Migrants set positive example of solidarity<\/p>\n
By Heru Sigit Cahyanto<\/p>\n
WONOSARI, Yogyakarta (Antara): This year's Lebaran festivities
\nhave past. Thousands of travelers have returned to their adopted
\ncities, leaving their loved ones behind and in their search for a
\nbetter future.<\/p>\n
They all hope they will have a better time next Lebaran when
\nthey get together and exchange stories of the past year.<\/p>\n
Lebaran is not the only time for reunions, but is a special
\noccasion as its enables relatives to see each other in their own
\nancestral lands.<\/p>\n
The government of Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta province's eastern
\nregency, is well aware that the homecoming tradition is special.
\nEach year, migrants from Gunungkidul send home several billion
\nrupiah. The money, no doubt, significantly helps lift the
\nregency's economy.<\/p>\n
The regency government has always treated the homecoming
\nmigrants from across Indonesia like long lost friends. Every
\nLebaran, it puts up posters in the main streets to welcome home
\nthe local economy's heroes.<\/p>\n
\"Welcome home my brothers and sisters,\" read posters put up in
\nstrategic places from the western gateway on Patuk plateau down
\nto Wonosari, the main town. The government even calls the
\ntravelers wisatawan lebaran, that is, Lebaran tourists who will
\nspend money in their native land.<\/p>\n
The Gunungkidul regent annually holds a silaturahmi, or
\ninformal get together, with representatives of the Jakarta-based
\nAssociation of Gunungkidul Families (IKG).<\/p>\n
Moral obligation<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the Gunungkidul regency government, Sudjatmo,
\nsaid in last week's silaturahmi with association representatives
\nthat many of local migrants were successful and affluent.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he said, they have a moral obligation to help
\ndevelop their homeland and to improve the living standards of
\ntheir relatives at home in Gunungkidul.<\/p>\n
This year an estimated 50,000 Gunungkidul migrants returned
\nhome for Lebaran. If each of them spent Rp 500,000, then they
\nbrought home some Rp 25 billion. Additionally, those who were
\nunable to travel home sent their relatives some Rp 1 billion
\nthrough the post office and another Rp 5 billion through bank
\ntransfers.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that the relatives will not spend the money on
\nconsumptive goods but use it to start businesses,\" Sudjatmo said.<\/p>\n
Sudjatmo proposed that IKG and the Yayasan Bhakti Gunungkidul
\nFoundation in cooperation with the regency government collect and
\nmanage funds in order to lift Gunungkidul residents' living
\nstandards.<\/p>\n
IKG chief Benyamin Sudarmadi said Sudjatmo's idea was a
\npositive one, but he had yet to see how serious the regency
\ngovernment was about setting up such a project.<\/p>\n
He said it was his long-held wish to get the Gunungkidul
\ngovernment to support the Bhakti Gunungkidul Foundation, but the
\ngovernment has shown little concrete commitment.<\/p>\n
According to Benyamin, his foundation has done a lot to help
\nGunungkidul migrants across the country. Major projects have
\nincluded an entrepreneurship training program for 400 people, a
\ntraining program on how to make \"Gunungkidul Javanese noodles\"
\nand sending Gunungkidul businesspeople to study business
\nmanagement courses in Japan.<\/p>\n
The foundation has also sponsored the development of ginger
\nand high-grade melon plantations in Gunungkidul and the export of
\nthese products to Japan. It has also established \"Bakmi Jawa
\nGunungkidul\" outlets in major markets in Java and Sumatra,
\nprovided credits for farmers in Tepus subdistrict and run a
\nrecording venture for child singers from Gunungkidul.<\/p>\n
\"We have also held traditional food exhibits in Bahrain,
\nJordan, Australia and Singapore with the aim of promoting
\nGunungkidul and Indonesian cuisines to the international
\ncommunity,\" Benyamin said.<\/p>\n
The government, according to Benyamin, should also take
\nconcrete actions to help the migrants achieve a brighter future.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/migrants-set-positive-example-of-solidarity-1447893297",
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