Beware of "Relativism"

I spent the first day of 2009 in Tokyo. I come to Tokyo for the second time to visit my friends, Dede and Jim. From Tokyo, Papua seems like an island in a different planet. So affluent, so clean, so efficient and so expensive. What a city! The soaring yen makes everything in Tokyo becomes much more expensive than it has already been.

Pricing everything in Rupiah makes things seem even more expensive (USD/Yen=89, USD/IDR=11.000). Housing and transportation are certainly not cheap. Taxi costs a fortune. The flag rate (when you start) is Yen 710 ($8 or Rp90.000). In Jakarta, taxi starts with Rp 5.500. Lunch in ordinary restaurants costs about 800-1000 Yen ($9-10 or Rp112.500-Rp125.000) per person. Japanese traditional stuffs are particularly expensive. I saw an origami product (Japanese paper-folding art)that cost Yen 12.000. A geisha hand-made comb costs about Yen 13.000.　And there is this small box of food (about 30cmx30cm) i.e. Osechi Ryoori especially made for new year that I find excessively expensive. It costs Yen 10.500 ($120 or Rp 1.320.000).

Actually they have another type i.e. Chez Matsuo Osechi that costs Yen 126.000 (Rp 15.750.000)! So much for food! Japanese are nuts, aren't they?





So shopping in Tokyo is totally a not great idea (I like Hongkong better). But somehow, I don't know what's gotten into me that I managed to buy 6 bags! Am I becoming one of those women who shamelessly spend so much money on things like bags? Hm, but I didn't think they were that expensive (ergh ... except 1 or 2). Oh, wait a minute ... what is expensive, what is not?

I think "relativism" is at play here. It's amazing to see how it works. The first time you see the tag price, you'll scream outloud. Man, it's so expensive! In a few days you'll get a sense on the price in general when you see the price of groceries and other daily stuffs which obviously is at a different level. Before you know it, you already get yourself adjusted to the local price level. So, having had complained and dreaded on how expensive things were, I gradually shifted my "affordability" threshold. In a few days, things didn't seem that expensive anymore as they seemed in my first day in Tokyo. I ended up spending more than I had planned to.

And I brought home with me that new price level. Everything seemed so cheap in Jakarta. I began to compare the price in Jakarta and Tokyo. I felt this euphoria of living in Jakarta. But as a result I found myself spending more than I normally did. I think it has got to stop or else I will get broke. I need to adjust myself back to my old price level. Still struggling ;-(. What a dangerous thing this "relativism"!

Shop Till You Drop

Last Sunday I went to Grand Indonesia for the first time. Gosh, it's huge and so full of people! And they do buy stuffs! It's business as usual. The economy crisis doesn't seem to belong here. No impact of job cuts. No weakening demand. No spending tightening. So I am wondering if things are not that bad at all here? Or are these people still in denial?

According to AC Nielsen survey (Kompas, 23/12/08, pg 26) 97% Indonesians love to go to malls. Is it because they do love shopping (or being in the shopping mall ;-)) or because they don't have or see any other choice yet? Should we build city parks or nice and big library in Jakarta as alternatives to those malls? But to do that, we may need to do some DNA redesigning ;-).

How many more shopping malls do Jakarta actually need? Don't we have enough already? Over the past few years, Jakarta have several new big malls: Senayan City, FX, Pacific Place, Grand Indonesia not to mention some new second class malls or trading centres like in Tanah Abang or the one in Kebon Kacang.

They all sell similar stuffs. Most of branded goods are sold at those big malls. You can find Zara in Plaza Senayan, Plaza Indonesia, Grand Indonesia (or maybe other malls) which are all located within 10 minutes drive. Well yeah there are slight differences. Pacific Place seems to focus on high end stuffs only whereas Grand Indonesia provide more varieties. FX, having failed in the beginning, strives to be a food/entertaining place.

Let's see what will happen to those malls next year. Will they survive the crisis and the competition?

Dr Do Little

It took him only a minute or two to finish the "examination". He couldn't wait to leave the clinic of the hospital. He didn't touch my painful arm. He hardly talked to or looked at me. He actually scolded the nurse for having called another patient. Apparently I was supposed to be his last patient. It's only a little after 10am. The board shows that his schedule is 8am-11am!

I was so stunned that I didn't know what to say. It happened so fast. Too fast to be true. I didn't even have time to be angry. Did I just see a doctor? Was he a real doctor?

I so regret it to have come to that hospital. The only reason I went there was because it's 10 minutes walk from my apartment. My left arm was so painful that day that I had to keep it still. I'd rather walk slowly than take a cab to go to other hospital/clinic.

It is not a first class hospital but it is not a free one either. The hospital belongs to the Navy. I later heard from other doctor that it could be the so-called frozen shoulder. I am so grateful that it was "just" frozen shoulder. What if I get a very serious illness? Could I trust that kind of doctor who couldn't wait to escape his patients? No wonder there are so many Indonesians go to Singapore and Malaysia to seek better medical services. But, what about those who couldn't afford to go there? Pray a lot, I guess.

I think doctors have no rights to be uncaring. We, the patients, are the ones who pay them. It is our bodies that are at stake. We are the ones who will suffer from their wrong diagnosis. We trust them with our bodies and pay them a lot for that. So, what gives them the right to be careless and unsympathetic?

Fortunately, I later found out that there still exist some good doctors out there. A few days later, I went to see a neurologist in Carolus. He talks. He examines. He asks. He cares. He is a doctor.

Where is the Bottom?

The global recession finally arrives. It’s a new reality. Stock indices have been plunging. Oil prices, commodity prices, currency (except USD) follow suit. Get used to the new price level, folks! They may have seemed to be cheap 3 months ago but hey they may look pretty expensive tomorrow. As if it is not enough, some say the worst is yet to come. The bottom is yet to be found.

How bad can it be? Where is the bottom? It’s definitely a trillion dollar question. Unfortunately, no one knows the answer.

But the bottom is there, isn’t it? Eventually it will be discovered. The stock price will finally stop falling. People will stop selling. However, I know that this knowledge of certainty is hardly a consolation for anyone particularly those whose investment has been slashed by 50-70%. It is just like saying that everyone will die while what everyone really concerns (if they should) is when and how it will happen.

But, again no one knows the answer. It would remain a mystery. So let’s be content with one thing i.e. someday the bottom will disclose itself.

A friend asked if this current financial meltdown has got something to do with the Gaia Project 2012. I guess he is running out of plausible explanation about what’s happening with the global economy. Hm … maybe we should start looking for some alternative explanations ;-).

