YENNY WAHID VISITS SIDOMULYO MAINTAINING THE PEACE VILLAGE PROGRAM SUSTAINABILITY

Sunday (11/1/2020), Sidomulyo Village was surprised by the presence of one of the nation's female figures, Yenny Wahid, daughter of the 4th Indonesian President. “This is Ms. Yenny's first visit to Sidomulyo Village, Batu City Malang. In fact, we had expected her to be here. Specifically when Sidomulyo Village held the Peace Village Declaration in 2017," said the Village Head of Sidomulyo, Suharto. "Yes, we are actually surprised too. But, Alhamdulillah, I am excited and happy with her presence in Sidomulyo.

Sidomulyo Village is one of ten villages/kelurahans that have been declared as Peace Villages. The Peace Village program is part of the Wahid Foundation program in peace-building efforts that focuses on women's involvement.

According to Siti Yulaikah, who is familiarly called Yuli (the coordinator of the Peace Village, Sidomulyo Village, Batu City), "The arrival of Ms. Yenny had actually been planned since early 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she could not come earlier. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday, 11/1) her staff contacted us informing that she arrived at the Peace Monument at 2 PM sharp. "

"She visited women's groups in the Peace Village and the Peace Monument, built in 2017, which consists of nine Gus Dur’s values, a Gus Dur statue and an inscription as a peace symbol in Sidomulyo Village. Sidomulyo is one of the villages assisted by the Wahid Foundation wherein women's groups are given assistance for economic strengthening because women are agents of peace," said Siti Yulaikah.

In addition to the visit to the peace monument, Ms. Yenny also went to the decorative flower garden managed by Sidomulyo residents accompanied by the village head and his staff, village leaders as well as representatives of women's groups. Geographically, this ornamental flower garden is indeed far from the residential area. However, in terms of management, the village has invited residents to use the dukuh/hamlet hall and village hall as well as residents’ houses for their meetings.

This visit was quite short. Yet, Yenny expressed her happiness because she was able to stay in touch and exchange stories with fellow humanitarian activists in Batu City, Malang. "I am very happy to finally be able to visit Sidomulyo Village and chat with fellow humanitarian activists here. Thank you, Pak Lurah Suharto, Mbak Yuli and other friends, who have been kind to accompany me from the beginning to the end of the visit!" said Ms. Yenny.

On the other hand, as the Village Head of Sidomulyo, Suharto hoped that this kind of visit can be an activity to maintain the sustainability of the Peace Village program. For all this time the Peace Village program has involved many women's groups. In the future he expects this program can also involve other groups in the community, such as youth and men's groups. So, he hopes that this peace-building process can be realized together by all levels of society in Sidomulyo Village, Batu City, Malang. (ed. Mz Fanani)