Darwis longs to see a peaceful Poso<\/p>\n
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Poso, Central Sulawesi<\/p>\n
This is a man who knows how to be at peace. He has freed his mind
\nof the monstrous acts that he has witnessed. He wants to share
\nwhat he has learned with others.<\/p>\n
While he works hard for peace, he does not perceive himself as
\na peacemaker.<\/p>\n
He is 32-year-old Darwis Waru and he has put aside all
\npersonal business to mend the severed ties between Christians and
\nMuslims in his hometown of Poso.<\/p>\n
His face shows no sign of weariness, although, when The
\nJakarta Post met him at his office, he had just arrived from
\norganizing a training session on conflict management and
\nresolution in Tentena -- four hours drive from Poso, the capital
\nof Central Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Darwis, sporting a T-shirt and shorts, was verbose when
\ntalking of the peace process in conflict-ridden Poso.<\/p>\n
His intense drive for peace inspires people of all walks of
\nlife. Foreign reporters covering the events in Poso, researchers
\nand embassy officials are among those who frequent his office.<\/p>\n
Darwis was born in Sidrap, South Sulawesi on Dec. 11 to a
\nfarming couple: the late Waru Badja and the late Darisa Mangatta.
\nHe is of Bugis origin and says that he has the blood of an
\nadventurer.<\/p>\n
Darwis attended elementary and secondary school in Sidrap
\nbefore moving to Makassar to study communications at Hasanuddin
\nUniversity's School of Social and Political Sciences. After
\ngraduating in 1998, he moved to Palu, Central Sulawesi. There he
\nwas a lecturer of the communications department of the Panca
\nBhakti College of social and political sciences (STISIPOL).<\/p>\n
While working at the college, he took up a side job as a
\nreporter for a local mass media publication. He became so
\nabsorbed in reporting that finally, he gave up teaching.<\/p>\n
In 2000, when the conflict in Poso erupted, Darwis helped to
\nevacuate the bodies of those drowned in the Poso river and others
\nwhich had been buried en masse.<\/p>\n
It was this experience that prompted him to devote himself to
\nhumanitarian causes. On July 9, 2000, a number of local non-
\ngovernmental organizations and the Alliance of Independent
\nJournalists (AJI) Palu chapter met to set up a working group on
\nconflict resolution in Poso. Darwis was elected chairman of that
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
As the conflict in Poso worsened, more lives were claimed and
\nmore houses set ablaze. Violence, gunfire and the explosion of
\nbombs left many dead, injured or homeless. In such a grim
\nsituation, Darwis and his working group provided emergency
\nassistance and supplied mattresses and sarongs.<\/p>\n
As the situation improved, he began to organize training
\nsessions and workshops to help the community move toward peace
\nand begin to come to terms with what had happened in Poso. With
\nChristian and Muslim youths his number one priority, the initial
\nfigure of 30 participants quickly grew. At present 200 youths are
\nin training.<\/p>\n
Workshop participants later act as agents of peace in all
\ndistricts of Poso. Their work was largely responsible for the
\npeace talk between Muslims of Poso and Christians in Tentena on
\nMarch 8.<\/p>\n
Darwis, the fourth of five siblings, said his family generally
\nsupported his activities in Poso. His elder sister, he explained,
\nwished that he wasn't involved in the conflict, but he remains
\nfirm in his decision.<\/p>\n
\"I have vowed to work for humanity. I will give all my
\nattention to people whom I can assist. I realize I come from a
\npoor family,\" he said modestly.<\/p>\n
Darwis is indeed so busy with humanitarian activities that he
\nrefused an invitation to attend a meeting on conflict resolution
\nin the United States on April 7. \"I've refused the invitation not
\nbecause I'm against the U.S., but because on that very date there
\nis a similar activity in Poso,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When asked about marriage, Darwis, who is a heavy smoker, said
\nthat the time wasn't right. Not because he doesn't have a
\ngirlfriend, but because his work in Poso is not yet over.<\/p>\n
\"I will get married when Poso is really peaceful, as it was
\nbefore. I will get married when there is no more enmity between
\nMuslims and Christians in Poso,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Darwis commutes daily between Poso and Tentena and regularly
\nvisits 17 districts of Poso, not just to help the people overcome
\ntheir fear, but also to build trust among the community.<\/p>",
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