Blended with nature: Aleta Baun in her village in Lelobatan, Mollo, Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara.

A powerful woman from East Nusa Tenggara demonstrates her leadership and love for nature to save the environment in her village.

In Lelobatan, Mollo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), children have to raise cows and horses in the forest after school hours, just as Aleta Baun did, a local woman who has received this year’s prestigious human rights Yap Thiam Hien Award for organizing a peaceful protest against environmentally destructive marble mining in Mollo.

When she was small, Aleta naturally learned to be a herder with her schoolmates. While herding, she would play in the forest. Sometimes she climbed a mountain. Arriving home, her father asked if she would like to join the farm. Little Aleta grew up to respect the environment as a source of their spiritual identity and livelihood.

Aleta’s father held a powerful position in Mollo as a traditional leader, known locally as an amaf. In Mollo’s class structure, a traditional leader’s role is equivalent to that of a king. If the king is the political leader, the amaf is the ritual leader responsible for the customary laws and land as well as the protection of natural resources.

Mollo is actually the mythical name for a woman who controls Mutis, the highest mountain on Timor Island.

In Mollo, women are viewed as sacred. Indigenous Mollo people believe that mountains, rocks, and some animals also have feminine qualities. For example, the village’s sacred hill is called Fatunausus, which literally means a pair of breasts.

In 1987, Aleta graduated from high school in the district of Soe. She began to work as a teacher in a school and earned only Rp 25 (less than 1 US cent at today’s rates) per month. Later, she met Catholic priest John Campbell-Nelson who worked as a lecturer in Kupang’s Christian University and worked at his house as a maid.

It was John who advised her to learn to work with a non-government organization (NGO).

“You have to learn about advocacy on natural resources. Some day you will need it for your village,” she said, quoting the pastor.

Mama Aleta, as she is fondly called, took the advice seriously and in 1992 she decided to join the Women’s Voice Center (Sanggar Suara Perempuan) and became an activist. Three years later, a ceremony was held in her village to officially begin the operation of a marble mine on the sacred hill of Fatunausus, which features a majestic cluster of rocks.

Motivating people: 2016 Yap Thiam Hien Award recipient Aleta Baun is a respected female leader in her community in East Nusa Tenggara.

“I took part in the ceremony and I was so upset,” Aleta said.

The Mollo people were split over the marble mining activity. Aleta, who belonged to the opposition group, started to plan a movement against the marble mining. Her group started with five members and as its popularity rose, hundreds of other villagers joined the movement.

Although it was unusual for a woman to take a lead at that time, Aleta continued the campaign, collecting greater support from Mollo indigenous people. She succeeded in mobilizing the protest.

A very unusual thing happened in Mollo as part of the movement.

“We recommended all women who joined the movement to stay in the forest and urged all the men to look after the children and our homes,” she said.

The Mollo people surprisingly followed the instruction.

In 2004, an event was held on Christmas Night to endorse Aleta as the ritual leader of Mollo.

“I was given the mandate to defend our village,” Aleta said.

The decision was controversial because in the history of Mollo, women had never held high positions since the colonial era. Once, the Mollo did have a female amaf, but the Dutch set a new rule by appointing a man to be the amaf and banned the Mollo people from talking about the female amaf.

In 2006, another marble mine opened in Kua Noel, Fatumnasi, a village located below Mount Mutis, about 30 minutes walking distance away. The mining companies got approval from the local administration, but they did not consult with local villagers.  

According to Law No. 4/2009 on minerals and coal, mining companies have to consult and submit endorsements from indigenous people.

The mining activities caused deforestation, which left villages in Mollo more vulnerable to landslides. It also polluted the mountains, the only source of water for the villagers. People in Mollo united under Aleta’s leadership to fight against the environmental destruction.

“We didn’t go to the farm from 2006 to 2008 because we joined the movement with Aleta to defend our rock mountain,” Matheos Anin, the amaf of Fatumnasi, said.

Aleta and other traditional leaders organized hundreds of local villagers to initiate a peaceful protest in front of the marble mine sites.

“She also asked the mamas [women] to bring yarn and start weaving,” Dicky Senda, another Mollo-born activist, said.  

After fighting against the marble mining activity for years, the mining companies eventually halted all of their operations in 2010.

Matheos says that the movement was well organized, thanks to Aleta’s solid leadership. She consolidated all the amaf in Mollo, the mamas, and recruited the support of NGOs.

The movement gained national and international attention; as a result, Aleta received the Goldman Prize in 2013.

“I never imagined receiving an award, I was just concerned that the Mollo people were not being deceived,” she said.

A year later, Aleta was elected as a member of the regional council in NTT. According to Peace Women Across the Globe (PWAG) activist Olin Monteiro, Aleta founded an anti-mining organization and advocates weaving using more environmentally friendly natural yarns.

Aleta continues to fight for local people especially women, who she believes have been left behind by the government.

“I believe that one day, female leadership among our local elders will be recognized. We just need to work very hard to convince our elders and to improve women’s awareness and education,” she said as quoted by PWAG.

— Photos courtesy of Dissy Ekapramudita