve never thought about it that way. In the end, I realised that I was probably one of those people who think that as urban people, we are better than them. We look down on them. That’s something I need to do better about.
On another travel, I visited West Papua — one of the most eastern regions of the country. The electricity is not 24 hour available. There’s no internet in most of the areas. Not many residents have smartphones. Some of the schools are in bad condition and there was a lack of teachers. Once I heard a story about a kid who was absent from school for several days without any notice. When the kid came back to school, the teacher was ready to give him detention. But then he told him that the reason he was absent was that he had to help his parents searching for food source in the forest. If he hadn’t helped them, they probably would have had nothing to eat.
What would you do if you were the teacher?
Still in the same area, I met small kids who were amazed only by looking at my old iPhone. Very cute kids, standing behind me while I was sitting, they were trying to look into my screen. When I turned back, they moved back while laughing and smiling. They wanted to move closer but just too shy. I was a stranger they had just met. I decided to take some selfies with them. I rarely take selfies and I’m not really good with kids, but it was one of the best selfies I’ve ever taken.
That’s my privilege. I could come and visit those people’s home as a stranger and experience a glimpse of their daily lives, receive their hospitality and call it a fun holiday or interesting travel experience, and then leave. I wish I could say I wish I could do more. Somehow, saying that I wish I could do more for them feels fake. But no, I don’t mean to be pity, and I don’t want to pity them. Again, that is the mindset of people who think they’re better than them. They work hard for their life and family — maybe harder than people like me, and that’s something to respect and appreciate for. Something that I should aspire to.
