Perempuan biasanya menjadi korban dalam konflik horizontal, baik menjadi korban langsung maupun kehilangan suami, anak, atau terusir dari rumah. Namun, di Poso, Sulawesi Tengah, para perempuan justru menjadi penyemai perdamaian dua kelompok yang berseberangan.
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Tiga perempuan terlibat pembicaraan gayeng di pelataran toko kelontong di Desa Sayo, Kecamatan Poso Kota. Siang itu (Jumat, 11/4), Martince Baleona tengah bertamu ke rumah milik sahabatnya, seorang muslim, Yanti Udin. Di rumah Yanti hadir juga Mariani Lena.
Pembicaraan antarperempuan berbeda agama itu tak akan mungkin terlihat pada pertengahan 1990-an, ketika desa tersebut menjadi front kelompok muslim dan kristiani yang sama-sama menjadi korban hasutan kelompok pendukung calon kepala daerah.
Konflik berlatar belakang agama secara formal memang telah berakhir. Namun, trauma dan rasa curiga masih membalut kedua pihak. Trauma umumnya dipicu adanya kerabat yang menjadi korban dalam konflik gara-gara ulah provokator dari luar Poso itu. “Konflik terbuka memang sudah sepakat diakhiri saat Deklarasi Malino pada 2001. Tapi, dendam dan kecurigaan masih lekat bertahun-tahun kemudian,” ujar Martince.
Dia mengaku butuh waktu bertahun-tahun untuk menghapus trauma karena kematian salah seorang keponakan perempuannya yang menjadi korban mutilasi salah satu kelompok yang bertikai. Perkenalannya dengan rekan-rekan yang berbeda agama di Sekolah Perempuan Mosintiwu membuatnya, juga ratusan perempuan korban konflik yang lain, mampu mengurangi trauma gara-gara konflik.
Sekolah itu didirikan Lian Gogali, aktivis perdamaian dan alumnus Universitas Sanata Dharma, Jogjakarta, yang tinggal di Tentana, desa di pinggir Danau Poso. Ketika sekolah itu didirikan pada 2006, luka memang seolah masih menganga. Desa-desa masih terpisah, desa muslim dan kristiani. Ketika itu tak ada seorang pun yang berbeda agama yang berani melintas di desa basis kelompok tertentu.
“Kalau mau ke pusat kota, seharusnya saya lewat sini karena lebih dekat. Tapi, saya memilih memutar daripada kena imbas,” ujar Martince.
Dia memang tinggal di Desa Bukit Bambu, desa berjarak 3 kilometer dari Sayo yang mayoritas dihuni kelompok kristiani. “Saya kalau mau pulang kampung dari Poso ke Palopo juga sangat cemas jika lewat Tentena. Padahal, tidak ada jalan lain ke Palopo selain lewat Tentena,” sambung Mariani Lena, penduduk Desa Sayo.
Rasa curiga pelan-pelan terkikis setelah para perempuan dari berbagai kampung dan latar belakang agama itu berinteraksi di kelas pembelajaran yang digalang Lian. “Ketika itu kita diajak ke berbagai tempat ibadah, bertemu pendeta dan ustad, menanyakan adakah ajaran untuk membunuh penganut agama lain,” ujar Yanti.
“Seumur hidup, saya juga baru kali itu ke masjid,” sambung Martince, lantas tersenyum.
Lewat diskusi yang intens dengan berbagai pemuka agama dan tokoh masyarakat, pelan-pelan trauma yang menghinggapi Martince, Yanti, Mariani, dan ratusan peserta kelas perdamaian menghilang. “Dari diskusi-diskusi dengan berbagai pemimpin agama itu, kami jadi tahu, tujuan semua agama itu sama. Ajaran agama dan praktik ibadah itu hanya jalan menuju Tuhan,” ujar Martince.
Berbekal kesadaran tersebut, perempuan-perempuan itu menjadi agen-agen perdamaian di komunitas masing-masing. Secara tidak sadar, jaringan yang terbentuk membantu komunitasnya untuk menangkal isu penyerangan dari komunitas lain yang kala itu kerap menjadi momok.
Martince ingat, pada 2010 dirinya mendengar isu kampungnya akan diserang kelompok lain dari Sayo. Seisi Desa Bukit Bambu sudah bersiap dengan senjata untuk mempertahankan diri. Namun, Martince tak percaya isu tersebut. Dia segera mengontak Yanti, kawan sekolahnya yang tinggal di Sayo. Dia minta Yanti menelusuri kebenaran kabar itu.
