Critical Education in Kelelondey to Maintain Farmers' Living Space in Langowan, Minahasa Regency

At the Kelelondey Plantation in Raringis Village, West Langowan District, Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi, farmers united in the Kelelondey Memanggil (SKM) Solidarity Movement face the threat of land takeover. Amidst this pressure, SKM has taken steps through its "People's Education Center" to strengthen legal understanding, strengthen their organization, and establish an advocacy framework to protect their living space.

According to a Manadoexpress.com report, “Accompanied by Minahasan Traditional Songs, Kelelondey Farmers Reclaim Land from the Indonesian National Armed Forces,” May 26, 2020. [Accessed August 12, 2025], the Kelelondey land, which was being planted with tomatoes ready for harvest, was leveled using heavy equipment. Previously, from October 2018 to April 2020, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) had gradually leveled the Kelelondey land. The reason was that the land would be used to build military facilities.

In the same report, following the eviction in mid-May 2020, residents began working their land again. On May 23, 2020, approximately 50 farmers, including men, women, and youth, took to the field to re-cultivate the land cleared from October and November 2018. This activity was accompanied by traditional Minahasan songs in the Toutemboan language. Who is Wana Natase?, which has been sung as a prayer for generations before cultivating the land, has become a symbol of attitude and hope for the continuation of life in the land of birth.

The evictions remain vivid in the residents' memories, leaving them anxious and raising awareness that the land, which had been managed for generations, could change hands at any time. As October 2024 approached, news of the planned takeover resurfaced. At this point, the need for critical knowledge, solidarity, and advocacy strategies became urgent.

SKM chose the path of community education and organizational strengthening as the initial step to address this situation: establishing a forum, developing a syllabus, conducting community-level community education, and preparing community paralegals. A support network was mobilized from the outset, including YLBHI–LBH Manado and student organizations (GMNI Minahasa Branch and LMND Minahasa Executive) to enrich legal perspectives, organizational skills, and field organizing experience. The program's implementation period is scheduled from December 9, 2024, to April 25, 2025, located in and around the Kelelondey Plantation.

The first step was to reactivate the SKM forum. Two consolidation meetings were held on December 9 and 14, 2024, with farmers and the Manado Legal Aid Institute (LBH Manado). These meetings reinstated the forum, agreed on structural needs, and established a short-term work agenda, ranging from organizational meetings and developing educational materials to mapping out network support.

To ensure learning is not sporadic, the team developed a syllabus/module as a framework for the material. This was done collaboratively with the committee and authors in Manado. The syllabus links the Kelelondey agrarian conflict to key concepts (human rights, the rule of law and democracy, agrarian reform), as well as practical skills such as case documentation and actor analysis. This document serves as a reference for community education classes and paralegal training.

The community education program was held for three days in Walewangko Village, West Langoan, on March 6–8, 2025, attended by 11 participants (3 women, 8 men) from the SKM and student organizations. The material presented included Structural Poverty; Human Rights; The Rule of Law and Democracy; Critical Legal Studies; Agrarian Reform; Peasant Movements and Beliefs; and Militarism and Food. Various methods were used: panel discussions, group discussions, educational games, short lectures, and pre-post tests to measure material absorption.

The paralegal training was held for three days with 10 participants (3 women, 7 men) from SKM, AMAN, Laroma, and residents of Pulisan. The material covers Human Rights; Structural Legal Aid; Agrarian Reform; Advocacy (litigation/non-litigation, complaint mechanisms, reporting of human rights violations); Organizing; Social and SWOT Analysis; Interview Techniques; Documentation; and the concept, role, and ethics of paralegals.

Paralegal training sessions encourage participants to formulate a coherent case chronology, organize archives and evidence, and apply ethical interview techniques when gathering information from the community. Substantive debates, such as about the limits of state responsibility in fulfilling environmental rights or how to interpret unequal land access, provide critical thinking exercises relevant to the Kelelondey situation.

SKM believes that consistent and documented organizing helps maintain collective direction. A contextual syllabus ensures that public education addresses real community issues, not generic material. Conceptual materials (human rights, the rule of law, agrarian reform) need to be combined with practical skills (documentation, actor analysis, interview techniques, archiving) to ensure a cohesive advocacy backbone. Support from networks, LBH Manado, student organizations, and other civil society elements play a reinforcing role, both in terms of knowledge and field tactics.

Kelelondey's story demonstrates a transformation based on strengthening individual and organizational capacity to address land conflicts. From the anxiety of land takeover threats, the community reorganized its ranks, strengthened critical and contextual legal education, reorganized its organization, and began planning a more targeted and measurable advocacy path. This effort has had a significant social impact on protecting the 5081-hectare food barn in Langowan District, North Sulawesi, home to 6345 women and 6881 men, including 4409 young people. The program's results provide a concrete foundation and solidity for maintaining the Kelelondey Plantation food barn as a living space for farmers.