My Heart Belongs to Papuan Children

Eunice Sumei, familiarly called Kak Eni, started her career at Wahana Visi Indonesia as a volunteer. "Since the end of 2011, I was involved as a volunteer for sponsorship work in the Sentani operational office and finally joined the staff in 2012 as a Sponsorship Information Officer," she said.  

After about two years of working with child sponsorship-related matters, Eni had the opportunity to join the Talent Staff program which aims to capacitate WVI staff to become new leaders in the organization. After completing the program, Eni was promoted to program coordinator in the Biak operational office and Papua zone. She held this position for approximately seven years, until now working as the manager of WVI's operational office in Biak Regency, Papua.  

The woman who was born and raised in Sentani decided to continue working as a humanitarian worker because her heart was set on the children of Papua. "Once, when I went to Malang, my heart was always moved when I saw and witnessed children who did not get their rights, were not cared for by biological parents, abandoned and grew up from one family to another. At that time, I prayed, God I want to return to Papua, God prepare a field where I will work, serve for children in Papua," she said. 

Kak Eni was even more determined to choose to work at WVI because the organization's vision and mission were in line with her prayers. Although she faced many challenges during her community development work in Papua, her determination did not disappear.  

"The most memorable moment was when a volunteer group was about to be dissolved in the village. The volunteers said, we should not be disbanded, let us continue this service because those children are our children," said Kak Eni. This event strengthened Kak Eni that in the heart of every community, the seeds of goodness already exist. People need to sow those seeds in the right place, be cared for, and guarded well.  "We are never alone. There are many good people who want to work together for good, but the space needs to be open for them. Many people want to change but they don't know where to start,".  

Kak Eni hopes that her ministry can continue with WVI. She dreams that every child is not discriminated against in any aspect. Instead, children should be prioritized or as she calls it, "congregation number one". 

Penulis: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)