• THE NAME

SORAK is an abbreviation of ‘Suara ORAng Kampung’, literally means ‘Voice of Villagers’. In Bahasa Indonesia, the word of ‘sorak’ is also means ‘yelling’. So, this is actually a media for the villagers of southern Papua (Merauke, Mappi, and Boven Digul areas) to state out about their daily life, problems and aspiration, their own ‘world views’.

This is bilingual (English and Bahasa Indonesia) on-line version mainly published for readers outside Papua. Another version is off-line –the printed one (12 pages in Bahasa Indonesia only)– mainly for local readers, the villagers themselves.

• THE IDEA

One of basic ideas behind the publication is the fact that, for long time, the voices of ordinary citizens, especially who are living in the remote countryside, have neglected in the mainstream media. All of information reported here came from the villagers themselves, and other local citizens. Those ‘ciitizen reporters’ have sent the reports via courier, postal office, and new technology of SMS (short message services) of their cellular phones.

Of hundreds incoming information every month, we have collecting and categorizing them in our database as part of our monitoring system on economic, social and cultural (ECOSOC) rights in southern Papua. A compiled version with reviews and analysis will be issued every year as our ‘Annual Report on ECOSOC Rights’ in the area.

• THE PUBLISHER

This citizen newsletter is published by the Office for Justice and Peace of Catholic Archdiocese of Merauke (Sekretariat Keadilan dan Perdamaian Keuskupan Agung Merauke, SKP-KAME).

Patrons: Archbishop of Merauke & MSC Superior for Papua Region;
Editor-in-Chief: Harry Woersok (Acting Director of SKP-KAME);
Managing Editor: Kizito Heru;
Editorial Team: Tri Kanem, Okto Waken, Neles Tuwong, Joseph Renyut, Beatrix Gebze;
Citizen Reporters: all of local contacts and villagers in the working areas of Archdiocese of Merauke.

Postal Address: SKP-KAME, Jalan Kimaam 2, Merauke, Papua, Indonesia;
Telephone: +62 971 32 6614;
SMS receiver: +62 812 48230113;
email: skp_merauke@yahoo.com

We would like to invite all the people in southern Papua area, especially those who living in the villages, to write any information about real situation of economic, social and cultural life and related issues in the village and surrounding.

It is simple:

• collect data on real facts (not interpretation or opinion on it) you have found in your village or surround;

• write it down clearly but stright to the point, not more than 100 words;

• put your complete name, gender, age,  and the name of your residential village.

• send it by courier or post office to: SORAK, SKP-KAME Office, Jalan Kimaam 2, Kota Merauke.

Faster? Well, send it by SMS to number: +62 812 4823 0113.
Please type:

Your Complete Name – Village Name – F/M (your gender) – Your Age – the Content.

Example:

Tobias Kaize-Buti-M-32-In the past, Buti Beach is so nice. Now, a lot of…. and soon.(see picture)

For efficiency, you can use some local idioms or any abbreviations but please use only those have commonly used in SMS-type writing (such as “2 go”. “BTW”, “4 exmpl”, “etc”). Please don’t use those unusual or strange things.