I arrived in Papua only three days before 2007. It was my first time and already made me amaze, Papua is a place far away from where I come from. I spent 7 hours flight excluding 2 stops in Surabaya (East Java) and Makassar (South Sulawesi).

It was five o’clock local time which was three o’clock Jakarta’s time, I was in Frans Kaisiepo International Airport, a small airport with lots of activities. For the first time I saw that many Papuanese, they’re all the same like me, Indonesian but we’re completely different. I come from a Minang mother and Javanese father, my great great grandfather from mother side was Bugis. They’re all different but they’ll look the same. It’s difficult to tell their differences, at leas Bugis, Minangese, Sundanese, Javanese, Makassar, Kalimantanese etc has the same skin color. These guys completely different…..

“One question Yusuf, why in Indonesian league final, The Jakarta’s team had to play against African?” asked Patryk my Polish friend some months ago after he watched my documentary rough cut. I was laughed and said that they’re all Indonesian, we have one ethnic group who looks a bit similar with African.

Papua lay in one part of Indonesia who actually in Pacific area, people who lives there (I bet) will look similar with other people who lives in other Pacific area. Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Aboriginese etc. I knew this from the very beginning but my first visit to Papua still had made me amaze.

I saw a guy whom for me really looks like Harry Belafonte, an Afro American legendary singer, a guy who looks like the king of blues BB King. I laughed at that moment, I felt weird, but I enjoy it. I consider myself really standing and breathing in my country, the place where we’re all different