Braving the Waves for Joyful Qurban on Maringkik Island

DTPEDULI.ORG | BANDUNG – A sea breeze blows gently between stilt houses standing close together above the water. Small fishing boats belonging to fishermen rest at the shore, waiting for early morning to return to fishing. On Maringkik Island, East Lombok, life flows simply.

Amid these limitations, Iduladha becomes a moment that is eagerly awaited. However, the reality is that every year only one to two qurban animals are typically slaughtered on the island. That number is certainly far from sufficient to meet the needs of more than 2,000 people living there.

This year, DT Peduli through the Qurban Impact 2026 program seeks to bring new hope to the people of Maringkik Island. The distribution of qurban is scheduled to take place from Iduladha, Wednesday (27/5/2026) to Saturday (30/5/2026), coinciding with the last day of Tasyrik.

The target is not merely to distribute qurban animals, but to bring more equitable happiness to coastal residents who have rarely been reached by qurban distribution.

The journey to Maringkik Island is not an easy matter. The qurban animals must be transported using fishermen's wooden boats from Tanjung Luar Port, crossing the waves of the Alas Strait.

That is where the real struggle begins.

Volunteer teams together with residents must ensure that cattle and goats arrive safely on the destination island. Waves, weather, and limited access become unique challenges in the distribution process.

The slaughtering will later be centralized at a public facility near the main mosque and village office so that the process is more transparent and easily monitored by the community.

Interestingly, the distribution of qurban meat is not carried out using a mass queue system like most other areas. DT Peduli NTB local volunteers will distribute the meat door-to-door directly to residents' stilt houses.

This method was chosen to maintain order while ensuring that distribution truly reaches those in need.

Head of DT Peduli Mataram-NTB, Ragil, stated that the area had never received qurban distribution from DT Peduli before.

"There has never been qurban distribution, only the distribution of 50 units of Al-Qur'an and 100 units of worship packages during the Ramadhan 2024 program distribution," he said.

Maringkik Island is an archipelago coastal area in Keruak District, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara. The majority of the population works as traditional fishermen with uncertain income because it is highly dependent on weather and sea catch.

According to Ragil, the geographical conditions that must be traversed through sea routes make the distribution of social assistance, food, and qurban not always evenly reaching archipelago communities like Maringkik. Yet, East Lombok still faces quite heavy social and economic challenges.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the percentage of poor population in East Lombok in 2024 was at 14.51 percent or approximately 185 thousand people. Meanwhile, BPKP NTB supervision data shows East Lombok as the region with the largest number of extremely poor families in NTB, reaching more than 59 thousand families.

Other problems also loom, ranging from extreme poverty to stunting. Based on data from the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), the prevalence of stunting in NTB in 2022 was still at 32.7 percent.

These figures show children who need adequate nutrition, elderly people living in limitations, and fishing families who must survive amid fluctuating income.

Through Qurban Impact 2026, DT Peduli targets the distribution of seven to ten of the best cattle specifically for Maringkik Island so that the benefits of qurban can be felt more equitably by all island residents.

For some people in big cities, qurban meat may be something easily found every year. But on Maringkik Island, one bag of meat can bring a different kind of happiness.

There are children who may be experiencing the deliciousness of nutritious side dishes for the first time again. There are fishing families who can enjoy special meals together with their loved ones. There is also hope that coastal communities no longer feel distant from the attention and care of others.

"The Iduladha momentum becomes one of the important opportunities to provide access to animal protein for underprivileged communities, fishermen, the elderly, and children in archipelago areas," said Ragil.

On Maringkik Island, qurban is not just about slaughtering animals. It becomes a long journey piercing the waves to bring happy qurban to those who rarely receive it.

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