Weaving Dreams Across Sumba: Chornelis Umbu Richy Palanggaringu's Quest for an Empowered Community

For Chornelis Umbu Richy Palanggaringu, studying in Australia was never simply about earning another qualification. Receiving an Australia Awards Scholarship gave him the knowledge, skills and perspectives to contribute to stronger communities in his hometown of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara.

Known as Richy, he grew up witnessing many of the development challenges that continue to affect the region. According to Statistics Indonesia, East Nusa Tenggara remained among Indonesia’s six provinces with the highest poverty rates in 2025. Those realities strengthened his determination to pursue community-centred solutions.

Food security remains one of the issues closest to his heart. Through his studies at Macquarie University in Sydney, he hopes to better understand how law and public policy can support communities in building more sustainable and self-reliant food systems.

A Journey Built on Purpose

Richy began his studies at Macquarie University in 2024 after receiving an Australia Awards Scholarship. He is undertaking a double Master's degree comprising a Masters of Laws and a Masters of Public and Social Policy, believing that legal knowledge and evidence-based policymaking must work hand in hand to address complex social issues.

After graduating with a law degree from Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana  in Salatiga, Richy applied for the scholarship in 2021 but was unsuccessful. Refusing to view the outcome as a setback, he treated it as an opportunity to reflect on and clarify the impact he hoped to create.

Instead of immediately reapplying, Richy joined Indonesia’s civil service as a Social Issues Analyst in Central Sumba Regency in 2022. Working directly with communities deepened his understanding of development. He saw that while many government programs were implemented according to plan, they did not always meaningfully improve people’s lives.  

‘Government programs are being implemented, but many of them are little more than tokenism. They’re treated as a checklist to show that a program has been carried out in a particular area. But when it comes to the actual conditions, the results are still far from sufficient,’ Richy said.

The experience sharpened his critical thinking and reinforced his belief that sustainable development depends not only on delivering programs but also on understanding how policies are experienced by the people they are intended to serve.

Armed with two years of practical experience, Richy reapplied for the scholarship in 2024. This time, he could clearly articulate both the challenges facing his community and how further study would equip him to address them. His second application was successful.

Learning from the Community

One idea from Richy’s scholarship application continues to guide his work today: sometimes the greatest challenge is not the crisis itself, but when people no longer recognise they are living through one.

Before returning to postgraduate study, he wanted to deepen his understanding of the challenges facing local communities by working directly with them.

In parts of Central Sumba, he observed that generations of limited opportunities had normalised hardship. Many families had become accustomed to living with constrained resources, making it difficult to imagine alternative possibilities.

While working as a civil servant, Richy joined Yayasan Dunia Lebih Baik's Campaign for Good, where he and local volunteers developed a political education program for first-time voters. The initiative received funding and voluntary support from the Central Sumba offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).

The program reached more than 100 young people. For Richy, however, its greatest achievement was not the number of participants but encouraging young people to become more engaged in shaping the future of their communities.

The experience reinforced his belief that meaningful development depends on collaboration between government institutions, community organisations and residents.

A Responsibility to Give Back

Richy believes receiving an Australia Awards Scholarship carries responsibilities beyond academic achievement.

During the application process, candidates are expected to identify development challenges affecting their communities and explain how further study will help address them. For Richy, that exercise became a personal commitment rather than simply a scholarship requirement.

‘I came here as a scholarship recipient who, in a way, sold the issues faced by my community. I borrowed the problems experienced by my community to present myself as a strong candidate before the selection panel,’ he added.

Among the issues he hopes to explore further is food security. While rice has become the staple food for many Indonesians, Richy believes Sumba’s rich diversity of local crops offers opportunities to strengthen resilience by reducing dependence on a single food source.

‘We’re very dependent on rice. When rice isn’t available, people go hungry. But in reality, we have other alternatives,’ he said.

Through his interdisciplinary studies, he hopes to identify policy approaches that strengthen locally driven food systems while respecting the knowledge, culture and resources that already exist within communities.

Applying Global Perspectives Locally

Living and studying in Australia has broadened Richy’s understanding of community development in ways that extend beyond the classroom.

Observing Australia's efforts to work alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has shown him that there is no universal model for empowerment. Every community has its own history, priorities and aspirations.

‘Looking at these issues from another country’s perspective made me realise that community empowerment is much more complex than it first appears,’ Richy said.

The experience has strengthened his intercultural understanding and encouraged him to question assumptions about public policy.

It has also reinforced his conviction that communities should not simply be consulted after decisions have already been made.

‘Meaningful participation means giving communities the right to decide whether a programs is suitable for them or not. Otherwise, we’re simply inviting them to attend socialisation sessions without giving them a real opportunity to have a voice,’ Richy said.

Creating Community-Led Solutions

Drawing on both his professional experience and postgraduate study, Richy believes three obstacles continue to limit effective community development: policies that do not reflect local realities, competing interests and a lack of community ownership.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted these challenges. Policies designed around the stronger infrastructure available in Java were often difficult to implement effectively in more remote regions.

‘Outside Java, they [the policies] were often neither applicable nor acceptable, and they couldn't easily be adapted.

Richy also believes young people have an important role in bringing fresh ideas to long-standing development challenges. Exposure to new knowledge, international experiences and diverse viewpoints can help the next generation rethink complex development challenges.

‘We're the ones who can offer different perspectives that previous generations may never have considered,’ he said.

For him, meaningful development is not about imposing solutions, but about working alongside people to create opportunities that are locally owned, inclusive and sustainable.