Women On The Rise

More than a century after the national struggle against colonialism was first launched, many Indonesians today remain oppressed by a different kind of scourge: poverty and ignorance. A number of women felt compelled to fight this modern-day 'oppression, each in their own different way. In Poso, Central Sulawesi province, Lian Gogali built a school for women, to treat them from the trauma of the areas recent bloody communal coflict. Artist Lena Simanjuntak commits her time and energy to help marginalized groups to speak up for their rights, through theater classes she has organized in Aceh, Poso and lately, in Biak, Papua. Meanwhile, philanthropist Nila Tanzil has built 24 reading rooms throughout the island of Flores, filling them with books for the children to learn from. In celebration of National Awakening Day on May 20, Tempo English pays tribute to these and other courageous and selfless women.