The Unprecedented Victory

I am blown away! Americans finally make the right decision. We should give them credit for this historic event. To make Obama as their president, they should earn great respect from people around the world who had disliked Americans over the past 8 years. After all, we all can learn and change.

Think about this: who would've thought that a black guy can be the president of the US when he, as a black guy, was not even allowed to vote some 40 years ago! Moreover, just around 140 years ago, the blacks in the US were slaves. What an overwhelming achievement!

I am just wondering if the same thing can actually happen in Indonesia. Will Indonesians be willing to look beyond the labels (be it race, ethnicity, sex or even religion)in the coming election? Will Indonesians choose capability over ethnicity or religion?

I want to believe that. But it's so hard. Some of them are thinking only for their own interests. Look at that stupid porn law among other things.

Oh, how fragile hope is. But Obama has shown us otherwise. I should dare to dream that Indonesians someday will take a great leap as Americans did today.

Thanks to you, Barack Obama! Thanks to your audacious hope.

Unprecedented Stuffs

I came back to Jakarta and got myself entertained with the “unprecedented” market crash. We had market crashes before but they were not quite like this one. Yeah, I don’t know how many times I heard this word “unprecedented” (in the media) because there are indeed lots of unprecedented stuffs: unprecedented volatility, unprecedented concerted global movement by bank centrals, unprecedented government bail out, unprecedented losses, etc.

So, the bubble has burst out. Even worse, it burst unprecedentedly ;-)).

I had got myself off the hook. I had kept my portfolio cleared from stocks. Still, the magnitude of the crash surprised me. I try hard to put my excitement out of sight whenever I am meeting with friends who lost 50-70% of their stock values. By no means I’m happy for their losses. It’s just that I’d been waiting for this to happen to do the bottom fish. Some friends got quite bored when we were talking about stocks because I had repeated the same phrase to them: “I had been sitting on cash.” It’s hard not to gloat about this ;-).

Like other disasters, this market crash should or have had taught us something. Capitalism (or is it the American capitalism?) is being questioned. The market players who in the normal situation hate the government interventions have no choice but to turn to governments for help. Believe me, it has hurt their pride.

The business practices must change. Leveraging has gone too far. Giving bonuses based on the short-term performance will only lead to higher risk exposure.

Anyway, I just don’t get it. Why on earth do people think that the stock price will keep on going up? Unsubstantiated optimism. But nobody is willing to consider the risk when the money is good. This attitude has cost them a fortune. An unprecedented huge amount of loss!

The Truth Bites

How much would you be willing to tell the truth if it could harm other people's lives?

As a result of the auditing that I conducted for health centres owned by the Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong, some employees lost benefits that they used to enjoy. These benefits are not complied with the Diocese's policies. But, we are not talking about big amount here. And these people do not have much. And I know some of them very well.

So I feel quite guilty.

And, my friend Dede just told me that after reading my blog regarding the infrastructure and work ethics, some of his friends cancel their plan to do business in Papua.

Oh, please don't!

Vote for Me - 2

Okay, let’s continue with our plan.

Fourthly, I would create business friendly environment for small-medium enterprises that many Papuan will stop dreaming of becoming the civil servants. Gosh, these people are so keen on being civil servants. You can tell it from the way they mention their occupations or some relatives’ occupations. It was as if they worked for good, efficient, professional companies that offer big bonuses. Doesn’t it remind you of the very old days back to the days of Dutch colonization when civil servants were considered a different class of society?

But creating entrepreneurship is an enormous task. And it of course will take a long time to make it into a realization when you consider the stage of development most Papuans are at the moment. They are the gatherer. They are not even entering the agricultural phase yet. They hunt for the boars. They catch fish from the sea. They collect sagu from the woods. They don’t plant. They don’t grow. They don’t know how to look after cows. They laugh at the Javanese (transmigran) who carries grass for their cattle. They find it funny to see man feed the animals. Aren’t the animals supposed to look for their own food?

So there occur some problems when they are thrown to the current stage of civilization not so long ago. Instead of taking a natural phase of development, they are thrust into it. Some adjust quite easily, some are not. The latter are then left behind. They are having a hard time to make ends meet. Naturally, it is easy to blame others i.e. the non Papuans. The Papuans tend to get quite sensitive regarding this issue of Papuans vs non Papuans.

So, how does my plan sound? Expensive? Populist?

Hm …. This is not all though. Oh gosh, I actually still have lots of things in my mind. They should learn to throw rubbish in the place where it is supposed to be i.e. the rubbish bin, not on the street or in the front yard or in the office building or wherever they like it. I want the young women to start loving their bodies, respecting their selves, and have safe sex when they are ready. Many young women here got pregnant at a very young age (some are studying at the elementary school or junior high). Their mothers take care of their children because they are too young to raise their own children. Papua ranks first on HIV/AIDS infection rates in Indonesia .

And, yeah, if I got elected, I would only go for the first term. I wouldn’t run for the second term. I’m scared of my human frailty. My vanity. I’m worried that I wouldn’t be able to control the need of power which will corrupt me. So, stop while you can and leave peacefully. One term only, folks.

Okay, so would you vote for me?

Vote for Me - 1

If I were the Head of Sorong Selatan Regency, I would do the following:

Firstly, I would build the hotmix streets from Teminabuan, the capital town, to the places where some people live. Ergh … maybe not hotmix, a strong, good street would suffice ;-). Expensive? For sure, yes. But it could help drive the prices down in the inland, in those faraway kampongs. It is the people in the inland that suffer the most from bad infrastructure. It makes no sense to me that the people in Ayawasi pay 3 times higher for basic goods than the people in Teminabuan which is only 3 hours (120km) away. So outrageous! And these people by the way are by no means rich. They have no gold, no copper, no nickel, nothing there. How do they get by with their lives then? Only God knows.

In line with this plan, I would make affordable public transportation available to the inland. How? I would buy some buses which will run regularly with sensible fares. This would serve as benchmark for other private-owned public transportation companies (or individuals) that are now controlling the public transport in absence of the government involvement.

I’m aware of the vastness of the region. Sometimes, as I wrote earlier, there are only a few houses in one kampong. That could be sorted out earlier by looking at the number of people living in one place. I would not encourage people to live that far away in the middle of nowhere in spite of their sentimental reason of the past. I hate to see people in Seya walk for hours to get 2 buckets of water. I can’t stand the fact that they have to walk for 8 hours through the jungle to carry the materials to build their houses or stuffs that can’t be made in the village. Don’t tell me that they love the place so much that they are willing to endure their hard situation. Get real, people! This island is so big. There’s enough place for everyone. Oh, am I being insensitive and naïve here?

