Border Villages Longing for Better Future

The community in five villages close to the Indonesia-Malaysia border in West Kalimantan expects that the newly-prepared Five-Year Village Development Plan (VDP) will lead to better welfare for the local people in the future.

The VDP was jointly prepared by the Sinar Dian Khatulistiwa Foundation (SDK), the National Community Empowerment Program (PNPM) for Sambas, the National Border Management Agency (BNPP) and Wahana Visi Indonesia Sambas office.

The initiative to formulate the VDP started in August 2013 when PNPM Sambas and Wahana Visi facilitated the formulation of the VDF for five villages in the Sajingan sub-district. SDK and BNPP joined the committee in October to further improve the VDP. They added three sectors: welfare improvement, security along the border, and environmental issues.

Wahana Visi, meanwhile, actively advocated for the inclusion of children issues to open greater opportunities for their future development. Wahana Visi facilitated children discussions to give them an opportunity to share their ideas, dreams, and expectations. Their input was important for the decision makers to incorporate into the five-year plan.

Examples of the children's hopes were:

• Find creative breakthroughs to improve education quality
• Improved schooling process that would prepare them for skillful jobs
• Help them prepare for better jobs so that they can help their families financially

Many families in the villages are still living in stark poverty.

On December 12, 2013, the VDP was formally submitted to the Sambas district office to be reviewed by the Agency for The Empowerment of Community and Village Authorities and the Legal Affairs Office. If everything goes as expected, the five-year VDP would be adopted and implemented and the external parties could closely monitor and control the implementation.

The local community in five villages in Sajingan expect that the VDP will spur the empowerment process in their villages, not only in the economic sector but also in other areas.

They hope the VDP will lead to: improved road network and bridges, improved telecommunications infrastructure and signals, better control of oil-palm trucks so that they do not uncontrollably damage the roads in the area.

The community wants the opportunity to change their limitations into beneficial assets. They want to catapult their progress in the future, and believe that the relevant institutions can work together for the sake of the people and the local children.

*Written by Vanji Dwi Prasetyo, Team Leader SOLVE Project, Wahana Visi Indonesia at operational office Sambas | Edited and Translated by Hendro Suwito, Senior Editor, World Vision Indonesia