Photos by West Kalimantan children bring reconciliation

Photos by West Kalimantan children bring reconciliation

By Erma S. Ranik

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): Sixteen-year-old Agus' eyes
gleamed when he saw the photograph before him. "That is the rice
field near my house," he said. His eyes were glued to the
photographs taken by Desy Anggraini, 16, who hails from Sinam
village in Pemangkat subdistrict, Sambas regency.

Agus is one of thousands of children who fled their homes with
their parents following the riot that rocked Sambas in March
1999. He has lived in a haj dormitory in Pontianak for over a
year now. It is not possible for him to return to Sinam because
the residents of the Malay ethnic group, who occupy most of
Sambas, still object to the return of the Madurese residents.

Agus was able to gratify his longing for his home village when
he saw the photographs on display at an exhibition of children
photography at the State Museum in Pontianak from Nov. 20 to
Nov. 22. Agus was able to name the spots and places captured in
the photographs on display.

Agus' comment was just one of many reactions to the
photographs during a workshop on photography held for the
children of West Kalimantan. This exhibition was the fruit of a
collaboration between Child's Eye, a network of non-governmental
organizations in West Kalimantan and the Forum of Volunteers from
West Kalimantan, with support from the British Council.

Sixty children of Malay, Dayak, Madurese and Chinese
ethnic/racial backgrounds took part in the exhibition. Most of
them were from socially marginalized classes in Pontianak,
Nyarumkop and Pemangkat: the children of bus conductor
assistants, fishermen and basketmakers, school dropouts and
children from refugee camps.

Jonathan Perugia of Child's Eye said the most important part
of the program was helping the children of West Kalimantan
explain what took place in their daily lives through photography.

"Many people may know nothing about what the daily life of a
child is like," he said.

And sadly, many children lead desperate lives. They receive no
education, are subject and witness to horrible violence or are
compelled to work to survive.

With just a pocket camera the children were given ample
opportunity to make use of photography as an instrument with
which they could talk about their daily lives.

"You feel something different when you look at photographs
taken by children and those taken by professional photographers,"
said Perugia, an Associated Press free-lance photographer.

Professional photographers may come up with artistically fine
photographs, but they may not have a strong feeling for what they
capture with their cameras. "They are obviously different from
the children in their own environment."

This explains why the children taking part in the program were
able to capture their daily activities in their entirety.

Jemi, 15, a Malay, fishes for a living. So he has chosen as
his subject the lives of fishermen's children in Pemangkat,
capturing their activities from collecting fish to bathing in the
river.

In this exhibition, the children were allowed complete freedom
to select which of their photos they thought were worth
displaying.

The children of Nyarumkop have also captured the activities
they know best. They photographed life in a Dayak village. And
Wijayanto, 15, captured with her photos the pulse of life among
the ethnic Chinese in Singkawang.

Meanwhile, children from a refugee camp tell in their photos
what their lives in the camp are like: a limited supply of clean
water, small huts and scabies, which many children in the camp
suffer from.

With the special spirit of children, they also recorded in
their photos the riot that broke out in Pontianak between Oct. 25
and Oct. 27, 2000. Bekri, 14, for example, came up with a
photograph showing the desire for a peaceful Pontianak that
children have.

A child is squatting, holding a small banner that reads: "We
love peace/ethnic groups/racial groups/religion." The caption
below the photograph reads as follows: "This banner is held by a
child refugee who loves peace. His name is Adam, aged 10, and he
earns a living as a scavenger."

Look at the photographs by Anissa, 15, a Malay girl from
Pontianak. She took a picture of a Madurese and a Malay joining
hands under a banner about the love for peace. The photo was
taken in Kampung Dalam, where the riot in Pontianak began.

Anissa said the photo was very important because it depicted
the unity between the Madurese and the Malay. Her caption for
this photo is: "Happy and Peaceful."

"I took this picture in the middle of a riot. The leaders of
the Madurese and the Malay suggested that everybody make a banner
with the inscription "Love peace" to ensure the riot would not
spread," she said.

Meanwhile, Raidatul Ulum, a coordinator of the event, said the
exhibition also was held in observance of International Child's
Rights Convention Day, which is observed every Nov. 20.

It also is aimed at making more people aware of the plight of
children in West Kalimantan. "Children are always the victims in
the conflicts that break out in West Kalimantan."

Therefore, this exhibition was held not only in Pontianak, but
also in Singkawang from Nov. 24 to Nov. 26. "The aim is to make
more people in West Kalimantan aware of the plight of the
children of West Kalimantan," he stressed.

To Muhamad, 25, a visitor to the exhibition, this event could
be construed as a reconciliation of sorts in West Kalimantan.
"The photographs put on display are those taken by children of
different ethnic groups in West Kalimantan."

He said that this was a good step forward given that conflicts
often occur in the province. "Hopefully through this exhibition
the children will be able to remind adults of the significance of
being different," he stressed.

Differences, Muhamad said, are no reason for clashes and
conflict.

The writer is a journalist for KALIMANTAN Review and a member
of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, West Kalimantan
bureau