Help the Yali
Thank you for including the little article Tribal People Misunderstood (Across the Archipelago section of The Jakarta Post Oct. 3). An official from Maluku is quoted as saying: "Most government officials and the public have little knowledge about isolated tribes in Indonesia".
Aside from occasional glimpses on TV, of the Irian Jayan Dani tribe from near Wamena, or the Asmat, we are kept pretty much in the dark about the condition of the hundreds of different tribal peoples scattered throughout Indonesia. This has also been true for me until last year, when I was able to make a trek from Wamena, Irian Jaya, into the Jaya Wijaya district in the direction of Angguruk and Wali. I was surprised to find the people there still living in Stone-Age conditions. One does not recognize the 20th Century in the land of the Yali.
The Yali people of Irian Yaya live high up in the mountains and valleys of the Yaya Wijaya district. It is beautiful there, but very cold, especially at night. They are suffering because they have no clothing. They wear only grass skirts or small gourds called koteka.
They need and want clothing very badly, but they have little money to buy clothes. They try to stay warm at night by huddling together -- all the men and boys in one honi (a small round hut), and all the women and children in another honi. They build a small fire which may last halfway through the night, but they dare not open a window to let the smoke out because then the cold night wind would enter and they would suffer even more. Because of the smoke, many have bad coughs and respiratory illnesses.
Because of this lack of clothing they become easy prey for disease like tropical malaria, for they don't possess the inherited resistance of those living in the lowlands or along the coast. Neither do the Yali have any fish or seafood to supplement their meager diets, which consist mainly of ubi (sweet potatoes). Nor do they have any doctor to help them when they become sick. Many die young.
The government is already doing all it can to help, but has only limited funds, and has many other priorities and responsibilities. The overall progress of the past 50 years in Indonesia is quite laudable. However, it will be several more years before the fruits of progress trickle back into the sweet potato gardens of Jaya Wijaya. They need help now.
The only way they will experience the warmth of clothing or blankets is if we share and send some of ours. Two kilos of new, or good used clothing can be sent by registered mail from Jakarta for less than Rp 20,000.
If anyone would like to help the Yali, please send your parcels for distribution to either:
* Majelis Bp. Ismael, Angguruk, Wali, Irian Jaya, or
* Kepala Suku (Village Chief), Bp. Sulaeman Angguruk, Wali, Irian Jaya.
They have little or no milk, or soap. Maybe you would also like to include a box of each.
F. DANIEL ADAMS
Jakarta