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Runners enjoy Flores amid drought, raise funds to support clean water facilities
Setting out from Jakarta, East Java's Surabaya and Bali, runners come together in a 57-kilometer charity marathon in Nagekeo regency, East Nusa Tenggara.
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A Sawu valley village in Nagekeo regency (JP/Markus Makur)
D
ozens of running enthusiasts from various communities in Indonesia have turned their hobby into a rewarding experience, raising funds for the cause of building clean water facilities while enjoying the beauty of drought-affected areas in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara.
Setting out from Jakarta, East Java's Surabaya and Bali, runners come together in a 57-kilometer charity marathon in Nagekeo regency organized by Plan International Indonesia Foundation (YPII), under the theme “Explore the East, Run for Equality”.
The executive director of YPII, Dini Widiastuti, said on Saturday that about Rp 290 million (US$20,611) had been collected via crowdfunding website kitabisa.com and that it would be donated to two villages currently affected by the drought, namely Tedakisa in Aesesa district and Renduwawo in South Aesesa district.
In addition to helping build clean water facilities to mitigate the drought, Dini said, the activity would also be a voice for gender equality in areas where women were often solely burdened with meeting household water needs.
“All around Indonesia, including in Nusa Tenggara, women are the most marginalized ones in various situations, including when facing the surrounding climates, on the grounds of beliefs about ethnicity, gender stereotypes and unequal power relations,” said Dini.
Globally, she continued, Indonesia was ranked 84th out of 144 countries for gender equality, according to the 2017 World Economic Forum. One consequence in Flores, she said, was that household water needs were still mainly met by women, when the task should also be shared by their male counterparts.
“This responsibility creates a high risk of situation where women are threatened with harassment and sexual violence since they have to walk for hours to get clean water along unsafe roads,” she said.
