goodmorningpapua.com – Most people outside Papua are very afraid of being assigned to work in Papua, especially as a member of the TNI/Polri, Nurse, or Teacher. It is because the risk is very high.
In contrast to one of the teachers from East Nusa Tenggara, Afret Lensini or often called Pak Guru Afret. While chatting this afternoon (01/04/2022) at his school, SD Yuliana Sinar Mas, he shared a few stories related to his service in Papua which has taken a very long time.
The teacher Afret said the reason for going to Papua, when he was still in his hometown, he watched several films from Papua, one of which was the film “Di Timur Matahari” inspiring him and being challenged by his curious whe hearing stories about cannibals in Papua.
“I am very happy to go to Papua because I was inspired when I watched films from Papua, such as “Di Timur Matahari”, and also hearing stories about cannibals in Papua. This became my curiosity and challenged me to go to Papua to see firsthand,” said the teacher. Afret Lensini.
This teacher, whose hobby is reading book, recalls when he first arrived in Papua via the Jayapura port and attended training until he got a teaching assignment in the Kaureh district, precisely at SD Yuliana Sinar Mas.
“At that time, I stepped on Papuan land for the first time at the Jayapura port with my friends on February 23, 2016, then attended the training at SKB Sentani for more than a month. When I was assigned to work, I got to SD Yuliana Sinar Mas and I started doing my duties on April 1, 2016,” added Afret’s teacher.
This teacher who really idolizes President Jokowi sees many differences between schools in his place of origin (Kupang, NTT) and in Papua. Discipline of teachers and students in the teaching place is not good too; if there are problems at school, parents do not interfere, while here parents are always involved in internal school problems.
“There are many things that are very different in education in my village and here, such as the discipline of teachers and students here and the place of origin is different, in the place of origin it is more disciplined. Moreover, where I come from, the affairs of the school, parents do not interfere, it is different from here,” added the teacher, Afret.
Even according to teacher Afret, there are some funny things that he often encounters in the field, especially according to him strange answers from students such as not going to school when asked the reason for not going to school because helping their parents to the garden or taking care of the children, this means education is not a top priority.
“My hope is that in the future education in Papua can be more advanced and education in Papua is a top priority so that children in Papua can compete with children outside Papua, be more disciplined, diligent, work hard and not be lazy. Don’t look at the results but we have to see how the process is to produce quality human resources, because with the quality what we do will not betray the results, with quality we cannot be underestimated by others,” concluded Afret Lensini.
Author: Erenzh Pulalo (Musician)