Di Aitumieri Teluk Wondama, Belanda Membangun Sekolah Untuk Masyarakat Adat

Aitumieri adalah nama tempat di Teluk Wondama di mana Zendeling Belanda membangun sekolah pendidikan pertama untuk masyarakat adat.

Wisatawan Belanda di Bukit Aitumieri

Pada awal tahun 1923, I.S. Kijne, bersama dengan F.Slumpt dan Yohanes Eygendaal berangkat dari Rotterdam menuju Pulau Mansinam. Perlu waktu berbulan-bulan bagi mereka untuk tiba di Mansinam.

Sekolah berasrama dipindahkan dari Mansinam  ke Bukit Aitumieri di daerah Miei Teluk Wondama pada Oktober 1925. Nama sekolah itu adalah Opleidingsschool voor Volksonderwijzers (Sekolah Pelatihan Bagi Pendidik-pendidik Rakyat) atau Sekolah Guru. Kijne dibantu oleh Gosal seorang guru dari Manado (untuk kelas-kelas lanjutan) dan Joh Ariks dari Mansinam. Pada tahun 1933, sekolah itu diperluas untuk juga mendidik penginjil-penginjil di mana J. Bijkerk bekerja di sana sebagai guru selama bertahun-tahun.I.S. Kijne melakukan perjalanan awal ke Miei dan beberapa kampung di Teluk Wondama pada Januari 1925. Dia memutuskan untuk memilih Bukit Aitumieri sebagai tempat untuk bangunan sekolah yang ia ingin bangun.

Dari tahun 1925 sampai 1941 ada sekitar 250 siswa yang telah belajar di sekolah itu. Bertahun-tahun kemudian mereka bekerja di berbagai bidang di pendidikan, gereja dan pemerintahan. 

Referens:

Ajaib di Mata Kita III (Dit Wonderlijke Werk), Dr. F.C. Kamma, 1994

WISATA ROHANI

Jika ada dari pembaca, beserta rombongan gereja, berniat melakukan kunjungan wisata rohani ke Wondama dan membutuhkan pemandu sebagai: penunjuk jalan, mengatur kendaraan darat dan laut, serta berkomunikasi dengan berbagai pihak di Wondama, silahkan menghubungi

DPC HPI (Himpunan Pramuwisata Indonesia) Kabupaten Teluk Wondama

Ketua - Rio Suabey: +62 821 9869 4761
Wakil- Eky: +62 812 4893 1154
Sekretaris: Amsal Tinoring: +6282197937120

Dialog Pagi Tentang Ekowisata di Kampung Aisandami

Berikut ini adalah bincang-bincang di pagi hari mengenai perkembangan ekowisata di Kampung Aisandami oleh Yansen Saragih dari DPD HPI Papua Barat dengan Kepala Dinas Pariwisata dan Kebudayaan Kabupaten Teluk Wondama, Bpk. Christian Mambor dan Bung Tonci Somisa ketua kelompok yang beraktivitas dalam pengembangan ekowisata di Kampung Aisandami.

Dialog pagi ini diselenggarakan di Kampung Aisandami.

Wisata Snorkeling dan Selam Bebas di Pantai Ketapang Lima

Keanekaragaman hayati bahari di Kabupaten Teluk Wondama telah menarik perhatian banyak wisatawan yang suka dengan olah raga selam skuba. Para penggemar snorkeling dan selam bebas (freediving) juga tertarik untuk melihat keindahan dunia bawah laut di kabupaten ini. 

Snorkeling adalah olah raga renang di permukaan di mana perenang mengenakan masker kaca dan pipa napas, pelampung serta sepatu kaki bebek. Dengan menikmati snorkeling, seseorang bisa melihat keindahan terumbu karang dan ikan yang berwarna-warni.

Aktivitas Selam Bebas (freediving)

Pantai Ketapang Lima adalah lokasi yang cocok untuk aktivitas snorkeling dan freediving. Pantai ini sering dikunjungi oleh warga kota Wondama terutama di akhir pekan. Ada gugusan terumbu karang yang terletak kurang lebih 100 meter dari tepian pantai. Terumbu karang tersebut dipisahkan dari darat oleh padang lamun. Karena lokasinya yang agak jauh dari pantai maka  sedikit sekali warga kota yang berenang ke sana kecuali jika mereka menggunakan perahu. 

Ikan dan Terumbu Karang di Perairan Pantai Ketapang Lima

Terumbu karang yang ada di perairan ini adalah habitat alami bagi berbagai spesies ikan seperti parrotfish, grouper, moorish idol, wrasse, butterflyfish, anemonefish dan masih banyak lagi. Ada juga bintang laut, urchin, dan pohon natal yang bisa dilihat di sana.

Untuk memotret semua ini, tentunya wisatawan perlu membawa peralatan snorkeling dan kamera bawah laut seperti Gopro, Nikon W300, Olympus TG-6. 

Perlengkapan snorkeling yang perlu dibawa oleh wisatawan

Jika wisatawan membutuhkan jasa pramuwisata untuk mengurus perahu, memandu selama snorkeling di laut silahkan menghubungi salah satu dari nama berikut:

DPC HPI Teluk Wondama

Ketua - Rio Suabey: +62 821 9869 4761

Wakil - Eky: +62 812 4893 1154

Sekretaris: Amsal Tinoring: +6282197937120

Beach Walking in Wondama Bay

There are a lot of sago and mangrove trees that grow along the coastal area of Wondama Bay. They become a habitat of reptiles, insects and birds. Mangrove trees grow along the tidal area. Sago trees grow behind the mangrove forest on the land. Fresh water stream usually flows through the sago forest. 

