Lamalera Wonder Women: Initiator of Green and Clean Improvement for Their Local

Despite the fact that the life of 227 million of Indonesians are already fulfilled with abundant source of electrical energy, we should not forget that there are other 30 million of Indonesians who barely meet their basic energy needs of electricity. 

The Lamalera Tribe who live in the eastern part of Indonesia, specifically in Lamalera Village which located in Lembata island, is one in the millions of Indonesians who suffer from the lack of electrical energy source. The region is under the supervision of Nusa Tenggara Timur province and categorized as underdeveloped region as it takes as far as 280km only to reach the capital of the province. 

Roughly it takes almost 24 hours by ship to reach Lamalera village from the capital of the province. The long journey did not stop here, as we have to pass through another 86km of wrecked and rocky asphalt road, and another limestone rock road with numerous holes on its body.

Approximately, there are about 200 villagers living in the region. About daily, they have to endure the lack of electrical energy which lead them to many difficulties. They solely depend on PLN (Perusahaan Listrik Negara, English: State Electricity Company) to support them with electrical needs. PLN is the biggest electrical supplier in Indonesia which largely rely on fossil fuel to deliver their electrical source.  

However, the amount of electrical energy delivered by PLN in that region was never enough to fulfill the basic daily need of its 200 people. As for the consequence, above 7pm, Lamalera tribe often spend their night in darkness because they don't have enough supply of electricity. Charging phones, making coffee by using electric water heater, accessing internet, or using computer are luxuries that they probably would never get. 

This condition puts the children of Lamalera tribe into difficulties to study at night. The men cannot go fishing in the night to feed their family. The women have to struggle to make woven fabric in the pitch black of night, while it also makes them afraid to go out of the house since the darkness makes them vulnerable to any sexual crimes. It has becoming their routine to spend a day without electricity, while sometimes it goes for several days, weeks, or even in a whole two months.

Gender Dimension

The scarcity of electrical energy also takes place in another 5 villages around Lamalera, such as the village of Beutaran, Lelata, Leworaja, Imulolong, and Belobao. This condition certainly affects everyone, both men and women. However, we should know is that in fact it also covers gender dimension: the scarcity gives the women twice as much of the burdens rather than men. 

Especially the local women in rural area who have to spend most of their time doing house chores in the dark. A local woman named Mama Kimila said, "from day to night, night to day, I work myself off to make cakes. My children then would sell them around villages. If the lights won't light up, I won't be able make any cakes. If that happens, we couldn't eat anything for the next day because we couldn't make any money".

In order to get enough lighting source for both doing their house chores and ensuring their children to be able to study at night, Lamalera local women usually use kerosene lanterns. Meanwhile, kerosene lanterns are claimed to be particularly dangerous since it produces household pollution and health problems for humans. WHO expected that there are around 6.5 million people who died due to the use of kerosene lanterns.

A Hope from The Last Mile