The Activities in Wahana Visi Have Changed my Life

My name is Suryani. I am 17 years old and a high school student. I am the 2nd child of 4 siblings. I was born from a simple family.

When I was in elementary school, I was just a mediocre student. I was also often called a farm child. Every day after school and even on holidays, I went to the fields to help my mom working. My father is a worker in a palm plantation.

I learned about Wahana Visi Indonesia when I was in the 2nd grade of primary school, but at that time I did not understand what Wahana Visi was.

When I was in junior high school, I often heard the word 'peer educator'. My friends in the program said it was fun. 

When I was in grade 8, there was an offer for me to attend the peer educator training. I immediately accepted. 

Along with my three friends, I attended the training in the Social Affairs Training Center in Jayapura. There we received information on HIV and AIDS, reproduction health, STI diseases, drugs and much more.

The training was very enjoyable and useful for me and I made a lot of friends. 

With hard work I managed to receive the class rating of 2 and 3. My parents were very happy.

I also joined Foranker, the Keerom Children's Forum. We often celebrate the holidays, such as the National Children's Day, World AIDS Day, Ied al-Fitr, and Christmas.

In the training venue, we learned about leadership and life skills. We held an election for the committee and my friends chose me as the chairperson so that I can be a responsible person and a wise leader.

We established a children forum in each of the four districts in the Keerom area to make our activities easier too. We gather three times a week in the junior high school laboratory room- now there are 43 participants!

I am really proud to be a peer educator.

*Suryani is a Registered Child in Keerom Operations Office, Papua | Story translated by Lukas Ginting