Walking to Fetch the Future

For three years, Natasia Astria Wakono, 18, a student of SMA 1 Nusalaut state senior high school, Maluku, has had to walk 26 kilometers every day to get to school and back. She leaves home at 4:30 a.m. and returns from school at 4 p.m.

After walking past the gate of Titawai village where she lives, Natasia turns on a flashlight so she can walk through the darkness that stretches in front of her. She walks around 13-km to reach her school in Ameth village. There are no street lights. There are also very few motorbikes that pass by - in fact sometimes only once every hour. There are also no public transportation vehicles.

For three years she has been walking this path. She has become very familiar with the details of the track, such as its dozens of bends, eight uphill climbs, followed by downward slopes and countless potholes, as well as trees and big rocks on the side of the road.