2006 WOMEN WORKSHOP - WOMEN AND PEACE-BUILDING: INDONESIAN EXPERIENCE

Introduction

It is a great honor as well as challenging assignment to present paper and experience before participants who all remarkable leaders, experiential and knowledgeable teachers. It is my hope that we can share and learn together from this section.

Our material is about women and peace-building: Indonesian Experience. The first time when I saw this theme, it is very actual, related to something did by women in current day, something we need for our present situation and future. Like we need for "a life" itself.

To present experience of Indonesian women, I interview some local and national women leader and I hope their voice can be hear in this workshop. My position: Represent and then re-present

Stories from Indonesian

There are many stories to describe both the treat to peace and justice in our present day realities and seeds of peace-building seedling by communities where women being integral part even become inspiring people, be in solidarity with them when no justice and no peace.

I select 5 (five) short stories prior this paper, based on community that I lived as follows:

1. Story about a chaos situation in Maluku (a province in eastern of Indonesia). It was not religion conflict. It was a political that spread and social conflict. When it became social conflict, suddenly people segregated based on their religion; it because of used religion symbol. From 1999 until 2003 thousand people died, thousand houses, churches, mosques, and other building burned down. It was a women group who lived in segregation process in society in Maluku(especially based on their religion). They precisely commit to build friendship across their religion and voice out together for peace and to break violence. They used paradox strategy as follows:

a. Choose to life together and not segregate.

b. They to find solution for manage conflict and push away segregation.

c. Raise new symbols to making balance with symbols that already interpreted as violence symbols dominantly, for example: "mothers milk" promoted to make balanced and compiled for interpreted for "blood" that strong to indicate for violence and victim. Or slogan "Peace Land" when that region be violence, military operation, exploited land.

2. A story from women pastor about how to survive and trying hard to uninvolved continuing violence. Implicitly, they hope to life in peace even they are trying hard to get justice for themselves. While conflict happen, some women in her congregation frequently to mountain (their garden there) for keep some basic needs anticipating unpredictable situation. They make basic commodity like coconut oil, dried fish, etc. When they must stay in the mountain, for some days they have food. They cooked when the mist around their place so that other groups who want to kill them couldn't find their place. This is story according to life and death. They try to survive while stand in the principle on peace. On the other side law officer, military or government did not yet to protect people.

3. Story from women in grass roots economic field. They who still commit to support people needs although in chaos situation (for example: papalele in Ambon, parengge-rengge in North Sumatera, ibu bakulan in Java,). In spite of uncertain guarantee according to its continuity but they still do it consistently. Different from we always hear from mass media that government try to prepare conducive situation as condition for our savior "investors". People economic built to help people to survive and continue their life while fluctuation happened. Some special sign from these groups as follows:

a. Education Orientation, especially for children

b. Simple life style.

c. Small is beautiful, their principle to manage enterpreunership and economic in grass-roots level.

4. Many families break in violence situation. Many men, women, children died, refugees. Many women trying to built new life with all the rest that they have creatively. It shows their attitude to say "no" to violence and marginalized. Some special/unique from them as follows:

a. Trying to placed family as one of base for transform life. They interpreted culture in new ways according to current situation, like: philosophy of "Big House", "we are sister and brother", "pela".

b. Their activities used natural resources with balanced attitude and protect sustainability.

5. From the base of service of the association of theological schools in and member schools (according to our situation), we want to said "no" to continue violence that make human suffer. We built concrete networking and solidarity, where some students (last year) have send to other "save" member school to finished their study. More than 50 students graduate during in conflict situation (example: STT GMIH Tobelo, Faculty of Theology UKIM Ambon, STT GKST Tentena) when some of their parents less job, separate from them, become internal displaced people or died.

That stories happened in the complexity situation of Indonesia both as victims and agent of transformation. That complexities as in my experiences as for peace-building as follows:

1. Big task is to manage our plural situation. Is it true that violence can be tools for that task. Violence is way for denied that plurality.

a. Friendship education across identity must be promote seriously as model to response orientation dominant with competition and business.

b. Equality must be promoted continually to make better horizon in plural society.

2. Language of "Culture" that relevant to make common symbols in every community.

3. Culture of violence spread without shamed.

4. System of state can not denied as source of complex problems, so that we must consider some task to peace-building as:

a. Involved in the process to make sure ideology of Indonesia that placed every citizen equally. Such long time, we think Pancasila and UUD 1945 as best foundation that give guarantee for that purpose.

b. If it fail so that our independent only "not real" post-colonial. While we are in that situation, globalization in twenty-first century show tend to arise new imperialism.

c. According to that, we must pay attention for all regulation product that stimulating break integrity, segregating people, make people poor. For example: Regulation about anti-porn (graph and action) make women as persecuted, make women can not work afternoon and night, after from almost 40 year development period result millions factory worker.

d. Struggling to make transformation in development in Indonesia. Until now that is central mission in Indonesia. If not, the development only a myth and become a legitimate "weapon" for doing unjust in society. For example: relevant traditional/ethnic laws marginalized by national laws. Truly there are many local wisdom, wide gap among rich and poor people, unequal level of prosperity in Indonesia (those who in village, Eastern of Indonesia, etc.)

e. Doing continually justice problem as mainstream. No peace with justice.

f. From kind research, found that many democratic and human right activist did not involved in practical politics, there are small channel for control by people for democratic process in Indonesia (for example: advocating people faced capitalist).