Paras reaches out to change fate of poor

Paras reaches out to change fate of poor

Kurniawan Hari
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Once home to an abundant water source, several villages on the
slopes of Mt. Merbabu and Mt. Merapi in Central Java are now
suffering a water shortage that gets worse during the dry season.

The drought has affected the annual harvest of the local
community, and the local people say it was caused by the
government's policy to grow pine trees on the mountains.

A conservation area ranging from 1,100 square meters to 1,650
sqm was changed into a pine forest in 1971, and state forest
company PT Perhutani was behind the controversial policy.

Under the plan, pine trees were planted to replace a variety
of trees indigenous to the montane region, including the banyan,
sapodilla, acacia and quinine trees, along with coffee plants,
cocoa trees and others that formed the forest reserve and secured
the farmers' water source.

The pine forest has turned the local farmland into barren
soil, as pine trees consume much more water than the native
trees. The local community has voiced their plight to the
government, but to no avail.

Realizing this, the Paras Foundation plans to help the local
villagers by providing advocacy and facilities to fight for their
livelihood and welfare.

Paras project leader and former legislator Mochtar Buchori
said the recently established foundation had been gathering data
and information regarding the problems of poor people around Mt.
Merbabu and other areas.

Apart from the water shortage faced by the people of Mt.
Merbabu, the foundation has also become aware of the straits
faced by fishermen along the northern coast of Java in Batang,
the people of Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta, and street
children in Semarang, Central Java.

While the water shortage faced by farmers of Mt. Merbabu is
manmade, the people of Gunung Kidul have been facing a year-long
drought due to the natural geographic conditions of the area.

Paras has compiled these various issues of the poor into a
103-page book titled Those who are neglected: Reflections and
portraits of poverty in Indonesia.

The book details the problems, their causes and the activities
undertaken by the affected people in deal with them.

"We plan to help the poor and to provide other institutions
with valid reference information," said Laksamana Sukardi, co-
founder of the foundation, in a recent interview.

The Paras foundation was established on Jan. 26; its research
on the communities of Mt. Merbabu, Batang, Gunung Kidul and
Semarang were undertaken and completed before its official
launch.

Paras means "face", and the foundation envisions bringing
smiles back onto the faces of the Indonesian people, particularly
those who have been marginalized by the mainstream. The
foundation was established to serve as partner, facilitator and
mediator to empower the neglected poor.

Laksamana said the foundation's activities would include
providing advocacy, technical assistance and education to the
poor, as well as providing an accurate database for other
institutions.

Both Mochtar and Laksamana are aware of their limited
resources to accomplish their ideals, and are thus open to the
possibilities of cooperating with other social welfare
organizations.

Paras field coordinator Bambang Iswantoro said that in the
long run, the foundation would teach volunteers to accompany the
poor in rural areas.

He added that the foundation would start recruiting volunteers
this year, with the possibility of new recruits coming from
university -- the students or lecturers.

In addition, the foundation has a more ambitious vision of
promoting the transformation of the Indonesian people into a
"new" society with political freedom, economic prosperity,
transparency and security.

With its three focus activities, including the empowerment of
society through training volunteers, assessing and publishing
information and cooperating with other organizations to encourage
policies that help the marginalized poor.

The Paras foundation
Jl. Cikatomas II No.4, Kebayoran Baru,
Jakarta, 12180
Phone: (62-21) 7244077 Facsimile: (62-21) 7233961
email: parasindonesia@indo.net.id