Profile & Portrait

A GIRL AND HER DREAM

Wayan Mertayani, a young girl from Amed in the province of Karangasem, won the Anne Frank photo competition held in 2009. She photographed her white chicken as it was perched in the Ceara rubber tree that grew tall in front of her house.

"The chickens in the tree are our little investment for earning some money for our daily needs. This place in front of our little house at the beach is a lovely place…If only we could stay at this place… If only we would have a house of stone instead of bamboo that can collapse in strong winds... If only we would have more than one bedroom for the three of us and where the wind and rain stays outside our bedroom... If only we could have the money to continue school and make our ambitions come true...."

"After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, it is my ambition to be a journalist. So I take this opportunity to tell a piece of my life story. I want to tell the world how it is to be poor. I hope my story will help to get a better life for everyone. I hope that as a journalist I also can earn money and make our dream of our own lovely place come true".

Wayan Mertayani, a young girl from Amed in the province of Karangasem, won the Anne Frank photo competition held in 2009. She photographed her white chicken as it was perched in the Ceara rubber tree that grew tall in front of her house. She symbolized the chicken as though it was herself – enduring the heat of the sun by day as well as the dampness during rainfall. Lacking many things, yet perseverance must be maintained in order to live on.

Wayan is a smart and pleasant girl, and she seems the kind who would not easily give up. Her father passed away when she was still a small child. The loss of a father figure to Wayan, her mother, and younger sister was not only the loss of a loved one but it also spelled the loss of the family’s source of income. But they never gave up. Living a life with financial limitations, their mother kept on working hard so that the children could continue to pursue their education.

Nengah Kirem, Wayan’s mother, works various jobs including collecting recyclable trash along the coast. Meanwhile Wayan sells cakes around the beach. She is a very sociable girl, making a lot of friends including Mary Afdan, one of the owners of the Villa Sinar Cinta located on the beach. The small villa has a little library, and Wayan’s reading hobby led her to borrowing a number of books including the Diary of Anne Frank.

The book inspired Wayan very much. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived in hiding during WWII. Wayan somehow related to her as she has endured similar life troubles, and so she determined to become a journalist and photographer. And she has since idolized Anne Frank.

Her thorough knowledge of Anna Frank aroused the admiration of Dolly Amahorseija, a visitor from the Netherlands who had stayed several times in Amed. From her first acquaintance with Wayan, Dolly was impressed by the girl’s simplicity, good behavior, and her bright eyes. She became further curious when she discovered that this girl knew a good deal about Anne Frank.

Dolly asked Wayan what she wanted to be, and she answered that she wanted to become a journalist just like Anne Frank. Oddly, that moment seemed to be perfect timing, for at the time Anne Frank Huis (Anne Frank House) on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was holding a photo competition with the theme "What is Your Greatest Wish." Dolly lent Wayan a camera, taught her to take shots, and set the camera to its automatic settings for ease of use.

Wayan shot several objects and kept on trying up to her 15th effort. When she was about to stop taking shots, suddenly her eyes came across the tree in the front of her house together with the white chicken perched on top of it. She caught the moment. On this photo she added captions in her own words and handed it over to Dolly.

Surprisingly the photo came out as the winner at the competition. Not only was Wayan thrilled at her own achievement, but many others have become motivated and curious about the specific photograph.

From a technical viewpoint the photo is not all that attractive. Perhaps the photo would only be glanced at then set aside—a not so interesting tree and laundry hangers degrade the aesthetic value, and a not quite special nuance. Moreover, the snapshot was taken by one who was not a photographer and used a default automatic setting on the camera.

But the outcome was that the photo in fact was astounding to the judges. And the judges were from World Press Photo, a prestigious and credible photographic institution. In the judges’ notes were written, "The shape of the tree, the one chicken up in the branches, the color and light, they all work in its favor. All of this relays the photographer’s reality through subtle symbolism."

It had been made clear that a photo was not judged solely by its imagery, of how the photo is pleasing to the eyes, but also on the depth of meaning that it has. In the picture is not only seen a chicken perched up in a tree in the afternoon, but the reflections of a life of a young villager that is far from prosperous. There is a big wish for a better life, about the desire to reach this wish.

Wayan lives with her mother and sister on leased land. Their house is comprised of bedeg or woven bamboo for the walls and they must share a bed. Since early childhood she had to help with her family’s income so that they could keep up with school fees.

Her prayers have seemingly been answered. She won an international photo competition and brought home a prize package that included a camera and a laptop—two items that may support her in reaching her goals and making her dreams into reality. At the time she was attending the prize presentation in the Netherlands, she received news from home that she had just successfully passed the national exams.

She had been granted free scholarship from a private university on the island. But alas, it’s a long way because she just only graduated from junior high. She had currently enrolled for high school in Culik, Karangasem; enrollment fees donated by Mary and Ita, her villa owner friends. But the big question mark that lingered was for the regular fees afterwards. Thus she remains on the outlook towards juggling between earning money and school.

Congratulations on the win... and hang in there, Wayan! «»

Text by Ni Luh Dian Purniawati
Courtesy photos