IF there is a religious nun congregation or order in Indonesia with their ardent enthusiasm and strong concern on serious matters over victims of human trafficking practices and home domestic violence, then we have to clearly say that the Religious of the Good Shepherd –known here by its popular name Suster Gembala Baik or the RGS—is the good role model of such good catholic religious community with that strong humanitarian focal concern.
Baca juga:
- Jakarta, nuns defend women from human trafficking
- Jakarta, suore a difesa delle donne contro il traffico di esseri umani
It was early week in this late October 2017 when AsiaNews and Sesawi.Net finally met with two RGS nuns in their HQ in Jatinegara Barat of East Jakarta to listen about this religious congregation’s commitment to save the true nature of human-being –but mostly women—from any degrading exercises by others, with or without violence, that always put women as fragile target of both domestic violence in the family, victims of human trafficking practices simply because they are women.
Hands-on experiences
Our conversation with Sr. Maria Goretti Samosir RGS and Sr. Catharina Supatmiyati RGS opened a huge landscape of these human serious matters which need the whole Indonesian Church’s commitment to address and to act to save the dignity of the human-being, but mostly the women.
Sr. Maria Goretti Samosir RGS spent almost nine years in Ethiopia as an Indonesian missionary working with local street whores and other unlucky women and later on in the Netherlands with the same mission.
“As a RGS nun, I was very late to join the congregation as I had frequently been unauthorized by my parents and the whole family to become a religious sister,” explained this Jakarta’s native but adopts her Batak ethnicity by origin from North Sumatera Province.
As soon as she was commissioned into RGS, she was dispatched to Ethiopia to join with RGS nuns from other nations to advocate local sex trading “victims” to secure their dignity of human-being.
“It is within our RGS spirituality platform that we have such strong commitment to secure the dignity of human beings, but mostly women who had been badly treated by their husband during their home-affair violence and these latest years victims of human trafficking practices,” explained this Catholic Atma Jaya University in Jakarta majoring in counselling.
The same concern and story is also shared to AsiaNews and Sesawi.Net by Sr. Chatarina Supatmiyati RGS who happened to work in Ruteng Diocese for years to deal with local massive human trafficking practices victimizing local young women.
Ruteng diocese is the most productive “region” in this catholic huge island in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province in terms of producing religious people to join scores of religious orders and congregation: priests, nuns and brothers.
Ruteng is also the most ‘fertile’ soil in NTT where waters and lots of productive crops are easily found and available.
Manipulated and deceived
But, local agents have spread their wings to seek new recruits in remote areas targeting local women to become “migrant workers” with marketing gimmicks to have more money to earn by working in the overseas rather than being local farmers in their native region.
“You have to know that Ruteng’s soil is very fertile. Our concern is to convince local young females feel socially convenient to become prosperous socially and economically by becoming farmers rather than working in the overseas as migrant workers,” said Sr. Catharina Supatmiyati RGS.
But again social problem extends much rather than just one issue to be addressed. Instead of feeling convenient and convinced on this economic opportunity, these young females are easily being “manipulated” by local agents with “marketing gimmicks” so that they are willing to become migrant workers as house-maids or others.
But human trafficking practice in NTT Province is not only targeting women, but also men as well.
From several cases that Sr. Catharina Supadmiyati RGS often faced is the lacking presence of legal immigration documents that any Indonesian migrant workers should expectedly bring with them while working in the overseas. It becomes serious problem when something bad happened for example fatal accident or any other violent cases.
“But they seemed ignorant with these legal papers as most of Indonesian men migrant workers are placed in remote areas in palm plantation in West Malaysia soil,” explained Sr. Catharina Supatmiyati RGS.
The church’s local response is still very poor than is morally expected, except in some parts of East Malaysia.
Indonesian nuns to address this serious humanitarian issues
But how is the Indonesian catholic church to respond this serious issue?
It is within this common concern that at least some nuns from 10 different religious orders and congregation is now conducting their meeting in RGS’s HQ to discuss matters related with their common focal concerns on the dignity of human beings.
