Christmas Jayapura Market Mama's

spanduk natal mama - mama

Shalom....

Our best regards to all of those present here:

1. The Governor of the Province of Papua, or their representative

2. The Head of the Department of Industry, Trade, Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises of the Province of Papua, or their representative

3. The municipal authorities of the City of Jayapura, or their representatives

4. Those united in Solidarity for Indigenous Papuan Traders (Solidaritas Pedagang Asli Papua, SOLPAP), or their representatives

5. The guests of local NGOs in Jayapura who continue to support the indigenous Papuan market-women’s cause 

6. Trustees, advisors and the managers of the Cooperative of Indigenous Papuan Market-women, or their representatives

7. The indigenous Papuan market-women (the ‘mama-mama’) from within and around ‘Pasar Sementara’ 

8. Street children, parking attendants and the labourers around the port, both visitors and guests of the urban poor within and around the marketplace

9. The beloved audience we have invited here today

As firm believers, we praise the Almighty God and give our thanks for it is his will that we can all be present here today to celebrate Christmas with the mama-mama. This Christmas marks the first for those indigenous Papuan traders at Pasar Sementara (Jl. Percetakan, No. 5A), which was officially opened on 20 December 2010 and has been fully operative since 7 March 2011. 

The Christmas committee was formed on 3 December 2011. Since 5 December, the market-women started to raise funds independently and by 16 December had collected Rp. 12, 957,000. The personal contribution from the market-women of Pasar Sementara and the surroundings was Rp. 9, 357,000 and contributions from related parties came to Rp. 3,600,000. Given the difficult economic situation for the market-women, donations are very limited. However, this is a month of joy that must be celebrated alongside the urban poor both in and around the market. With our shared commitment, we started to collect donations and now carry out celebrations, by the grace of Jesus Christ, the son of Christmas who came into the world as mankind’s saviour. 

The committee adopted a central theme: “A nation in darkness already sees a great light” (Isaiah Section 9: Verse 1a), and a sub-theme: In the spirit of Christmas 2011 “Papuan market-women are ready to become the light unto the world and for others”. The mama-mama will never stop fighting for a permanent market –place specially for indigenous Papuan traders until that has been attained. 

The mama-mama will continue their struggle since our rights are enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) and the Convention to Eradicate all-forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) whereby the mama-mama will continue their struggle for their economic, social and cultural rights to be fulfilled as applicable by Law no. 7 of 1984 in Indonesian law. 

We can realise this if we all hold hands together and have a shared commitment to stop economic violence against Papuan women. In this respect, the mama-mama must be the light for humanity. 

Thank you, may Lord Jesus bless us all. 

As the representative of the indigenous market-women of Papua, I wish to celebrate a Happy Christmas for "25 December 2011 and Welcome the New Year on “01 January 2012".

Mama Magdalena Aninam (Head of the Christmas Committee for the Market-women of Papua)