Will You Share Tria's Dream?
"My dream is that Papuan children can "stand" on their own land. Not sleeping, not watching. We stand up, we lead. We stand up, do something. Don't let the Papuan children do nothing in the future. We must be able to make something in the future," said Tria, a young woman who is actively making an impact for children around her.
This Malang-born young woman now actively participates as a tutor for Rumah Baca, Chairperson of the Youth Group at Church, and facilitator of the NOKEN program that promotes harmony in Papua. Growing up in a family that has a big heart for children is Tria's first and foremost motivation. She emulates her parents who always work and serve children and youth.
"I decided to get involved with these various activities because I am Papuan anyway. If it's not me who moves first, then ... I can't rely on people from outside. We have to start from ourselves first, then others can help," said the student majoring in Christian Religious Education at one of the campuses in Jayapura.
Tria's passion and dreams for children and youth in Papua go hand in hand with the capacity building she receives through WVI's support. For example, as a young person with an introverted personality, Tria actually tends to avoid conflict. "So if there's a problem, I'll leave first. I let it subsides on its own and when things looks calmer then I come back again. But after attending the NOKEN program trainings, knowing about conflict management, I know, oh I have to do something. I and other people must resolve the conflict together," she said.
In addition to capacity building from the NOKEN program, Tria also attended training to become a tutor for Rumah Baca and other training initiated by the Church. In fact, at the beginning of 2023, Tria was also able to represent Indonesia in the PEACE Talk conference held in Singapore. After attending the conference, Tria revealed, "I know that creating peace is not easy, even trying to do it. But, even at this conference I saw that there were people who tried to encourage the survivors of war, riots, violence, especially the youth. So that they are able to make peace with themselves, so that they feel guilt, resentment, become passive but instead try to do something. Dong becomes the driving force in their group,".
Tria also dreams that the younger generation in Papua will become purer, more advanced, more understanding, broad-minded, and fill their hearts with good things. To realize this dream, Tria concluded that there are three things that must receive more attention, namely:
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Parenting, as in meeting the needs of children, both physically and spiritually
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Wider access to information for children in Papua
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Cooperation between various stakeholders such as the government, the Church, and the community to fulfill what should be fulfilled
"So that Papuan children can have unlimited dreams," she said, "Usually now Papuan children have limited dreams of nurses, police, soldiers. I think it's time for Papuan children to be introduced to more advanced professions. They must be given the opportunity to see the development of the world today, so they can have bigger dreams,".
Tria has extraordinary dreams, not only for herself, but also for the children around her and even the children in Papua. Will we help Tria realize these dreams? Will we be the loyal supporters so that Tria's spirit and work can continue to shine and declare change? Because realizing this big dream is not only the task of a Tria, but requires the participation of all of us.
Penulis: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)
