A little help goes a long way in villages

A little help goes a long way in villages

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara (JP): Throughout our trip to six project sites in Jakarta and to villages in West Nusa Tenggara there was not one person unimpressed with the quality and work done by United Nations Volunteers (UNVs).

Everyone uttered words of praise and gratitude.

Hospitable residents at five villages of Akar-akar, Sukadana, Loloan, Teruwai and Mertak in West Lombok idly talked about the benefits to their communities after working with the UN volunteers, who won a special place in the villagers' hearts.

The villagers seem to have only adoration, mingled with sadness which entered our conversations each time they became conscious of the long struggle ahead. A struggle they will have to continue on their own.

"I find it hard to believe that Gemma has left us. It's like a baby being left by its mother just as it has learned to crawl," said Sukur Riyadi, a local assistant to Gemma Relojo at the Mertak preparatory village.

"But we are determined to continue what she started," he said.

By the time we arrived it had been a week since Filipino UNV Gemma Relojo, who oversaw Teruwai and Mertak villages in West Nusa Tenggara, had left.

Four vehicles were packed with people who cried like there was no tomorrow just to see Gemma off at Mataram's Selaparan Airport.

"If I could, I would come up with Rp 5 million (US$2,130) to have her back here with us," Sukur said with tears in his eyes.

At Mertak, Gemma laid out the organizational structure and network for residents to continue to identify their needs and work toward meeting them.

Mertak is now the local youth's pride. Gemma established several social groups such as the Youth Organization (Karang Taruna), the mosque youth assembly and a youth sports organization. All of these came from local initiative.

Gemma also worked with the Center of Developmental Study for land conservation, managed to terrace the slanted and dry landscape for farming purposes.

The UN volunteers help local communities identify their problems and needs and find solutions.

The trip to West Nusa Tenggara took us to the Community Self- Help Program for Development project. Similar projects are being implemented in Irian Jaya, Maluku, Southeast Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara. All are to officially end next January.

Every field-worker expects the projects to sustain the communities after they leave.

Typical schemes are the introduction of Credit Revolving Funds to promote self-employment and small-enterprises through a grassroots participatory development approach.

Local communities, who feel they have benefited greatly from the financial help and volunteer assistance, said they wish to continue practicing what they have learned.

Mi'sah, a woman who chairs two credit revolving funds -- one for a brick-making group and another for a tailoring group -- in Akar-akar, said she hopes the groups continue.

"Their projects have boosted the collective income of our village," Mi'sah said, pointing out that the tailoring group, which has 10 members, earns at least Rp 8,000 per day.

The credit revolving funds start small-scale enterprises and generate employment in the local community through collectives. To obtain the Rp 6 million grant, a group needs to have at least five members.

Trickle Up Projects similarly aim to support individual enterprises' sustainability. Examples of Trickle Up Projects in Lombok include traditional weaving and small shops.

Projects also try to increase community groups' access to government services and funding possibilities from international NGOs, and bilateral and multilateral agencies.

Volunteers generally discuss project plans and ways to implement ideas with the villagers.

"It's no easy task, people would not trust us unless we got down and did the same work, if not more than them," said Samiran Hadi Subroto, a national UNV coordinator.

A volunteer's fieldwork does not end at dusk and there is no holiday with such work unless one leaves their post, Subroto said.

All the groundwork, which may evolve into a rural village's self-sustainability, does not receive all the attention and support it deserves from local governments.

In the case of West Nusa Tenggara, the implementing government agency for the UNDP-supported program seemed indifferent, if not oblivious, to the programs' development.

Volunteers said staff at the Ministry of Manpower's provincial office disappointed both volunteers and villagers who had hoped the project for the betterment of their livelihoods would be supported.

Durga Shrestha, from Nepal, and Ajoy Kumar Singha, from Bangladesh, voiced frustration at perpetually being given empty promises of workshops being held to train villagers.

"Many residents think that we are the lazy ones," Durga said.

"They don't care about us," an exasperated Ajoy said.

Kitanep, a Lombok villager who worked with Durga in Akar-akar said no inspection or on-site visits had ever taken place.

"On the contrary, they often come only to ask the village chief to stamp papers, a record, as if they had come here to monitor the projects," said Kitanep.

"Being a UNV is not easy, the volunteers are not seeking fame or recognition," said Subroto, who is based in Mataram.

He underscored the fact that these volunteers are foreigners dedicating their services to Indonesia.

Subroto said he had encouraged fellow volunteers not to rely only on government support.

Subroto claimed there was so much red tape at the Ministry of Manpower's provincial office that he has given up seeking support and assistance there.

Such is the constraint of working with the bureaucracy.

"It is a learning process for both parties," Dianne D. Arbodela, a Jakarta-based UNV program officer, said of the less- than-ideal situation.

The question of sustainability is at stake when reality shows how crucial support is to those in need of inspiration.

Fieldwork has demonstrated that financial support is just as important as emotional support, and ignoring either is harmful. Community development, after all, requires continuous monitoring.

A former UNV at an urban slum project in Cipinang, East Jakarta, disagreed. She said a project's capability would sustain as long as there is a need for it.

"Of course, we cannot expect sustainability to continue according to our world view, because the local community will do whatever deems fit to meet their own needs," Thelma C. Orbosa of the Philippines said.

When all is said and done, those who witness the process may say the economically and educationally weak villagers need only a little encouragement, that they too can make it and enjoy the fruits of development.