Study tour Indonesia 2007

Flores development plans

1. Flores Welfare Plan(FWP)
Initiated by Mr. William van Bekkum from the diocese in Ruteng in 1953. He called the Katholiek Social Kerkelijk Instituut (KASKI) in The Hague, with a request to make a prosperity-plan for the island. Based on missionary work by Bekkum and research by the Dutch government, the Indonesian authorities and several international organizations made a plan.

The basic conception and conditions of this plan are the following:
- A larger international context, interference from organizations like UNESCO and FAO

- Responsibility of the Flores people

- Benefit the whole Flores population

- A firm co-operation with the civil authority

- Concerning a change of mentality

- Attracting interdisciplinary teams

- Rationalization of agriculture

- Preferring small projects

- Great attention to mass-media

- Integral development planning

The FWP proposes the formation of the Florenese Vereniging, which will be assisted by foreigners only if strictly necessary.

2. Development a la Indonesia
(by Dr. A.E. Johann), 1961. Development by lending, providing and developing Flores by a foreign power. This idea seems to be a large step back, because the development help with this view would simply become a ‘Fremdkorper’ within the growing national identity in Indonesia. The issues of paternalism, neo-colonialism and capitalism might appear among the Indonesians.

3. The Flores-Timor Plan, FTP
Rencana Tiga Tahun 1964-1967. It was based on support from the Netherlands and Germany with the Episcopal Lenten Campaigns. SVD and SSpS are originally German congregations and an important part of the Flores mission staff is of German descent. Here are a few points from the FTP:

- The FTP deals with help from the German government and German churches. Multilateral help from international organizations is not even mentioned as a possibility.

- FTP primarily searches co-operation with the church staff as a form of the development help in Bildungsplan (education, schooling); help to help themselves in educational questions.

- Cooperation between the clerical leaders and the civil government in education and schooling programs; with interdisciplinary approach and accent on agriculture; no attention to mass-media.

In the 1960’s another committee known as Panita Sosial (Social committee) appeared, based on the awareness that the church (the church community) is God’s people ( umat Allah), who is responsible for its change and development. Different organizations, like DELSOS of the province NTT has taken the role of leading the development in Flores.

Back to St. Paul Major Seminary