Secondly, I would make the public transportation to and from outside the region as cheap as possible so that the Papuan people can go visit other places as often as they could. Why? They would be able to see how people outside the island go about their lives. Perhaps they could learn something. I couldn’t stand people who think that they are the center of the universe. Pricey transportation cost will cut them off from the rest of the world. As much as I respect their way of lives now, I believe there are many things that they could learn from others.

Thirdly, I would invite the highly competent teachers in the inland and pay them five times higher than their colleagues in towns. Three times normal salary is to compensate for the higher good prices in the inland and twice the price is to reward their willingness to stay in the remote, lonely, difficult-to-access inland. As the prices go down as the result of the would-be-good infrastructure, their salary would be three times higher.

But, listen up, if they skip classes for more than 2 weeks (with no apparent reasons) they should be fired right away. I can't be more serious. Yeah, I haven’t talked about this phenomenon of teachers leaving their post of duty for weeks or even for months. They often go to town to do their own personal business. I know one teacher who has gone for 2 years! Dear goodness! So I smiled when I read Kompas several days ago about teachers in the inland of Papua who complain about their situation to the first lady.

The Election Fever

It never happens before. Never have I had or known some friends who are running for parliament members. It tells something about my social setting, doesn’t it? ;-) But here (in Papua) is different. I happen to personally know some caleg (calon legislatif).

It amazes me. These friends are not big businessmen or high profile public figures. They are the guy or the woman next door. They are just the “ordinary” people. Most of them are running for local parliament members here in Sorong. Perhaps they are just trying their luck? But perhaps they really have ideas what to do for their voters. Or perhaps, it is actually money and power that lure them to enter the arena. But yeah so? Most of those big guys who call themselves professional politicians are also doing nothing but pursuing money and power. Moreover, they do it shamelessly.

Here, it is easy to spot members of parliament. They dress differently. They behavior are also different. They probably do that consciously to distinguish themselves from others. You can find them easily in the airports because they often travel. Sometimes they even rent an aircraft. It had caused me some troubles the other day. In Jakarta, we don’t give a s*** about them, do we?

Nonetheless, regardless of their true motivation, it is fair to say that here politics is no longer the exclusive game for the elites only. But as much as I dislike the politicians, I don’t think we should ignore them and thus let them rule our lives according to their liking. Imagine if they make unreasonable, outrageous laws that will adversely affect our lives. Who do they think they are? It’s either we watch them carefully or we join in. It is the very reason why I told Rahel and Eta, my Papuan friends here in Sorong, to start thinking about running for parliament. You cannot not care.

I would love to see more intelligent Papuan women run for parliaments or head of regency or head of districts. Psst, some people suggested me to also run for member of local parliament here in Sorong. I'm sure they're joking ;-) ...

The Whole Holes

They complain. They swear. They curse. It’s printed in the local newspaper. It’s aired in local the radio. Every time I am with other people in a car, in a public transport or a motorbike, I always hear bad languages addressed to the Mayor of Sorong. I’m with them because the streets in Sorong really suck! There is no exception including the so-called main streets.

And the rainy season gives more new holes to the already damaged streets. Those holes are big, deep and full of mud. Don't even think of driving a sedan in town. Compared to other towns in the Bird’s Head, Sorong is the worst when it comes to road or street conditions. And oh, do not forget that it’s also the dirtiest town in the region. The town looks shabby.

Yumame is the mayor’s name. I don’t know what this person is really doing as a mayor. Perhaps he’s got his own imaginary streets that his driver never takes him through the streets in Sorong.

But this is his second term. Who’s to blame then? I guess the people of Sorong have to take the blame, too. Why on earth did they choose someone like him? I heard someone said that he used money to win the votes. So common, huh? It’s a short-term gain for a long-term suffering. So not worth it.

And nothing is done so far. The people here hold a demo when a member of their ethnic dies. They fight against other ethnicity over a personal feud among them. But they do nothing to demand for good public facility. Or perhaps nobody knows what to do. Perhaps, they need someone to organize them?

The mayor’s son now heads a big, established political party ready to run for the next mayor when the dad steps down. Gosh!

Expansion: Blessing or Curse?

I waited and waited for the so famous sunset in Kaimana as promoted by a popular old song “Senja di Kaimana”. But the beautiful sunset never happened. Well yeah the sun still set but it didn’t look as spectacular as I had expected. Perhaps it’s because of the weather. It’s very cloudy when I was there early July. They say you should come in October to Kaimana to witness that supposedly beautiful sunset. So yeah … bad timing.

Like Bintuni, Kaimana just recently became a new regency. Both regions were used to be the districts of Fakfak. Ever since the new special autonomy for Papua was launched, there have been many new regencies, districts, or even villages. They will set up 3 new provinces in this island after the 2009 national election.

However, considering the small number of population compared to the size of the island, often the new regencies or districts are underpopulated or are just enough to meet the number of population requirement. There are only about 3 million people in the whole island (Indonesian part). I heard sometimes they manipulate the amount to meet the minimum requirement. I saw a new village with only 14 houses (but probably around 20 families lived there).

It seems that people in this region have been pouring so much energy to this particular matter. It’s a hot issue. Sometimes they seem to be overdoing this. There is a reason to that. This expansion (“pemekaran”) needs a lot of money. Using the special autonomy as a vehicle, the central government throws so much money for Papua. Is it to wash the central government’s sins of having ignored Papua in the past? Or is it to prevent the Papuans from demanding their independence.

This expansion brings some positive impact to the regions. Physical development is the most obvious one. New streets, new public facilities or even new jobs are created. The education in Bintuni is free. Over the past years, many people from other East Indonesia come to the newly set regency or districts to look for jobs or business opportunities.

However, it also creates lots of opportunities for corruption. And, problems in other areas still remain. Has the expansion managed to eradicate poverty? Has it enabled the Papuan to handle malnutrition problem? Has it improved the quality of human resources? One may argue that it takes some time to see the impact on those above mentioned area. It’s a long process. Meanwhile, let the government officials or members of parliament get as much money as they want.

The Compensation Game

Watch out for animals when you are driving here in the Bird’s Head particularly in the outskirts of the town. You’ll get fined, dude. Yeah, you’ve got to pay some money for compensation to the owner of the animals. The funny thing is the compensation is in proportion to the number of the animals’ tits. No kidding! The more the tits are the higher the compensation is. So there is this rather harsh joke that it’s better to run into a grandma than into a pig.

