Youth camp in Palu, an event to forge the capacity of Asian youth
Indonesia - 30 July, 2024
Around 50 youth from various landscapes in Asia, such as from the Philippines, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Indonesia, gathered in Palu, Central Sulawesi, to take part in a youth camp entitled "Youth Engagement and Empowerment Hive in Asia" (YEEHA) on July 17-23, 2024. The 3rd annual event which is held regularly by NTFP Asia, for this year is held together with Tropenbos International (TBI). Eight youth representing Tropenbos landscapes in Asia participated in the youth camp – 3 from the Forest Foundation Philippines, 2 from Tropenbos Vietnam, and 3 from Tropenbos Indonesia. TBI supports this event within the framework of the youth led project "Youth it Lose it" which has been implemented in the Amazon, Africa and is now being replicated in Asia.
Youth empowerment is crucial to encourage creative thinking and to ensure that they have the capacity in decision making and finding local solutions to address various issues, particularly those in their landscapes. With ideas, innovations, and solutions that are often "out of the box", ongoing and emerging issues can be dealt with in creative ways that could have been overlooked by older generation. For this reason, empowering youth means empowering future leaders who will lead creative actions to overcome various problems that are currently ongoing or may arise in the future.
During the YEEHA camp, these young people learned about many things and hone their skills in identifying problematic issues and finding solutions through games, drawings, discussions, and presentations. Various learning topics provided during this youth camp include forest ecosystem, forest governance, inclusive forest governance through Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR), Indigenous Community Conserved Areas (ICCA), climate change, and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UNDRIP). There was also a Cultural Night session, where participants got to know each other better through traditional art and dance performances. The indoor sessions were also complemented by a field visit to Mataue Village, Kulawi Sub-district, Sigi District, Central Sulawesi, where they had an opportunity to get closer to nature and learn about the daily life of the Kulawi indigenous people in Mataue.
On the second day of the visit, the participants went trekking around the village, crossing rice fields, passing the remnants of Kulawi "Pasanggerahan" mansion which is still unrenovated after being hit by a big earthquake in 2018, crossing a river with fast river flow and big and small rocks, and stopping at several stops for discussions. Regarding the topic of gender, for example, Mataue Village has a traditional Kulawi land management system where women have special authority over a piece of land called “Pampa”, which is a zone of cultivated land for the Kulawi indigenous people where they grow various vegetables and even perennials such as coffee or chocolate. Every household usually has its own Pampa that can provide for almost all of their daily needs.
At other stop points, the participants learned and practiced operating drones for forest mapping, and had a discussion on rattan cultivation to sustain rattan as raw material for weaving. After trekking, they saw the process of making cloth from tree bark done by a woman in Mataue. The tradition of wearing clothes made from tree bark cloth is still preserved and people wear them on various occasions such as wedding ceremony and other traditional occasions.
After being in the village for almost three days and staying in the houses of the Mataue community, many participants grew closer to the villagers. They could feel the warm welcome and openness of the people in accepting their presence. Amidst the simplicity of their homes and way of life, limited public facilities, beautiful sceneries of the landscape that hide fragility from the threats of landslides and earthquakes, the people of Mataue still live in unity and harmony with their nature and environment.
Back to Palu after visiting the village, the participants spent another day for sharing and reflection. They also shared their experiences from their respective landscape, and the plans they have after participating in the youth camp. To continue to promote education for indigenous youth, increase the capacity of other youth to speak out, use social media more actively, get involved in small businesses to improve the economy and self-reliance, initiate tree planting activities, and many more are on the list.
Various youth-led actions may have different challenges, and different contexts make their plans rich in diversity. However, they share the same aspiration, which is to put forward the youth agenda not only at the landscape level, but collectively also at the national level, at the regional level, and even at the international level.
**