EKADANA - A BRIEF HISTORY
"I AM NOT ASHAMED THAT SO MANY DO NOTHING - However I AM ASHAMED THAT I AM NOT DOING ENOUGH"
Amnesty International Awarded 'Ekadana I Gusti Putu' is a humble man and one of that amazing small group of people like Nelson Mandela, that have spent their whole lives fighting for human rights and lifting the lives of tens of thousands of poor families. Outbound Rinjani is one of but only a few of Eka’s projects and I feel compelled to help.
BEFORE:
During Indonesia's corrupt Suharto Government years one million people were murdered directly our indirectly in concentration camps.
One of these massacres, Eka at the age of Seven survived. Eka as a working child was selling Ice in the morning, 300 meters from his home at the local Mataram City Park where Suharto had organised a public meeting for two thousand local leaders. As the crowd fully gathered, Suharto's army surrounded this peaceful group and machine gunned almost all. Ekadana was amongst the chaos and saw soldiers acting like maniacs spraying bullets into fleeing men and woman with blood and pain everywhere. The young boy escaped and this is where his Eka's humanitarian story against the dictator Suharto started. Quote Wikipedia: 'The killings are skipped over in most Indonesian history books and have received little introspection by Indonesians and comparatively little international attention.' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_killings_of_1965%E2%80%931966At 15 years of age Ekadana had his second life changing event. On the wide roads of Mataram City people lined to see the arrival of President Suharto in his Limousine Motorcade lead by army & police escorts. After a foolish bet with his friends, Eka charged off through the crowds on his smokey, no exhaust noisy motorbike weaving in front of Suharto's motorbike escorts. For a time Suharto's Motorcade was forced to break and weave and Eka succeeded to disrupt this Government Parade.
With Police & Army Security escorts close behind Eka fled the chaos, racing through a 300 year old maze styled fortified hindu villages to escape. Eka's escape was successful for a few days but eventually he was caught at his sisters home and dragged to the central Army Headquarters, where his battered and bruised friends were lined up outside the generals office. After a long lecture by the General they were all asked what they wanted to do when they left school, which all except Eka wisely replied that they wanted to be soldiers in the Army. Eka's response was that he wanted to be a 'LAWYER!' The Army at this time had it's own commanders in charge of every public utility in Indonesia, including TV stations and Universities. An irony for Suharto on this day was that his downfall was seeded by this Generals action. The General got on the phone - ordered the Officer in charge of the University to come to his office immediately, then after introducing him to Ekadana, ordered him to assist young Ekadana and his dream in becoming a lawyer!
One of these massacres, Eka at the age of Seven survived. Eka as a working child was selling Ice in the morning, 300 meters from his home at the local Mataram City Park where Suharto had organised a public meeting for two thousand local leaders. As the crowd fully gathered, Suharto's army surrounded this peaceful group and machine gunned almost all. Ekadana was amongst the chaos and saw soldiers acting like maniacs spraying bullets into fleeing men and woman with blood and pain everywhere. The young boy escaped and this is where his Eka's humanitarian story against the dictator Suharto started. Quote Wikipedia: 'The killings are skipped over in most Indonesian history books and have received little introspection by Indonesians and comparatively little international attention.' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_killings_of_1965%E2%80%931966At 15 years of age Ekadana had his second life changing event. On the wide roads of Mataram City people lined to see the arrival of President Suharto in his Limousine Motorcade lead by army & police escorts. After a foolish bet with his friends, Eka charged off through the crowds on his smokey, no exhaust noisy motorbike weaving in front of Suharto's motorbike escorts. For a time Suharto's Motorcade was forced to break and weave and Eka succeeded to disrupt this Government Parade.
With Police & Army Security escorts close behind Eka fled the chaos, racing through a 300 year old maze styled fortified hindu villages to escape. Eka's escape was successful for a few days but eventually he was caught at his sisters home and dragged to the central Army Headquarters, where his battered and bruised friends were lined up outside the generals office. After a long lecture by the General they were all asked what they wanted to do when they left school, which all except Eka wisely replied that they wanted to be soldiers in the Army. Eka's response was that he wanted to be a 'LAWYER!' The Army at this time had it's own commanders in charge of every public utility in Indonesia, including TV stations and Universities. An irony for Suharto on this day was that his downfall was seeded by this Generals action. The General got on the phone - ordered the Officer in charge of the University to come to his office immediately, then after introducing him to Ekadana, ordered him to assist young Ekadana and his dream in becoming a lawyer!
As a lawyer Ekadana went on to empower and lead tens of thousands of poor people to fight for the land
As a lawyer Ekadana went on to empower and lead tens of thousands of poor people to fight for the land that was being taken from them by the army & corrupt Suharto officials. The famous Gilli Islands, now one of Indonesia's biggest tourist locations was one of these many locations which the 'Suharto Army failed to take over thanks to Ekadana. While the army destroyed and chain sawed the local peoples homes and small business restaurants and accommodations, Ekadana organised protests all across Lombok. While Suharto's Army leaders ordered the bulldozing of whole villages that were on the land that they wanted for personal ownership, Eka's revolution got bigger, stronger and braver. Thousands of poor people united through Ekadana to fight for their futures burning Army bulldozers, standing in front of guns and protesting in the thousands with Eka at the lead. Many survived horrendous beatings but some were not so lucky.
