Indigenous woman from Indonesia here. I won't identify my tribe other than it's a small one, and I'm Asian. I live in Australia. Hard not to give away too much, but I have a genuine question and will be deleting this ASAP.
This year I started a fundraiser to support two orphaned West Papuan girls living in Java. It's a 3-year full ride commitment with no regular major donors. We've fundraised about ¾ the amount we need for 1 year, but this is only year 1 of 3.
The girls' mother was an accomplished storyteller activist, and left them with some intellectual property with an important message to tell. So with the help of some friends, we've been able to organise an event in honour of their mother's work. My friends in Aus have also been piggybacking on West Papua solidarity events to promote the mother's legacy and solicit donations. So far so good, but most of my friends are Indonesian students who won't be here anymore next year. Starting over next year terrifies me.
I have never fundraised before. Right now my long term vision is to build a pan-Indigenous community where people get to share stories about their liberation struggles, celebrate my girls' mother's legacy, and engage in practical acts of solidarity for West Papua. So there's definitely the sowing of the seeds of relational work that won't sprout instantly.
But at the end of the day this is a fundraiser and I got two girls to feed, house and school. And that means I need to constantly come up with fresh campaigns that offer messages, experiences, services and products that my targeted audience would actually pay for.
There's the added challenge of this being an Indonesian-led initiative. Understandably, Indonesians have some extra accountability to reckon with in a West Papuan space. And because we don't see a lot of it modelled out there, many of us shun West Papuan spaces. Not because we don't care or don't want to hold our country accountable for ecocide and genocide done in our name in West Papua. But because being cast as the bad guy is disempowering for ordinary Indonesians who need somewhere to start to learn to be good allies. Besides, we're fellow survivors of white supremacist colonialism, who are still figuring out what liberation should look like in a world that's only shown us empire as the alternative.
In Australia, I have been a guest in some spaces that West Papuans, Australian First Nations and Pasifika peoples share together, which I respect and appreciate. And while individuals have always been welcoming to me in these spaces, Indonesia tends to remain the villain in West Papua's story, which not everyone has the nuance for. I have no self-defence for that. I acknowledge the Indonesian settler-colonial project in West Papua, am ashamed of how Indonesian militarism has ravaged Papua, grieve with Papuans over the devastation, and am committed to contribute towards dismantling the empire through relational work. I aim to model a space of what Indonesian accountability and solidarity for West Papua could look like--in the compassionate spirit of a mother paving safe passage for her children in a hostile world.
That being said, I get that there are stories Indonesians can't tell on behalf of Papuans, and struggles we can't fight in Papuans' place. And this fundraiser is by no means an attempt to play Indonesian saviour or PR- campaign in defence of Indonesia. We are, however, dealing with the unfortunate situation of two West Papuan minors being stranded in Java, where they have not only lost their mother to the most harrowing circumstances, but also survived abuse and abandonment by extended family. So it makes sense that the most available people to help them are predominantly Indonesian.
But I am also committed to keep the interests for educating the girls as independent as possible. Although Indonesian school is not a perfect solution, with a little help from our community we can show the girls where their mother stood in her West Papuan activism, and help them find their own paths. And since the budget to provide for two girls over 3 years is in the tens of thousands of dollars, we need to fundraise in Australia because that amount is simply impossible to raise in Indonesia.
OK, so I've shared the abstract concepts of the spirit this fundraiser stands for. My question is, how do I design concrete campaigns that attract my target audience (especially in Australia), that people would actually show up and pay for?
My current campaign is a writing workshop series featuring some acclaimed writers from Australia, West Papua and Indonesia. These workshops are fucking stellar, but turnout has been very low despite my team's best efforts to promote it in some circles reaching thousands of people. I try to be optimistic about "planting seeds for an ecosystem." So far my volunteers and facilitators have been gracious about it. But I do still need to do 3 years of this, I'll work with different volunteers next year and therefore need "results" to back up my credibility. And I worry that big name collaborators won't even give me a chance next year if my campaigns this year aren't "successful."
I feel like the main hurdle so far is relationships. I'm FOB in Australia, so understandably I haven't had enough time to grow deep roots in all the networks I aspire to build relationships with. I show up to First Nations events, introduce myself to people, and engage while I'm there. But keeping in touch beyond the event has proven challenging. So far I made one First Nations friend who was a mutual friend of my girls' late mother. That friend has contributed significantly to our early campaign, but understandably they're busy with their primary commitments in their First Nations activism circle. I've tried to reciprocate support within my capacity, but ultimately this friendship orbits in and out--and can feel somewhat like a non-renewable resource.
Despite the depth and quality that I do invest into my relationships that stick, popularity and crowd-bringing aren't exactly my strengths. I've found it so challenging to expand beyond the Indonesian student bubble, but that is what I need to do to make 3 years financially sustainable. I feel like the solution to this is to engage friends who have a ton of friends they could bring along--which is not something I have real control over.
I'd appreciate ideas on how to make this long fundraiser attractive to West Papuans in Aus, First Nations and Pasifika peoples. I'm particularly interested in tailoring my campaigns to appeal to circles of writers, storytellers, poets, artists and narrative activists based in Australia. And something that cultivates continuity in the relationships, so that we can support each other in dismantling empire and creating the world we deserve to live in.
Have any of you successfully built a pan-Indigenous community across international borders? How did you attract people to join your movement? What did you offer that's made people stay and invest in your cause? How do you establish universal relevance and urgency to collectively action a "niche" Indigenous cause (as West Papua is often perceived by outsiders)? And how do you replace the charity mindset with the mindset of investing in our collective liberation from the ground up?