There are many compensation or fine in Papuan’s traditions. Perhaps it could be thought as penitence to your sins or wrongdoings. When you are cheating on your wife, you’ll have to pay some compensation to your wife’s family. When you impregnate a girl then you have to give some money to her family. The same thing applies when you physically hurts or hit someone until s/he bleeds. You pay for the blood. In some communities, you are even fined when you break up with your girlfriend regardless you already sleep with her or not.

They even asked for compensation when a member of their communities, especially the distinguished one, dies. As long as the person dies in a considerably young age (well let’s say not above 55 or 60 years old) then there is always this suspicion that s/he was murdered. (Well, I don't understand this suspicion.) I heard a demo took place when a native pilot crashed his plane years ago. I witnessed a protest march a few months ago asking for clarification and compensation from the government when a member of local parliament died.

It also occurs in "business" transaction. It's strange but true that when you buy a piece of land, you actually have to pay some compensation for any trees in there. This may cost you extra money because the people who own the land are not necessarily the same with those who plant the trees. This may even cost you some extra energy because you cannot cut the trees down unless you get the permission from the person who plants them. You have to negotiate for that and pay. You should hope that the trees bear no sentimental memories to the owner ;-). There are some durian trees in the land that was bought by the Diocese in Fakfak years ago. The trees are still there because the owner of the trees in the land that is not his hasn't given a permission to cut them down.

Almost everything can be settled with compensation. How big the amount of the compensation is up to the negotiation skills of the parties involved. The negotiation can be quite tricky. Often they start off with a ridiculous amount of money. But they may end up with very little or nothing. It could start from something like Rp 10 million but end up with Rp 2 million or they throw an amount of Rp 50 million but eventually are being content with Rp 5 million. In a more "serious" matter, people may ask for Rp 1 billion but agree to take Rp 60 million or bluff for Rp 15 billion and end up with nothing.

No Alcohol Please

Now I know where to go if I decide to permanently live in Papua. It’s Manokwari. Well, I haven’t been to Jayapura or Timika yet, but I could say that Manokwari is on top of the list for a place to live in Papua. I like the town. Compared to Sorong, Manokwari is far more “civilized”. It’s beautiful, clean, green, in orderly and not very crowded. Whereas it is hard to find streets without holes in Sorong, most streets in Manokwari are in good conditions and clean. Even the streets to the outskirts of the town as far as 80 km are very good (for Papuan standard).

Manokwari just recently became the capital of Papua Barat, the new province. [In case you wonder, it is a picture of fish in the beach of Manokwari]

The town is at the bay and is quite hilly. So the town has the beaches and the hillside. The beaches are clean and beautiful. There is also forest in the northern part of the town that belongs to the local college. You could take a small boat to go to the nearest, small islands like Mansinam where the first Christian missionaries (Dutch pastors) first set foot in the land of Papua in 1855. That’s why Manokwari is called the “Bible Town” (Kota Injil). In every corner you could find a picture of Jesus giving the blessing to the town.

Like other towns in Papua, Manokwari is a small town with perhaps only 2 or 3 main roads. There is 1 department store and some convenient stores in town but there is no (yet) a mall. So you could actually save up some up some money because there is nothing really to spend your money with.

Surprisingly, I saw some coffee shops here in Manokwari. These coffee shops look quite nice. I never see any coffee shops in Sorong. Well, yeah there are restaurants and pubs in Sorong but coffee shop is something different.

The only shortcoming or perhaps advantage of the place (depending on how you see it) is that no alcohol allowed in Manokwari. So, the only place where you could drink wine in Manokwari is in the church during the communion ;-). They’ve got quite some problems with alcohol here in Papua. By legally banning alcohol in town the government hopes to solve the alcohol problems. Effective? Hm ... I don't know. But the rumour has it that some people (those with lots of money obviously) fly to Sorong to get booze during the weekend.

So, perhaps Manokwari is a good place to raise your children. Don't you think? A beautiful and clean place without malls and alcohol. What more could you expect?

Fly Me to The Neck

I just came back from some places around the Bird’s Head of Papua doing some auditing works for the clinics owned by the Diocese. Over the past 2 months I’ve gone to Manokwari, Fakfak, Bintuni and Kaimana. That’s why I’ve been offline for quite sometime.

Sure you have no idea where exactly these places are. I just realized that most Indonesian who live in Java or Sumatra have very poor knowledge about Papua. It’s almost like a foreign country to them ;-). Okay, let me give you some description. Imagine the head of a bird. Sorong is the eyes of the bird and Manokwari is at the backside of its head. If Bintuni is in the chin, Fakfak and Kaimana are both in the neck.

To go to those places, except to Manokwari, one has to take small aircrafts, around 16 people on board. But these are bigger planes compared to the one we took to Suswa last Christmas. Often the flight is delayed or canceled because of the bad weather. The runway in Fakfak is so short and small that in a cloudy day the pilot has to do some maneuvers in order to find it. It took us 1.5 hours, normally takes about 45 minutes from Sorong, to land at the Fakfak’s airport. It was quite an experience to be in a Twin Otter that flew below the cloud, went up the cloud and went down again, made several u turn, flew up and down again for 45 minutes before it finally landed. Phew!

Is it cheap to fly in Papua? Heck No! You pay Rp 1.3 million to go to Kaimana (1.5hours with Twin Otter and 1hour with a bigger air craft, I forgot the type). It costs around 1 million to go to Manokwari (30 minutes with Boeing 737-200). And what really bothers me is the fact that in some places (except Sorong and Manokwari) it is not so easy to get the ticket. You can only get the ticket one day before the day you fly. There is no certainty whatsoever. In Fakfak, having booked the ticket for 1 week, I’ve got told just one day before the day I was supposed to fly that there was no flight to Sorong tomorrow. Great! The plane was rented by members of parliament. Sometimes it is rented by the local government. “Important” people, huh?? I think the reason why they cannot confirm the ticket until last minute is to make the ticket available for these self-important people.

But it teaches me to be more patient. I learn to put up with uncertainty. Here in Papua, you should be ready to stay longer than you plan. And stay calm when it happens ;-). I went berserk when I first experienced this.

Alternatively, you could go by ship. Most places are not yet accessible by cars. Ship takes longer but the schedule is much more reliable. Apparently, ship is quite a popular means of transportation here in East Indonesia. The big ships called Kapal Putih go to most big towns. I once took the ship to go from Fakfak to Sorong. It’s actually quite convenient if you are not in a rush. To most people here, Sorong-Fakfak, 12 hours by ship, is considered close. “It’s only 12 hours”, say them. It takes 3 days to go to Timika (from Sorong) or to Jayapura. Yeah, but a 12-hours-flight could take you from Jakarta to Capetown.