Eka's life during this time was continually in danger and there were many close shaves including warnings like a sack full of dogs heads thrown into his home. Eka even encountered CIA protection, when Eka was feverish in bed from Malaria an unknown western military official with information of an assassination attempt on Eka, appeared from nowhere and hurriedly took him from his home and flew him out of Lombok to hide in Bali for a few weeks. The Suharto Government at the time were doing everything to weaken Eka including false reporting from media, and even revoking his lawyer license in an effort to slow him down. Thanks to BBC, CNN, international organisations like Amnesty International, governments & media reporters filming his protests Eka's security improved. Eka's fight for the people grew from strength to strength to eventually become the national catalyst that formed the revolution that in 1998 / 2000 was rewarded with the topple of the 35 year reign of the Suharto dictatorship. Talk to any of Lombok's villagers, they all know Ekadana, 'the Peoples Lawyer on the Black WW2 motorbike'. They will all share with you the fondness they have for Eka and the many tales of protests, land battles against the Suharto Dictatorship.
Eka's life during this time was continually in danger and there were many close shaves including warnings like a sack full of dogs heads thrown into his home. Eka even encountered CIA protection, when Eka was feverish in bed from Malaria an unknown western military official with information of an assassination attempt on Eka, appeared from nowhere and hurriedly took him from his home and flew him out of Lombok to hide in Bali for a few weeks. The Suharto Government at the time were doing everything to weaken Eka including false reporting from media, and even revoking his lawyer license in an effort to slow him down. Thanks to BBC, CNN, international organisations like Amnesty International, governments & media reporters filming his protests Eka's security improved. Eka's fight for the people grew from strength to strength to eventually become the national catalyst that formed the revolution that in 1998 / 2000 was rewarded with the topple of the 35 year reign of the Suharto dictatorship. Talk to any of Lombok's villagers, they all know Ekadana, 'the Peoples Lawyer on the Black WW2 motorbike'. They will all share with you the fondness they have for Eka and the many tales of protests, land battles against the Suharto Dictatorship.
Schools, infrastructure, housing for thousands ...
During and after the fall of Suharto, Eka continued to help the poor, building hundreds of homes, villages, organising water, electricity and and even building schools. Some of Ekas achievements are listed below:
LOCATION: NUMBER OF HOMES & FAMILIES AREA OF LAND SECURED
1. Pondok Perasi: “the old town’ 700 Families 12 hectares
2. Gilli Trawangan: 400 Families 225 hectares A now international tourism hotspot
3. Rempek: 700 Families 6,000 hectares 3 villages
4. Sembelia: 1,800 Families 9,000 hectares 5 villages
5. Parampuan: 50 Families 2 hectares 1 Village
6. Dompu (Suharto Land): 600 families 800 hectares Farming Community
LOCATION: NUMBER OF HOMES & FAMILIES AREA OF LAND SECURED
1. Pondok Perasi: “the old town’ 700 Families 12 hectares
2. Gilli Trawangan: 400 Families 225 hectares A now international tourism hotspot
3. Rempek: 700 Families 6,000 hectares 3 villages
4. Sembelia: 1,800 Families 9,000 hectares 5 villages
5. Parampuan: 50 Families 2 hectares 1 Village
6. Dompu (Suharto Land): 600 families 800 hectares Farming Community
TODAY:
One of Eka's biggest ways to help people these days has been in engineering ways to generate sustainable jobs that lift the prosperity of people, without detriment to the Environment. Eka has supported and seen how the growth of Gilli Trawagan and how Western Tourism businesses of have dramatically lifted prosperity and taxes of the region. Poor kids that once only spoke 'Sasak' (and not even native Indonesian) through tourism now speak English and other languages, and are now living prosperous lives in a wealthy part of Lombok that has plenty of jobs.
Ekadana’s life has not slowed down and together with Onny his wife, family and friends he has many projects on the go including:
An Important short video of Mataram Ciity Poor Kids Swimming Pools gives an idea of how cost effective Ekadana is able to deliver a project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WLgLwxOhhLM
Eco Solutions Lombok: Eka is founding with Swedish Partners a huge project in the impoverished South Western part of Lombok. The ESL project converts unused and broken forestry land to seed a multi million dollar Eco tourism development that could become Asia's biggest Eco Region.
NPO Projects: Eka is director of NPO Projects.org which is a non profit organisation whose objective is about empowering people to spark community and environmental projects. Visit www.nporojects.org to see Eka’s 2013 Project Portfolio which includes:
Water Company for Poor, Dolphin Poisoning Project, Outbound Pelican Beach Outdoor Education Camp, Outbound Rinjani Outdoor Education & Scout Project:, Poor Kids Swimming Pools, Homeless Peoples Eco Farm, Nano Bank - 3 village branches, Komodo Island Resort for Research, Feasibility Rotary Club, Mataram City:, Beautiful Ani Needs A Facial Tumor Removed:
Ekadana’s life has not slowed down and together with Onny his wife, family and friends he has many projects on the go including:
An Important short video of Mataram Ciity Poor Kids Swimming Pools gives an idea of how cost effective Ekadana is able to deliver a project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=WLgLwxOhhLM
Eco Solutions Lombok: Eka is founding with Swedish Partners a huge project in the impoverished South Western part of Lombok. The ESL project converts unused and broken forestry land to seed a multi million dollar Eco tourism development that could become Asia's biggest Eco Region.
NPO Projects: Eka is director of NPO Projects.org which is a non profit organisation whose objective is about empowering people to spark community and environmental projects. Visit www.nporojects.org to see Eka’s 2013 Project Portfolio which includes:
Water Company for Poor, Dolphin Poisoning Project, Outbound Pelican Beach Outdoor Education Camp, Outbound Rinjani Outdoor Education & Scout Project:, Poor Kids Swimming Pools, Homeless Peoples Eco Farm, Nano Bank - 3 village branches, Komodo Island Resort for Research, Feasibility Rotary Club, Mataram City:, Beautiful Ani Needs A Facial Tumor Removed: