Head of Kopkedat, Yulianus Akobiarek handover books to Korowai peoples – Jubi/Roy Ratumakin
Jayapura, Jubi – Residents of Korowai Brukmakot, a remote area located in Yahukimo Regency, still have no access to schooling and health services.
The local people, who live on forest products, cannot have access to the government’s facilities, including from the regional government.
Referring to this situation, the Humanitarian Community Care for Remote Area (Kopkedat) Papua built a school to teach the Korowai children within this area. The Chairman of Kopkedat Papua, Yulianus Akobiarek said earlier the community came into this area to distribute some clothes, and then find the access of education and health should be a concern.
“We are moved to help, but has a language problem, at the end the only way to build a bridge between us and the community is to bring the education,” he said to Jubi in Jayapura on Monday (8/8/2016).
Yulianus further said to build the building of 6 x 8 meters needs a lot of cost. He and his friends finally agreed to open an account for fundraising and collected Rp 15 million, which they used to build the school. They started by buying 80 zinc roofs in the capital of Yahukimo Regency that could be reached in a month by walk.
Then his team and the local people worked together to cut the trees with stone axes and turned it into lumbers for the wall.
“We did it by heart, because we care about them, who would help them if not us as Papuans,” he said.
He said the school was running for five months and until now still not getting any funds from regional or provincial government.
Yosep Jikwa, paramedic who joined Kopkedat Papua said despites of education; it also has no health services as well.
“The health condition of local people is very worrying, they don’t know how to handle the disease, so if they were very sick, they could only resigned waiting for the death,” he said. (*/rom)
