Deddy Kaligis is a Christian. Aziz Salama is a Muslim. Not long ago, in this embittered part of Central Sulawesi, the two would have been enemies.
But on a recent Saturday, both enjoyed a cool afternoon breeze in the courtyard outside of an old military barracks that had been converted into a youth center. There, they calmly explored their mutual experience with the violence in Central Sulawesi – a violence that has killed more than a thousand people over five years and displaced 110,000 others.
The youth center is one of four located in the province’s Poso district where Muslims and Christians have resettled after years of conflict. C.A.R.D.I., a coalition of aid organizations which includes the International Rescue Committee, established the Simpotowe youth center and three others like it with the goal of providing vocational training, recreational activities and the possibility for economic empowerment. Just as important, the centers were designed to give youth a space where they can talk safely about the past.
“I remember people in my village told me that if you don’t join us to fight, you’re not a Christian,” the 22-year-old Kaligis said. “All I wanted to do was finish my high school exams.”
For 24-year-old Aziz, the feelings were similar. “Muslims came from Java and told me that I had to defend my religion. If I didn’t I’d become a ‘kafir’ – a non-believer and an outsider.”
The Simpotowe center has only been operational for a few weeks, but has already generated enthusiasm. On a recent afternoon, more than 150 young people filled the building and its courtyard. Some played volleyball while others attended a carpentry workshop. Inside, younger children learned the art of chess and enjoyed table tennis. The youngest ones sat quietly reading in the center’s library.
For decades, Muslims and Christians in this region co-existed peacefully, often living side by side. But beginning in 1998, after Indonesia’s President Suharto stepped down from power, tensions between the two groups began to flare out of control. Most here believe that the violence was fueled by the aspirations of political elites who sought to fill the power vacuum created by Suharto’s departure. Politicians galvanized support on the basis of their own religious backgrounds and rallied communities to violence.
“This area was a hotspot so most of the older kids here were involved in the conflict,” said Branco Kalesaran, who is the coordinator for the program. “As a result, they lost out on their futures. Their education was cut off and they were left behind when it came to jobs.”
Salama recalled how after the conflict began he was forced to move from his home in nearby Toini village to the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu where he and his family lived in tents at the city soccer stadium. “It feels so good to be here,” he said. “When we lived in Palu, there were no jobs for anyone, no future and I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “Now my father is a cocoa farmer and I have a temporary job. And most of all I feel like I have a real home.”
Even in a few weeks of operation, the center has contributed dramatically to that sense of home. “The interest we’ve had from the community was far more than we expected,” said Dijah Puspito Rini, a project officer at the center. “People here are saying that this is something young people have needed for a long time and there are no other youth centers in this or any village nearby.”
The violence has abated but is not nearly finished. Recently, the offices of a local NGO were bombed, although it is not clear exactly who the perpetrators were. In mid-April, a clash between feuding villages resulted in four deaths.