From 22 to 27 October 2017, these nuns are gathering to design educational modules in efforts to make these serious humanitarian issues more and more familiar being adopted by both religious people and lay catholic people in the society. These nuns are from FSGM, PMY, OSU, SSpS, CP, MC, BKK, PK, FMM –all Indonesian nuns.
This initiative was made available by the so-called IBSI (the Indonesian Association of Religious Women).
Under the IBSI’s CWTC (Counter Women Trafficking Commission), this small group of nuns from several different religious orders and congregation shared their common values and “spirituality” to secure the dignity of human-being –mostly women—from any harmful practices, including human trafficking.
This one-week meeting in RGS’s HQ in East Jakarta is aimed to design modules of teaching and advocating other people to have the same concern and attention on these important humanitarian problems.
Raising concern among local Catholics
As explained by Sr. Kristina Fransiska CP from Batu in East Java Province, her adherent commitment to join this gathering is spiritually motivated to advocate hundreds of young people in vocational schools that CP nuns manage to run in Batu. “I am so enthusiastic to join this smal working group in the IBSI’s CWCT,” expressed this Dayak native nun from West Kalimantan.
Baca juga:
- Sidang IBSI 2017 di Laverna – Lampung: Para Perempuan Hebat di KS dan di Banyak Tarekat Religius Seluruh Indonesia
- 63 Suster Biarawati Pemimpin Tarekat Religius Kumpul Bicara di IBSI
Speaking with AsiaNews and Sesawi.Net in the event of this workshop, Sr. Katarina Sri Juwarni FSGM from Kampung Ambon in East Jakarta tells that a small working group of nuns are intentionally gathered to work together in designing modules for educational purpose. Such a move is imminently urgent.
“Raising concern over these massive serious problems among Indonesia church hierarchy is also significant to do, despite our urgent need to socialize these important matters to our students and fellow nuns in the IBSI,” said this nun, a native from Bometen in Wedi Parish Church, Klaten Regency.
In Indonesia, such issues is not yet “familiar” even among priests, nuns, bothers and even more lay people, despite the fact that The Indonesian church’s hierarchy has established a special commission to address this issues.
Not only that such humanitarian issue is not yet their common concern among Indonesian bishops, religious orders or congregations, but human trafficking issues is also not “familiar” to any common ordinary catholic community.
The Indonesian Bishops of Conference (KWI), explained by Fr. Paul Christian Siswantoko Pr, has established its Justice and Peace and Migrant Pastoral Care Commission since 2000.
Still very poor information
Detailed information on the problem is very poor to obtain.
“It is within this concern that our one-week gathering is aimed to design common ground to ink connections with other parties in raising our common concern to address this issue,” explained Sr. Catharina Supadmiyati RGS whose hands-on experience on human trafficking problems are very extensive and intensive.
Sr. Bernadeth Saragih FSE from North Sumatera is also a role model of how a catholic nun to have strong compassion with any victims of human trafficking.
She spent lots of years in Batam Island and working in a shelter house where lots of victims of human trafficking in Malaysia and Singapore are temporarily enjoy their healing process before being sent back to their native region across Indonesia.
As she is now getting elder and now supervising a local orphanage in North Sumatera, a safe house in Batam is now being managed by RGS nuns to continue her outstanding work in maintaining the dignity of human being.
Major step of the Indonesia nuns’ contribution
The one-week long workshop sponsored by the IBSI’s CWTC (Counter Women Trafficking Commission) is indeed a major step that Indonesian nuns are now trying to accommodate with their strong commitment to secure the dignity of human-being. In this workshop, nuns are coming from several different religious order and congregations.
In implementing their humanitarian commitment, the IBSI’s CWCT has been working well with other non-catholic groups including the IOM, the ILO, Migrant Care, etc.
Lawang Agreement
IBSI’s CWCT commitment to deal with these humanitarian problems are motivated by the Lawang Agreement that all religious nun congregation during their conference in Lawang in East Java that any effort and actions should be performed by any religious nun congregation to secure the dignity of human-being.
“This is an urgency to be importantly addressed by the whole Indonesian Catholic Church,” said the Lawang Statement.
“We, the Indonesian nuns, are also called to ink new relationship with other parties to reduce the practice of human trafficking where dignity of human-being are ignored and their human power is sold,” said the Lawang Statement.