A Nice Coincidence

We human are so keen on looking for meaning to our existence, aren’t we? We try hard to make sense of everything. The problem is our "equipment" looks quite limited to explain everything sensibly or say rationally. Some things apparently are meant to remain mysterious. Or do we just call everything that we don't understand mysterious? And why should mystery exist? To make life more interesting?

That Friday morning in the Seminary I read Kompas Minggu. I saw a short story by Ayu Utami (I forgot the title) but I saw a line below the title saying “Untuk Bona dan Weni”. The story was dedicated to them. Aha, I know them. It must be them. It must be that Bona and Weni. I bet there aren’t many couples whose names are Bona and Weni. So I told Fr Tromp that I know these people. Wow, isn’t it awesome to have a short story dedicated for you in Kompas Minggu? But he wasn’t so impressed since he didn’t know who Ayu Utami was. Well ...

That was 7 am. I then went into the class teaching. At 9 am, my cellphone was ringing. I didn’t pick it up because I was still in the class. It was a new number. At 1pm I called the number back. It was Weni!! Gosh, what a surprise! We haven’t contacted each other for almost a year and suddenly she contacted me two hours after I saw her name in Kompas. I told her about the short story. Yeah, it was their wedding gift from Ayu Utami. They just got married on April 4.

A coincidence? Well, we haven’t contacted each other for almost 9 months. So, what is the odd that she called me two hours after I saw and thought of her? Perhaps it’s a sheer coincidence. But I’d like to believe it as a synchronicity, a meaningful coincidence though I didn't know what exactly it meant ;-). But it had given me a little break from the “rational” explanation of reality. A nice little coincidence!

Born to Be A Catholic?

I almost leaped with joy when one of my students in Rumah Bina submitted an essay outline with this topic: God does not equal religion. Rumah Bina Tolentino is a house for diocesan and OSA postulants. He started with an argument that most of us “inherited” our religions from our parents.

Yeah, tell me something that I don’t know, you might think. But hey for these people to whom religions become their most important identity, this is quite a thought. Their lives revolve around church activities. They address others according to their religions. You hear these remarks often: “Yes, that policeman is a Catholic” or “No, she is a Protestant”. Well yeah we might find similar situations in other parts of the world including the so-called the first world. People are even fighting in the name of religions.

But that student hadn’t gone that far with his outline when other students protested him right away. Some were so convinced that they become Catholic because they chose to. The class was soon debating the issue.

Oh really? Let’s see. I asked the class about their parents’ religions. These students come from the Christian / Catholic region of Indonesia namely Papua, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Mollucas Islands, and North Sulawesi. Out of 16 students, there were only 2 students whose parents were Protestants (not even Moslem). So, I asked them, “If you had been born in West Sumatra or West Java in Islamic families, would you have been Catholic?” Nah!

And by the way, have they really examined other alternative religions exhaustively before they decided to become Catholics? I doubt it. Not in a way that I think is sufficient to make the claim that they have done their homework before making that decision. I don’t think they had ever seriously considered Islam or Buddhism or Hinduism or even atheism. Well, I don’t blame them. They are the children of their society. There is always a few who could go beyond or transcend their social settings. But most people don’t. It’s more convenient to accept the socially-handed-over beliefs, isn’t it?

Anyway, back to the essay. That student backed off. He canceled the topic. Apparently he got intimidated by his classmates’ reaction and scared away with the consequence of his writing if it was published in the diocesan monthly bulletin as I planned. I failed to convince him. I console myself with the thought that at least the class started thinking about the issue. Is religion divinely bestowed upon them regardless their geographic, social, political settings?

Life in Ayawasi – Part III

It’s so damn quiet here! It is quiet in its truest sense of the word. You hear nothing in the morning … nothing in the afternoon … and absolutely nothing in the evening. No phone calls to make. No web to browse. And one has to put up with 4 hours electricity per day. Well yeah, it’s a kampong in Papua. What do you expect Lian, I asked myself. I can be very stupid sometimes, can’t I? ;-).

Everyday I kept on saying the same thing to Fr Buce about how quiet the place was as if it was a new discovery of the day. In addition to Fr Buce, there are 4 others who currently live in the parish pastor’s residence namely Brother Wempi, Frater Felix and Frater Adri and Theo, the postulant. They are really nice folks! They cook their own food and do all of the chores themselves. Independent men, huh!

The isolation of the place adds up to the quietness though it is actually not as isolated as other kampongs like Fef or Seya, the place that I visited last Christmas. At least one doesn’t have to hike up for hours to come to Ayawasi. But since there is no public transport available it is pretty hard and expensive to go from one place to another. What available here is the transport (cars) run by individuals who charge the unbelievable prices which I had discussed earlier.

Thanks goodness I got myself busy helping Fr Buce with his research. Otherwise, I can’t imagine how I would survive my life here. I don’t understand how Fr Buce could stand living here for almost 6 years now. He looks like he enjoys his time here. So do the others. I guess one has to be very, very creative in creating jobs for him/herself here. There aren’t many things to do except for some church activities during Easter. In a few days I had already finished visiting most of the nearest kampongs that were accessible by motorbike. And we even rode to Teminabuan (about 4.5 hours ride). It was the longest time I’ve ever sat on a motorbike. Phew!

But that’s about it. And I had to spend 12 days here. The original plan was to head back to Sorong in March 24th. But we were stranded! Since 24th, there was no flight came in to this kampong. Probably it’s because of the holiday. It was hard to get a car (that L200) either. But we finally managed to get one on 26th. Aha, do you know how to order a car without telephone? Well, tell the whole kampong that you need a car and you wait.

Anyway, Ayawasi is actually rather nice and spacious. It’s quite cool in the evening and it rains a lot during the day. It’s a good place to get fat because you will tend to get hungry and sleepy all the time. There’s only problem though. There is no market here. So, fresh food is not always available. Sometimes some people sell vegetables but sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they have chicken to sell, but other times they have nothing. If you are lucky someone may bring some pork or fish from Teminabuan or other kampongs. But you really never know when they will do that. So you cannot plan on what you are going to eat tomorrow or even today. What you would have in your table tomorrow will remain a mystery until just a few hours before lunch time. I find it amusing to guess what we would have for lunch.

Funny though that when you finally have got some food you have to cook it right away for there is no fridge (no use with limited electricity). So there are times when you have to eat pork for 4 or 5 days in a row. Therefore, Fr Buce and his households have to stock up some preserved food, be it instant noodle, canned food, or salted fish. Again, creativity would help a lot here. In spite of this situation, I actually gained weight during my stay in Ayawasi. Thanks to Frater Adri!