Coastal Scenery of Wondama Bay as seen from Ramiki Beach

Because sago is the staple food of the indigenous people, we can often see local people in the sago forest cutting, and extracting  sago flour. 

Fresh water stream that flows through Sago forest in Ramiki  area

One of the places that have got Sago and Mangrove forests in Wondama Bay is Ramiki. Visitors can enjoy beach walking during the low tide to see the beautiful scenery and to watch birds that often walk on the beach or sit on the branches of the trees. Cruiser butterfly, Common Green Birdwing butterfly, Silky Owl Butterfly, and Blue Mountain Swallowtail are some of the butterflies that we can see in the mangrove and sago forest ecosystem. 

Also read: 

A Visit to Mangrove Forest in Wondama Bay

Butterfly Watching in Wondama

Wondama in West Papua province of Indonesia is a great destination for butterfly-watchers. This regency has got a lot of tropical flower vegetation in its town, along the forest edges and in the islands. The flowers attract various species of big and small butterflies.

Butterfly Watching in Wondama Regency

Some of the butterflies that I see in this regency include Ornithoptera priamus, Danaus affinis bonguensis, Taenaris catops, Euploea alchatoe, Tirumala hamata, Papilio ulysses, and a lot more. 

Tropical Vegetation in Wondama

Because of the wealth of its tropical vegetation, the observation of butterfly can be done every where in Wondama regency from flower plants in the streets of the town to flower garden in the regents office in Rasiei that is located at the foot of Wondiboy nature reserve and in the numerous tropical islands.

How to get there?

Visitors need to fly to Manokwari city first. Regular daily flights from Jakarta and other major cities in Indonesia to Manokwari are available every day. After that the trip to Wondama can be done by small turboprop airplane or by passenger ferry.

Wildlife Watching Gear

Visitors who are interested in watching butterfly need to bring at least a camera. A pair of binoculars will be useful to watch butterfly in distant trees of flowers. The same device can also be used to watch birds and other wild animals in the forest. 

Contact

For information about tour packages, itineraries and cost of traveling to Wondama Bay regency, please, use contact form on the right side of this website or send email to: wondamatourism@gmail.com

A Visit to Mangrove Forest in Wondama Bay

There are a lot of mangrove trees that grow along the coast of Wondama Bay. It becomes the natural habitat of a lot of animals from fish, seashells and crabs to birds, reptiles and insects. It is very easy to explore the mangrove forest. We can use a canoe and paddle it along the coast. We can also use motorized boat. The best times to explore the mangrove area are in the mornings and in the afternoons.

A Visit to Mangrove Forest in Wondama Bay

The easiest place to reach from Wondama town is Ramiki. It is actually a place inside the town itself. Tourists can hire ojeks (motorcycle taxis) to bring them to Ramiki. There is a man named Echetus Sawaki who lives in Ramiki. He can guide visitors to see the mangrove ecosystem. As a matter of fact, Ramiki has got sago forest that is closer to the land compared to mangrove trees that mostly grow along the tidal area of the beach. 

So, visitors going to Ramiki can see both mangrove and sago ecosystems. The indigenous Papua people eat sago as their staple food. Sago is a tropical plant that looks like coconut. But the plant does not bear fruits as big as coconuts. Inside the sago tree, there is flour. When the sago tree is matured and ready to be harvested, the tree will be cut and its trunk will be cleaned. After that it will be split. The process of grating the pith to extract its flour can be seen there. The flour can be stored in the house for a long period of time especially in the refrigerator. The sago flour can be used to make pancake, and cookies. But most people eat it daily in the form of glue like papeda.

An excursion tour to other parts of Wondama Bay can also be organized from Ramiki. 

Contact

If you need us to organize your tour in Wondama regency, please, contact us by using form in the right side of this blog or send email to wondamatourism@gmail.com

CR-DPDHPIPB.

WONDAMA BECOMES THE CENTER OF HOPE

In 1934, J. Bierdrager - a medical doctor - found that Wandamen was the place where leprosy was spreading. There were villages which 10 percent of their populations suffer from this disease. In 1950, a leprosy treatment center was built in Manggurai. It was led by a doctor from Manokwari. Later, this center was run by two nurses, W. Wits and W.F. van Ruler. When effective medicines were invented, a lot of people were healed. 

Until 1950, Manggurai had received 120 patients. The number decreased rapidly. New method of treatment did not need overnight stays in the clinic.

In 1970s, a couple from Switzerland, The Fischers were working in Manggurai as nurses and expert in the treatment of the disease. 

Health Clinic in Manggurai, Wondama Bay Regency

Sorong

The same thing happened in "Sele be Solu" of Sorong region. A mennonite from the same country was preparing to work in Sele be Solu of Sorong. Two mennonite nurses, Ruth Bähler and Lydia Bähler had already worked there for ten years. Elsberth Gerber later joined them. 

Because the treatment had been so successful, these leprosy treatment clinics were later closed.

The Wondama Bay which had been feared by people from the surrounding areas was now the center of hope for everybody. CR-DPD HPI PB.

References:

• Ajaib di Mata Kita III, Dr. F.C. Kamma 1994
• Churches Engage Asian Traditions, John A. Lapp. 2011