Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia Congress Day 3

After my third non-stop day with this massive conglomeration of women I decided to take advantage of the free (and spacious) room and board of Rumah VIA, VIA's office in Jakarta.  It turned out to just take a quick ojek and train ride to get in to the city, during which I was surprised to see how good it felt to be back on a motorbike after three days without, usually such a central part of my daily life!  After a snack and a mandi at Rumah VIA, Sugi, VIA Indonesia's Country Representative, and I went out for coffee and the kind of conversation that is always relaxing: conducted in English.

The next morning I left Rumah VIA planning to return for the start of the Congress' morning activities.  However, due to the fact I didn't really know my way back or the name of my destination train it took more than the 45 min it had the day before.  After a three trains (one of which I didn't pay for), a successful disagreement in Indonesian with a train conductor who tried to grossly overcharge me, and a couople sly sneaks past ticket checkers, I finally found my way back to the lovely Graha Instan Cita conference complex.

I arrived to find the extremely vocal and passionate delegates still stuck in a rowdy debate over the organizational issues from yesterday.  With every delegation voicing their opinions on the Congresses' report it lasted longer than scheduled, but it was encouraging to see how actively involved everyone was and their commitment to democratic procedures.  After lunch I joined the breakout session on Political Recommendations and listened to the women discuss what policy changes they wanted to see in the fields of education, sexual and reproductive health, human trafficking, women and climate change, and womens' political participation and empowerment to leadership positions.

The delegates voting on additions to the conference report.  The consensus building really pushed this process into overtime.