By : Petrus
Refreshing sharing experiences the frienship, Gua Pancur April 8, 2021, Yosi Photos
On April 8, 2021, a group of village activists in the Kendeng Mountains met to refresh the tools to strengthen friendship; stopping, gathering, cooperative agreement, affirming words, affirmation in pairs, core self, and good Companions.
“Caring for each person, the group, the community and the natural world” is one of the points in the workshop. The activists are familiar with AVP and use it to create a culture of peace in a community that is divided over supporting or rejecting limestone mining. This retraining activity is to strengthen them to open up in building friendships.This meeting was held at the Pancur Cave tourist attraction, Jimbaran village, Kayen sub-district, in Indonesia (about 30 km from Peace Place) and lasted for 5.5 hours. The meeting was attended by 14 people from these 6 villages in the Kendeng mountain area; Sukolilo, Kedung Winong, Gadudero, Porang Paring, Karangawen-Tambakromo, Jimbaran-Kayen along with YAPHI Solo staff, an NGO working in advocacy.
This meeting was used as an opportunity to strengthen the friendship between them even though there were difficulties due to Covid. All participants were happy because they could meet face-to-face, but they also felt sad because some friends lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. When the coronavirus spread in Pati in early April, 2021, the government closed all tourism including the Pancur Cave. Soleh and Abdul Salam, alumni of the 2018 international training at Peace Place, are environmental activists in the Kendeng mountains. They are in charge of managing the Pancur Cave along with 30 young friends lost their jobs when tourism in Pancur Cave was closed.
According to Soleh Santai (relaxed), Pancur Cave Management was originally a strategy to reject the plan to build a cement factory. The government at that time always said that the Kendeng Mountains were a barren area. The community put up a fight by showing that water from the Kendeng Mountains supplies many springs, one of which is in Pancur Cave in Jimbaran village, Kayen District. From this cave, the water never stops flowing. Even now hundreds of hectares of rice fields are irrigated with this water. Soleh Santai and 30 village youths take care of the springs because for them water is very important for the life of all creatures, and caring for water is part of maintaining life itself.
Musri Mantab (Nice) said in the workshop, “I felt really myself, there was respect for each other, there was an appreciation for my existence as a human being and this gave a change to my way of thinking, starting to remove the stigmatization of myself and others. I am increasingly aware of what is good in me and what is not good that I must let go of.”
Sriwati Santun (Polite) said that she was currently just looking for a way to rebuild friendships that were severed with fellow community members due to mutual suspicion in the movement against mining in the Kendeng mountains. Sriwati Santun had had a traumatic experience with the breakdown of friendship among residents who rejected the establishment of a cement factory. Practicing friendship-building skills made Sriwati Santun more aware of her ability to build friendships. Caring for each person, group, community and nature becomes a deep reflection for her to be able to take care of herself and also care for our friendship with one another.
Nur Nrimo (Flexible) in his daily life practices friendship with everyone by mentioning the person’s name and asking, “How are you?” It turned out that his influence was very big; everyone he met always greeted him. One day at work, Nur’s friend asked, “Why does everyone you meet always greet you?” Nur said, “Because I always greet everyone by name and ask how they are doing.” Nur realized that greeting would build friendship and that friendship was the first step in creating a nonviolent life. In fact, several times Nur Nrimo became a mediator between residents who had disagreements by inviting them to see each other’s goodness. Nur Nrimo longs for a peaceful and just society.
Meanwhile, Slamet Seger Waras (healthy), who lives in the village of Sukolilo, plays an active role in the gotong royong movement to clean and regulate the flow of water from 4 springs that never dry up, even in the dry season. They take care of the trees around the springs. For Slamet and the villagers, the springs are the source of their livelihood in farming. Maintenance of springs is one way to show that the Kendeng mountains are not an arid area and that Kendeng is a Karst landscape that stores a lot of water and has many springs. Slamet told how he tried to counter the stereotype that peasants are stupid people. He said that everyone is good and capable, everyone has a conscience and asked how we can hear the voice of our conscience. Caring for nature is part of caring for everyone’s life, the life of society and the life of all creatures, and if it is done, peace is possible and peace will remain.
Gua Pancur, Refreshing for activist Kendeng Mountain 2021, Soleh Photo