Kawara Panamung is a community of women from Nggaha Ori Angu village in East Sumba. The group is led by activist Elisabeth Uru Ndaya, who works as an English teacher at SMP Negeri 1 Nggaha Ori Angu and also manages the school’s digital laboratory. Known as Elyzz, she is an alumna of Sarjanawiyata Tamansiswa University in Yogyakarta and an active member of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta. With extensive organizational experience and a strong grasp of social issues, she returned to Sumba after completing her studies to devote herself to both formal and informal education.
Elyzz began her work by forming the Kawara Panamung
Community (in Sumbanese, Kawara Panamung means “mutually embracing/supporting each other”).
The community helps village women with little or no weaving experience learn
from the basics. Step by step, they acquire the skills to create traditional
Sumba motifs. Throughout this process, Elyzz also provided guidance and insights
to further empower the women. Seeking new ways to amplify their voices, she
turned to audiovisual media to highlight and address existing social problems.
Kawara Panamung believes that change begins not with great power, but with the courage to embrace one another and work together. They refuse to remain mere spectators of the problems around them. Armed with a simple cellphone camera, they transformed the way the world sees Sumba—and the way Sumba sees itself—by presenting reality and amplifying forgotten voices. Elyzz’s works take the form of cultural documentary videos and short films.
All of this arises from the realization that many stories about Sumba focus only on its natural beauty, while behind that beauty lies a life full of struggle. Women who bear double burdens, children striving for education, indigenous communities defending their land and traditions, and natural as well as cultural potential that has not been managed fairly—all of these deserve to be documented. They do not merely take photos; they restore the dignity of people who have rarely had the chance to speak.
Letters from the Past, the community’s first short film, served as an inspiration to produce further works. I Just Want a School won first place in the National Arts Competition (free theme) at the SMP/MTs level, followed by Books from the Hill, which achieved 7th place in the 2025 National Short Film Festival. One Book of a Thousand Hopes earned 2nd place in the NTT Provincial Literacy Content Video Competition. These achievements attracted the attention of several agencies, including the Education Service, the NTT Archives and Library Service, and the Ministry of Villages. Elyzz has participated in various training programs and received support to hone her skills and produce quality works. To date, 133 videos have been broadcast on YouTube, with 2.14K viewers.
For Kawara Panamung, the camera is both the most peaceful and the sharpest weapon. Through film, they ask: Who is heard? Who is ignored? Who benefits? Who is left behind? They are not confrontational, but instead present honest images that open dialogue and open eyes. The camera becomes a tool to expose injustice, celebrate the strength of women, and emphasize that change can come from working hands. It can also be a tool of liberation—recording reality, challenging injustice, and kindling hope. Kawara Panamung reminds us that when women embrace one another and work shoulder to shoulder, they are not merely recording the world. They are changing it. ***
Short movie link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwN0AQyhpMY
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16VjLZXEC9/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MRMQloZRYI
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