By Enda Balina, World Vision Indonesia Communications

More than 1,100 children gathered in a sports centre that was ‘magically’ transformed into a children’s haven to celebrate Children’s Day in Papua, Indonesia. Children aged 9-15 years old, gathered from different places across the Papua province, from the urban city of Jayapura up to the remote and mountainous area of Lanijaya district, for the event which simulated a state where the children were the main actors. The state – which was called ‘Negeri Anak’ (children’s land) – was a dreamland for the children, as here, all the rights of the children were fulfilled.

In the children’s land, there were tens of police officers, teachers, booksellers, café waiters, mechanics, news anchors, and many other professions – where most of them were acted by the children!

At the registration desk, every child was equipped with a simulated birth certificate and play money that they could use to buy books, food, beverages, and even tickets to see a movie at the cinema! If they were running out of cash, the participants could ‘work’ to get extra money by selling their paintings and handicrafts in the art gallery, performing a dance, song, or comedy in the Creative Stage, or even working at the hygiene department to get some bonus! The children enjoyed the celebration as they were busy calculating their play money.

In each stand, the children would learn an advocacy issue in a fun and creative way. Here, the children played the roles of teacher as well as learner at the same time. The children were introduced to a number of advocacy issues through interactive games, role play, or learning straight from the experts.

“Through this event, World Vision aimed to educate the children on some advocacy issues including hygiene, HIV and AIDS, birth registration and many more. At the same time, we would like to introduce various professions to inspire the children in reaching their dreams,” said World Vision’s Papua Area Manager Abraham Sitompul.

Desmon, a junior high school student who acted as the child’s president in the event, was inspired to be a news anchor after the joining child’s presidential selection process. Selected among other 14 bright children, the shy boy never thought that he had the ability to speak in public before. Interestingly after attending the event, Desmon changed his dream to become a mechanic. At the mechanic stand, Desmon observed how challenging the role of a mechanic was, having to deal with a lot of complicated machines. For the event, a local university who partnered with World Vision even brought in the chassis of a car!

Helen, a third grader of a junior high school in Keerom district, was happy to take part in this event. “This is fun, as we, the children, were also involved in the preparation,” she said. For the event, Helen acted as the head of the police department. Helen herself dreams of becoming a policewoman. Together with her 19 staff, Helen monitored the event and also gave penalties to those who disobeyed the rules.