Life in Ayawasi - Part II

Ayawasi is a kampong that is located in the “eyes” of the bird’s head of Papua Island. The people who inhabit the area is known as Aifat which is the sub ethnic of Maibrat. The Maibrat ethnic itself consists of Aifat, Aitinyo and Ayamaru.

Ayawasi plays an important part in the history of the Catholic missionary in the bird’s head of Papua. The Parish of Ayawasi is one of the oldest parishes in the Manokwari-Sorong Diocese. It covers the area such as Mare, Karon and Ayawasi and its surrounding. Ayawasi is an all-Catholic and nearly-all-Papuan kampong. The common family names here are Turot, Taa, Saa, Jumte, Tenau, Kosho, Fanataf, etc. This is considered a tough parish to manage. Besides the remoteness of the place, the people are not easy to deal with, says Fr Buce Takerubun, OSA, the parish pastor. They are very critical and are not hesitant to use violence to sort things out. And when this happens no one is spared from their rage. Not even the pastors. In Fr Buce’s words, this is what they said: “Even Jesus was killed by the Jews. So why can’t we kill a pastor?!” Wow!

Jonathan Fatem, Pr, a previous priest here, was almost stabbed with a spear when protecting a murder in the parish residence. Fr Buce himself experienced the similar thing. During his first 3 month being here, some people came to him with knife blades to protest against the building of a bridge. They wanted it to be built somewhere else. They threatened to burn the church and the pastor’s residence. Instead of being intimidated, Fr Buce challenged them to do exactly that and put the gasoline and matches before them. It worked. They took off.

I remember Fr Tromp once told me that this was a typical “game” of the locals. It is the way they communicate with each others. They shout. They scream. They threaten. But that’s basically a bluff. In response, you have to shout, scream or roar even louder, stronger, or fiercer or else they would take you lightly. Fr Buce knows how to play this game.

In addition, probably like other places in the Papua Island, the people here don’t take orders easily, not even from their own parish priest. They wouldn’t do what they are asked to do unless they see that their pastor is also doing or participating in what he is asking them to do. So it’s quite common to see the pastor carrying cements or stones in the cart or fixing the lights in the church, etc. Even the Bishop himself drove a truck to deliver some stuffs to the construction site in the Seminary. I can’t help comparing this situation with the situation in Java or Flores where pastors, monks, nuns are treated with so high of a respect that they seem to come from a different class of society.

One ex fraters from Flores who had been here before told me how he almost cried when visiting one kampong. That night, he had to sleep in a hole of a sago tree after a very long walk. He said it would have never had happened in Flores. He would have been greeted and treated with a great respect. If it had been in Flores, he might have slept soundly in a clean bed.

Life in Ayawasi - Part I

We arrived in Ayawasi at 11.11 pm after 10 hours driving from Sorong. This long, tiresome ride was mostly due to the bad condition of the road. Some parts of the road do not even deserve to be called road. It was so bad that it took us 10 hours to get to Ayamaru which is only 164 km away from Sorong. That included the time we had to spend to wait for or help other cars that got stuck in the muddy road. A truly off-road experience! Luckily we’ve got a first-rate driver who seems to know the road like his own palm. Oh I so trust Oom John, the driver!

In the past, Ayawasi can only be accessed by small aircrafts flown by the Catholic missionaries (Association of Missionary Aviation). The runaway in front of the church complex was built by the missionaries. But Ayawasi can now be accessed by cars in spite of the ridiculous fare. From Sorong to Ayawasi one has to pay Rp300.000 one way per person (with no baggage) to sit in a 4x4 wheel-drive small truck (Mitsubishi L200). Should you bring lots of stuffs with you (your basic necessities or groceries that you couldn’t find in Ayawasi) you could rent that car from Sorong for Rp2.500.000. That’s one way fare! Phew … that’s a lot of money, isn’t it?

I find the transportation fare here outrageous. The local government must work harder to bring it down. To go to Teminabuan i.e. the capital of the Sorong Selatan Regency which is only 117km away from Ayawasi you have to pay Rp 150,000. That’s for 3 hours drive and the road condition is not as bad as that of Sorong – Ayawasi. In contrast, the air conditioned bus fare from Banyumas – Yogjakarta (4 hours drive) is only Rp 35,000 (March 2007). I know it’s not a fair comparison. But, neither should we take this situation for granted. The administration of Sorong Selatan should take this problem very seriously.

The absence of affordable public transport has made the prices of basic necessities in Ayawasi and nearby kampongs unbelievably high. It has made life here harder than it should be. Everything is so damn expensive here. They have to pay Rp15,000-20,000 for 1 liter of gasoline which is normally sold at Rp4,500 everywhere else. 1 bag of cement is traded at Rp135,000. Feel like eating chicken? Well, you have to be willing to spend Rp100,000 for the whole piece of chicken (ayam kampong). Meanwhile 1 egg costs Rp3,000. Phew … It’s so unfair.

Volontaire en Papouasie

As I mentioned in my past posting, Renaud and Fanny are the volunteers from France who help the Sorong-Manokwari Diocese. They both teach English in Seminary Petrus Van Diepen. Renaud is an engineer who works (taking a leave now) for an automobile company in Paris whereas Fanny is a therapist for children with speaking problems.

This is their story (both in French and English):

Merci Lian pour ce blog qui permet de partager la vie d’une volontaire en Papouasie. Et merci de nous donner la parole!

Nous aussi, originaires de France, nous sommes volontaires en Papouasie en tant que volontaires MEP (missions etrangeres de Paris, www.mepasie.org).

Le depaysement est total pour les europeens que nous sommes. Un francais en Indonesie est deja bien depayse mais en Papouasie il l’est encore advantage, la Papouasie est a la fois differente comme chaque ile indonesienne possede sa specificite (nous sommes passes par Java et Bali), mais avec le plan de transmigrations du gouvernement les villes retrouvent une certaine identite indonesienne.

Ce qui frappe au premier abord, c’est la quantite incroyable d’edifices religieux : mosquees cotoient eglises catholiques et protestantes. La population eclectique indonesienne se repartit dans les differentes eglises. La Papouasie est constituee d’une population heterogene, originaire des quatre coins de l’indonesie dans les villes mais des que l’on peut s’en eloigner et qu’on a la chance de survoler cette ile immense, ce ne sont que Papous et foret. Une immense foret vallonnee que parcourent courageusement quelques pistes mais il faut souvent terminer le chemin a pied lorsque l’on veut atteindre un village.