“Yanti memastikan kabar tersebut tidak benar. Jadi, kami melihat apa yang terjadi selama ini hanya ulah orang yang memprovokasi untuk membangkitkan lagi dendam dan kecurigaan yang mungkin masih tersisa,” terang Martince.
Para perempuan itu bahkan berusaha mencairkan kebekuan antarkampung dengan menggalakkan saling berkunjung antarsiswa sekolah. Kini Mariani tak ragu untuk menginap di rumah warga kristiani di Tentena bila hendak pulang ke daerah asalnya di Palopo. Sebaliknya, warga Poso yang tinggal di dataran tinggi kerap menginap di rumah Mariani bila dalam perjalanan dari Poso Kota. “Jaraknya kan 60 kilometer, jalannya juga jelek. Jadi, kami biasa menginap di rumah kawan sekolah. Kami bisa begitu karena kecurigaan kami sudah tak ada karena disatukan di sekolah,” terang Mariani.
Setelah menyemai benih perdamaian, ibu-ibu alumnus sekolah perempuan juga berupaya mengambil peran penting di kampungnya, terutama dalam pengentasan kemiskinan dan kesejahteraan keluarga. Kesadaran itu timbul karena di sekolah perempuan diajarkan keadilan gender yang mendorong perempuan lebih aktif terlibat dalam pengambilan keputusan di rumah tangga dan kampungnya.
Selepas sekolah perempuan, Yanti ditunjuk sebagai ketua rukun tetangga. Ketika amanah itu diterima, dia berjuang agar warganya yang kurang mampu menerima beras untuk masyarakat miskin (raskin). “Dulu mampu tidak mampu dapat raskin. Bahkan, PNS dapat raskin. Jumlahnya juga tidak sesuai dengan ketentuan pemerintah. Kini semua sudah tepat,” terang Yanti.
Karena perannya yang menonjol, Yanti sempat diminta pengurus DPC PKB Poso untuk menjadi salah seorang caleg perempuan untuk mewakili daerah pemilihannya. Namun, karena belum memiliki pengalaman politik, dia menolak tawaran itu. “Saya masih butuh belajar politik,” terangnya.
Namun, tawaran menjadi caleg tersebut jelas sebuah kemajuan bagi seorang ibu yang sebelum ikut sekolah perempuan hanya sibuk mengurus rumah tangga sambil membuka toko kelontong kecil.
Lain lagi dengan Martince. Meski hanya mengenyam pendidikan formal sekolah dasar, dia kini terlibat dalam penelitian pengembangan kakao masyarakat Poso. Selama ini Poso memang penghasil kakao, namun masyarakat kurang mendapatkan manfaat karena pengolahannya dilakukan di kota lain. Atas penelitiannya itu, Martince sampai pernah diundang untuk memimpin rapat di hadapan pejabat Pemkab Poso.
Menurut Lian Gogali, Sekolah Perempuan Mosintuwu memang menerapkan sejumlah kurikulum terapan, yakni agama, toleransi dan perdamaian, gender, perempuan dan budaya, perempuan dan politik, keterampilan bicara dan nalar, hak layanan masyarakat, hak asasi manusia, serta ekonomi solidaritas.
“Sebelum mereka mengikuti sekolah ini, keberadaan ibu-ibu itu tidak diperhitungkan. Adat setempat bahkan menganggap perempuan itu karaya-raya (pamali) kalau terlibat urusan kampung,” terang Lian.
Seperti Kartini yang mendirikan sekolah untuk para perempuan di Rembang guna mengangkat harkat perempuan, para Kartini di Poso juga tengah menyemai peradaban.
(Ditulis oleh Gunawan Sutanto, Wartawan Jawa Pos. Pernah diterbitkan di www.jppn.com dengan judul : Kisah ibu-ibu korban konflik di Poso : Dulu tak berani melintas, sekarang saling menginap) ( http://m.jpnn.com/news.php?id=229792 )
Women are usually the victims of the conflict, either directly they are the victim or lost her husband, children, including lost their homes. However, in Poso, Central Sulawesi, the women actually became the seeds of peace between the community.
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Three women involved in the smooth and nice conversation at the grocery store in the village of Sayo, Poso Kota subdistrict. That afternoon (Friday, 11.04), Baleona Martince visit to the house belonging to his best friend, a Muslim, Yanti Udin. Beside Yanti, there is also Lena.
The conversation between them who comes from different religions would not likely be seen in the mid-1990s, when the village became a front group of Muslim and Christian alike become victims of incitement support group regional head candidates.
