The Vice President Gets Out of the Car to Greet the Papua Children

Biak Numfor, wapresri.go.id – For five days from 28 November to 2 December 2022, Vice President (VP) K.H. Ma’ruf Amin and Mrs. Hj. Wury Ma’ruf Amin went on a safari to 4 provinces and 5 districts in the land of Papua.

The 4 provinces visited by the VP during this working visit were Papua, South Papua, Central Papua and West Papua. Meanwhile, the 5 districts visited were Jayapura, Merauke, Mimika, Kaimana, and Biak Numfor.

At each point of the visit, the enthusiasm of the community’s welcome was extraordinary. This can be seen from the lines of community members including school children along the road the VP passed.

They are willing to stand in the hot and rainy weather on the side of the road for hours waiting for the number two person in the Republic to pass. While waving their hands and many of them also waving the little red and white flags, residents and school children greeted the VP.

This extraordinary welcome, of course, became a special happiness for the VP, so that at several points he not only opened the car window and waved, but also got out of the car to greet residents, especially school children.

Like today, Friday (02/12/2022), at the final point of his visit in Papua, namely in Biak Numfor, the VP and Mrs. Wury got out of the car to greet hundreds of school children standing in a row in front of  YPK IV Sburia Biak City Elementary School, Swapodibo Village, Biak city District, when he was on his way from Parai Beach to the Manuhua Air Force Base.

Suddenly, when they got out of the car, the VP and Mrs. Wury were immediately approached by schoolchildren who wanted to shake hands with them, so that the security forces seemed unable to control them. Patiently, the VP and Mrs. Wury shook hands with the little children and greeted them one by one with great affection. Not only that, the VP and Mrs. Wury also gave them souvenirs in the form of school bags.

During the visit, which the VP referred to as “tawaf” in Eastern Indonesia, various ways the community and schoolchildren greeted the VP were shown. Starting from waving hands, dancing traditional Papuan dances, wearing traditional clothes, playing drum bands, to waving red and white flags along the way.

Receiving this extraordinary welcome, the VP also on various occasions expressed his gratitude and highest appreciation to the people of Papua.

Thank you for the enthusiastic welcome yesterday on the street, I was greeted by the people from end to end, thank you,” said the VP during a meeting with provincial and district government officials, kings, tribal chiefs and traditional leaders in the West Papua region in Kaimana Beach Hotel II, Kaimana, West Papua, Thursday (01/12/2022). (NN/LHS – BPMI Setwapres)