Notre activite ici est de faire pratiquer et faire progresser des enfants en anglais, au sein d’un college catholique (petit seminaire) a proximite de Sorong, a la pointe nord ouest de la Papouasie.

Pour nous, la vie ici est comme un retour aux temps anterieurs parfois (cuisine au feu de bois, douche manuelle a l’eau de pluie, etc.). Les hommes trouvent dans la nature des aliments que nous ne saurions reconnaitre (feuilles, racines, etc.). La cuisine est aussi particulierement depaysante, systematiquement tres chargee en condiments (beaucoup d’ail et beaucoup de saveurs differentes melees), un temps d’adaptation fut necessaire a nos estomacs…

Une de nos difficultes est egalement un probleme de comprehension malgre notre apprentissage de la langue. Nous sommes habitués a une communication plus directe que celle utilisee en Indonesie… Notre bonne vieille France nous manque parfois mais nos familles y remedient en nous envoyant des boites pleines de cochonailles, chocolats et autres livres, ce qui ne fait pas notre joie seule car la communaute dans laquelle nous vivons aime aussi le cochon!

Ceci dit, en comparaison aux mythes qui circulent dans nos pays de l’ouest et dans l’ouest de l’Indonesie, la Papouasie evolue, les villes sont semblables a d’autres villes indonesiennes et les habitants de la foret sont organises en village qui ont parfois l’electricite et ont troque la fameuse gourde a penis contre des vetements (on ne sort l’attirail plus que pour les rares touristes).

Pensees de deux jeunes francais en Papouasie…

Renaud et Fanny de Colombe


Thanks a lot Lian to let us write in that blog which can make us share our life of volunteers in Indonesia, even more in Papua.

We are a young French couple (just married) and volunteers like you, for the association MEP (Missions Etrangeres de Paris, which means Foreign Missions of Paris).

Everything here is completely different from France. In Indonesia already, but even more in Papua where we have the chance to live for one year. What is surprising at first, is the high number of religious buildings of every kind: Mosque, Catholic and Protestant Churches every two hundred meters. As the result of its history, Papua is composed of lots of different people coming from all the Indonesia and believing in different religions. This melting pot can be seen more easily in the big towns than at the countryside where the population is almost a hundred per cent Papuans from the origin. We had the chance to travel in the countryside and to see this culture due to the landscape: Forest, Forest, forest, hill, hill and hill in a huge surface as big as France!!

There are several roads but I don’t know if we can really call them roads because they are very damaged. It must be so difficult to build them that the people who live won’t be invaded for a long time again! There are also some villages that you can reach only by walking for hours or days. We won’t describe this excursion because Lian already did it, but it is true that you have to be quite sportive to do it.

This excursion has been possible during our Christmas holidays. The rest of the time, we work as English Teachers in a Seminary (Catholic school which corresponds to the Junior High School) in Aimas, about 30 kilometers from Sorong. The purpose is to make the children speak English which is completely unusual and not so easy!! More over, we are not at all English teachers in France. But we enjoy it and our every day life.

This life is quite different from our French life much more comfortable. We had to get used to the food: lot of different spices and foods in the same plate with some ingredients, fruits or vegetables which don’t have any translation in French or in English because we don’t use them. We had to get used to the “Indonesian bath” with only a little cup and the water from the rain. We had to get used to the differences of cultures with the problems of comprehension and different ways of communication. The European culture is much more direct than the Indonesian culture. Sometimes, we miss France but we received some boxes from France by our families with the traditional French Saucisson, books and Chocolate….

But all those differences are not as big as we could imagine when we were still in France. In France, when you talk about Papua it is considered as the end of the world with naked people and cannibals. Fortunately for us, it doesn’t have any meaning any more so that we are still alive, dressed and more over we have got the light in our bedroom.

We recommend you to visit this region. Nice to see you there!

Renaud and Fanny de Colombe

The Fairness of Inequality

We all are born unequal. That’s a fact of life. Some are more intelligent, perceptive, better with numbers while others are more athletic, artistic, better with people etc. Some were born with enough or even abundant resources while others were limited in their access to the resources. Instead of the word “unequal”, many would prefer the word “different” or “unique”. We are all unique. I used to think that way, too and I believe that everyone should and could develop their uniqueness to live an authentic life. It is then important to ensure a fair chance for everyone to do so.

But last week this fact of inequality struck me like it never did before. I use the word "inequality" because it seems to me that it is more than just uniqueness.

Starting from the second semester, the students in the seminary Petrus van Diepen, Aimas, are divided into 4 different groups. The division is based on the students’ ranks in the previous semester starting from the highest ranks to the lowest ones. The higher the ranks are, the smarter the students are. Or so it is perceived. The idea is to help the students develop themselves in accordance with their capabilities. It is expected that the smarter ones would no longer get bored when their less smart classmates take longer time to understand the lessons or to put less pressure to the latter when the former get all the questions right. Sounds like a good idea? I find it hard to imagine though how a student would feel if s/he is placed in the group of the lowest ranks. A cold fish in her/his face! What a way to get familiar with the hard fact of inequality at such a young age!

And yes, it is not difficult to see the difference. In fact, it is impossible to ignore it. I instantly noticed it when I entered each class. I started to wonder whether this was a random act of nature. If that so, how unlucky one is when nature decides that s/he should have less capacity than others. How would s/he be able to fare with others if s/he is equipped less than others? Wouldn’t it be unfair? But since when is nature associated with fairness or human conception of fairness? Oh, I'm so naïve, aren't I?

Well, I don’t know exactly how much the contribution of nature and nurture in shaping one’s capabilities. I guess it is too complicated to discuss this issue here. But I heard someone said that “Success is 90% perspiration and 10% aspiration”. In other words, what matters is not what you were born with but what you do about it. This is where characters play its roles. But, what if you were born with certain characters that would hinder you from doing anything to be successful? Some say that is why we need education because it is believed that characters can be shaped by education or trainings.

But, could education really solve the problems? Doesn’t the above class arrangement simply show that the school not only accepts but also confirms and endorses the inequality of its students as defined by the ranks? Is that how we embrace the inequality?

What really bothers me is the idea (or is it the fact?) that those with more resources would fare better than those with fewer resources. Or those who are more intelligent would have more chances than those who are less intelligent. And so on. We could have a very long list here. Hello, where have I been? Why the surprise?Again, I’m being as naïve as I could possibly could today ;-)). Forgive me.

Yes I know that it doesn’t always be the case. We could always find some people who managed to overcome or go beyond their “situatedness”. But what allows them to do that? Nature? Nurture? Again how much are we determined by what nature gives us?