The conflict formally religious background has indeed ended. However, trauma and suspicion still bind both parties. Trauma generally triggered by the presence of relatives of the victims in the conflict because the act of a provocateur from outside Poso. “Open conflict was already agreed terminated when the Malino Accord in 2001, but, resentment and suspicion still attached many years later,” said Martince.
He admitted it took many years to erase the trauma of the death of a niece who are victims mutilated one of the warring factions. Acquaintance with colleagues of different religions in the School of Women that set up by Mosintuwu, also hundreds of other victims of conflict, can reduce conflict because of trauma.
The school was founded Lian Gogali, peace activist and alumnus of Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, who lived in Tentana, the village on the edge of Lake Poso. When the school was founded in 2006, as the wound is still gaping. The villages are still separate, Muslim and Christian villages. When that no one dared different religions in the village where the passing of certain groups.
“If you want to downtown, I should go this way because it is closer. But, I chose the play rather than get swept, “said Martince.
She was living in Bukit Bambu village, the village is 3 kilometers from the majority of the Sayo inhabited Christian groups. “If I want to go home from Poso to Palopo also very anxious when I passing Tentena. In fact, there is no other way than through Tentena to Palopo, “said Mariani Lena, residents of the village of Sayo.
Suspicion slowly eroded after the women from various villages and religious backgrounds interact in the women school that Lian raised. “When we were invited to various places of worship, met the pastor and preacher, asking is there to kill the teachings of other faiths,” said Yanti.
“All my life, that’s the first time I visit the mosque,” said Martince, then smiled.
Through intense discussions with various religious leaders and community leaders, slowly descend the trauma of Martince, Yanti, Mariani, and hundreds of participants, disappeared. “From discussions with various religious leaders, we come to know, the purpose of all religions are the same. Religious teachings and practices of worship was only the way to God, “said Martince.
Armed with this awareness, the women become agents of peace in their respective communities. Unconsciously, a network formed to help communities to tackle the issue of attacks from other communities when it is often a scourge.
Martince remember, in 2010 she heard rumors the village would be attacked by muslim group from Sayo. The whole village of Bukit Bamboo was ready with weapons to defend itself. However, the issue Martince disbelief. She immediately contacted Yanti, her school friend who lives in Sayo. She asked Yanti seeking the truth of the news.
“Yanti made sure the news is not true. So, we see what happens during the act of the person who is only to awaken again provoke resentment and suspicion that may still remain, “said Martince.
The women were even trying to break the ice between the village to promote peace through visit and stay each other. Now Mariani did not hesitate to stay at the house of Christian citizens in Tentena when she want to return to her home areas in Palopo. Instead, the Christian people from Tentena often stay at Mariani house when they traveling to Poso City. “The distance is around 60 kilometers, the road also ugly. So, we used to stay at a school friend’s house. We can be so because we have no suspicion as we already feel united in school, “said Mariani.
After sowing the seeds of peace, the alumnus of women school also attempt to extract an important role in the village, especially in poverty alleviation and welfare of the family. Consciousness arises because women are taught in schools that encourage gender justice women are more actively involved in decision making at the household and village.
After women school, Yanti was appointed as chairman of the neighborhood. When the mandate was received, she was struggling to keep its citizens are less capable of receiving rice for the poor (Raskin). “It used to not be able to be able to Raskin. In fact, civil may servants Raskin. The amount is also not in accordance with government regulations. Now all is right, “said Yanti.
Because of the prominent role, Yanti had asked by political parties PKB in Poso to become one of the female candidates to represent the constituency. However, because it has no political experience, she rejected the offer. “I still need to learn politics,” she explained.
However, the offer to be the obvious candidate of legislative is an advancement of women who before participating the women school just busy taking care of the household while opening a small grocery store.
Martince also has a story. Although only graduated from junior high school, she is now involved in the development of cocoa research community in Poso. Poso is cocoa producer, but less public benefit because the processing is done in other cities. Research on it, Martince be invited to chair the meeting in the presence of Poso district government officials.
According to Lian Gogali, Mosintuwu women school is implementing a number of applied curriculum, namely religion, tolerance and peace, gender, women and culture, women and politics, and reasoning skills of speech, the right of public services, human rights, and economic solidarity.
“Before they follow this school, the women were not taken into account. Local Indigenous women even regard it as Karaya-highway (taboos) that involved village affairs, “said Lian.
As Kartini who founded a school for women in Rembang to raise the dignity of women, the are also Kartini in Poso sow the middle of civilization.
(Courtesy : www.jppn.com , writen by : Gunawan Sutanto )