Christmas in Wilderness - II

We arrived in Sun at around 2pm. It took me 4.5 hours while others took 4 hours to arrive in Sun. We spent the night there. It was such a relief to be able to rest and to have a bath after that wearing trip. In the evening, we had a mass in a church/school. But that night I started to get stressed out thinking about the tomorrow’s trip. I was told that the track to Seya from Sun was more difficult. I tried hard to sleep as early as possible in hoping to regain back my energy to face tomorrow. The next morning, I woke up feeling the pain in my feet. However I had no choice but to go on walking. It was indeed a more difficult track.

Having walked for 3.5 hours (for others 3 hours), we finally got to Seya, our destination. Unfortunately I couldn’t take part in the traditional welcoming ceremony since I arrived much later than others. Seya was a lot bigger than Sun. There were some other alternative ways to Seya besides the one from Suswa. You could either come from Sire or Ayawasi (through Mosun). But both ways can only be accessed on foot. By that, I meant walking for more than 8 hours (for the locals). Moreover, should you come from Sorong, you have to drive for 12 hours to Sire and 8–9 hours to Ayawasi. Besides this difficult access, there wasn’t much water in Seya. They had to walk 1-2 km to take water from the spring. What a place to live! There must be something about Seya that people are willing to live there. I honestly couldn’t comprehend this.

According to Engel Semunya, a Seyan who now lives in Sorong, the people of Seya have moved 8th times to the current location which they found in 1993. Gosh, wasn't it still quite recent? I thought a nomadic life was something from the old, ancient times. They moved to seek for a new piece of land or a better access for water or sometimes because they fought among each other. They did fight a lot with each other. Engel could still recall how in 1993 at a very young age, he and the whole village were carrying some furnitures and stuffs to a new place.

That afternoon, an opening ceremony for the new church in Seya was held. It was then followed by the Christmas Mass led by the Bishop. The mass was not only attended by the people who lived in Seya but also by some other people from the surrounding villages and from Sorong. It was the first time a bishop ever stepped foot in Seya. I was sure that they really appreciated this gesture. Mgr. Datus Lega used this opportunity to listen to and to look for the solutions of all kinds of problems that the people in Sun, Seya or Suswa were dealing with, right from the mouth of the horse.

After the mass, the people started to dance the traditional Papuan dance called tumbuk tanah. They did it all night long until the sun rose the next morning. Unfortunately, they did it right in front of the house where I was staying. They were singing while dancing. They were so excited and so loud that I had to spend the whole of Christmas Eve with wide open eyes listening to the sound of tumbuk tanah. My plan to recuperate in order to get ready for tomorrow’s trip was doomed to fail.

At Christmas day, after the mass and lunch, some of us (Reno, Fanny, Rita, myself accompanied by my dayang-dayang and some other locals) left Seya ahead of others who would leave the next day. It was my idea. The thought of walking straight for 8 hours from Seya to Suswa worried me a lot. I was afraid that I would be unable to catch up with the rest of the group. The plan was to spend the night in Sun before heading back to Suswa the next morning. We would arrive in Suswa the same day as the others who left one day later. I suppose it would be more bearable. Apparently some of us had the same thought.

It turned out to be a correct decision. The rest part of the journey, Seya-Suswa and Sun-Suswa, felt different. It looked like my body had made some adjustments that I now could breathe evenly and place my feet swiftly and smoothly between the roots. I began to enjoy the hiking. My self confidence was building up. And I now could look around the forest, felt the cool breeze and smelt the fresh, natural scent of the leaves and earth. I started to see the beauty of the Papuan forest. During the first 2 days, I hardly ever took my eyes off the track for I had to watch over my steps.

And we finally arrived in Suswa on December 26 at around 1pm. The rest of the group arrived later in the afternoon. We all spent the night in Suswa and played cards with the Bishop. He played it really well. I lost to him, and the others, all the time. We had been playing cards in any spare time that we had during the trip. The next day, Sven, that young, cute pilot picked us up to leave for Ayawasi. But it was really the end of the Seya trip. No more hiking. No more leeches. I was relieved. I was glad I made it. But at the same time I regretted that it was over when I just began to enjoy it. I started to miss the hiking in the forest. Don’t we always miss something after it’s gone? Goodbye Seya!

Christmas in Wilderness - I

I finally had a chance to taste the “wilderness” of Papua and saw with my own eyes places that can only be accessed on foot by which I meant walking for hours. Never in my life have I been to that kind of places. I joined the Bishop and some other people including Reno and Fanny Colombe, the volunteers from France, to visit and celebrate Christmas in Seya, Mare District, Sorong Selatan Regency.

We left Sorong on December 23, 2007 with that petite Pilatus. After 35 minutes flight we landed in Suswa, a small village by the river, and stayed there for a few minutes to prepare for the trip. We then left Suswa by crossing the river with a small, gawky boat. They had arranged who among the locals would help us carry our bags. God bless them! Without them, I didn’t know how I would survive the trip. I actually started the journey by carrying my own camera backpack. But in only a few minutes, I had to hand it over because there was no way I could carry it myself. I couldn’t even carry my own jacket. So embarrassing! This first part of the trip i.e. Suswa-Sun was a real challenge to me. Hey, I am a city folk. Have mercy on me ;-).

We had to hike up through the roots in the hilly, wet tropical forest and to tilt along the hillside. The forest was so dense that in some places the sunshine did not reach the surface of the earth making it damp and slippery. I slowly trekked the hill while panting, gasping for air wishing that I had exercised before. I was totally pooped.

During the whole hiking, I was literally “babysat” by 2 people whom I called dayang-dayang”. They, Frater Selvi and Om Emus, with great, utmost care helped me go through the whole hiking. They carried my stuffs, held my hands through the difficult hillside, waited for me when I needed the rest and water … and they even snatched the leeches from my legs. Gosh, I didn’t know how many leeches have glued themselves to my legs. Yuck! I could only scream for help whenever I felt something was biting my leg. They were disgusting. So these dayang-dayang were really my guardian angels. My slow pace had obviously tired them out. I felt guilty but could do nothing about it. They were jokingly (or maybe they really meant it?) offered to carry me in a cart that we could speed up the hiking. Hell no! Yes I was struggling but there was no way I would let them do that. That would be so humiliating, wouldn’t it?

I obviously became the weakest link of the whole group. I was in awe to see how little kids and some women who were carrying their babies walked fast past us. I tried to console myself with the idea that if I had been born in Suswa or Seya, I would have been able to walk like them. Yeah right!