Campur - Mixture

Here's a little bit of everything over the last few weeks - seems ike longer but checking the calendar it is a short time since my last post!
Starting with today and going back, just finishing the first real rain since last April. It was the rain of the rainy season as I remember it from it's height. It has rained hard for the last two hours and luckily I just beat it home on my motor bike as riding in the rain is something I am bent on trying to avoid as much as possible. First and foremost for safety sake. The potholes and rocks on the road cover quickly in this kind of rain, leading to head over heels transport or skidding off the road. In this rain, just when you think it can't rain any harder it does. It's amazing how fast a lot of water can fall. This afternoon at the office it was so hot the 5 of us there were perishing. Our director came out of his office complaining and I sat in the small room the size of a bedroom with 3 other staff and the one and only fan going full blast. I could hardly keep my eyes open and felt totally drained fromt he stifiling air. We should have known "hujung datang" (rain is coming).

When I got on my bike to head home I could feel the change in the air and got a few drops as I pulled into home. Otherwise I would have been trapped for another two hours and coming home in the dark as by 6:15 it is dark. The kids of the neighbourhood have been playing in the rain since it began, some getting out the soccer ball and others running around with plastic pop bottles collecting the rain and throwing it at each other. By the end of an hour the smallest were shivering as there's nothing like a good rain to cool one off. Problem is our house doesn't cool down even with front and back doors wide open. Seems the heat just rises to the ceiling and hangs there! I have my fan on me as I type, but can join the mosquitoes on the balcony and cool off.

James and my coordinator Rusty

Last week was our volunteer and partner organization workshop to look back over our previous year and map progress of volunteer activity with our partners and plan for this next year of VSO/CUSO in Indonesia.

my coordinator and I presenting our year in review

It was a successful event of two days, hosted by VSO in Bali. This was followed by our Volunteer Conference which is planned by the volunteers here for the volunteers. Staff of VSO are welcome to join us, which they do, but it is our event. We had two days of Lifelong Learning as our theme this year. I was on the committee for the planning of the conference and as some may recall, as part of this I was on the welcome and orientation committee voted in at last year's conference. I handed over my position this year at the new elections and a full new committee of 3 will now take us through 2013.

The conference went very well by all evaluations and in most part due to the number of volunteers who came forward to provide presentations. We had a sampling of Waste Management at our Organizaiton and Home, ( very crucial here!!!), Forestry Management here and in Canada, Sharing Knowledge and Changing Mindsets, and Yoga to stay healthy in placement and after motor biking on rough roads, (very good for me since I went down on my bike yesterday coming from my office down a very broken steep hill) no bones broken, just knocked the wind out of me and bruises.

facilitating but looks like I'm going to be sick!

This is only a sampling of topics and with such a mixture and sharing our skills between us, we realized what an awesome community of volunteers we have here in Indonesia spread over 3 islands, often not seeing each other for months and only once in a year all together. Some of the conference was a bit nostalgic as we said goodbye to Richard who has shared his Kenyan expertise in Indonesia for 3 years! Also Meghan heading home to Canada, soon James and Peter finishing their 2 years and going back home to Kenya and Uganda mid January.

volunteer workshop

Oh and forgot about the kittens! When Laurie and arrived back from our vacation momma cat had decided it was nice and quiet on our outdoor dishwashing area to have her babies. See photo! Unfortunately, we had to get water into our cistern and the big hose and men from the water truck were just a bit disturbing! She moved them her first chance.

My last "so long" is to my housemate Anna who is re-locating partiallly to Jakarta and will not be in Kupang very often. It is hard to see her go as we have shared some good laughs and helped each other around the house. She retains her share of the house though as she promises to drop in. But, a new VSO volunteer has arrived in Kupang by the name of Nelly and she will be with me here in the house, so we are just finding our way around each other and looking forward to getting to know each other better.

So I say good night to all of you, or I guess good morning for those of you who have subscribed and will see the post when you wake. We'll connect again soon.

Satu Tahun - One Year

bike tour Ubud/Mt. Batur

At this one year point there is so much to look back on and so many new experiences to recall. Hopefully the blog over the last year has captured some of those experiences - sure it has! but I can never really explain the day to day life unless you are here exprencing it with me. I have had the wonderful opportunity to do exactly that with my friend Laurie - first on two weeks of holiday then just over a wekk here in Kupang living my day to day life with me.

Ijen Crater and Sulphur lake

Holiday time took us to see some great sights on the island of Java such as the city of Yogjakarta, commonly called "Jogja" World Heritage site of temple Borodradur, temple Prambadan, Mount Bromo, Ijen Plateau and Ijen Crater. Of course we had to have the obligatory "bus ride from hell" and on looking back we were laughing and joking about the day and how we survived it. We forget we aren't 30 anymore. But we survived and have a story to tell.  we've climbed the top of a mountain to see the sunrise - long time since I was up at 3:30 am - maybe last time to feed babies - long time ago since son Robin turns 43 tomorrow.

tofu making at Borobradur

On return to Kupang with Laurie I scurried to sweep up the two belly up cockroaches in the living room and found were pretty much out of water in our cisternas the pump didn't work to fill my water holding tub in the toilet room. So out to the street to find someone to help me call a water truck to come and a neighbour kindly called the truck he uses and made sure we didn't pay too much for the fill. Next step to turn on the pump to give us the water to flush our toilet and slosh over us for a "bath" No pump action! Now a bit of panic as I had drained the tub to keep mosquitoes from finding a home to lay their eggs while I was away so a call to my housemate Anna on holiday on Java to get the number for our landlady. Then a call to Berty to ask her assistance in talking to the landlady to explain the problem and see if she will pay for repairs. Of course not, all household problems are ours but she did send a repair man who in 5 minutes finished the repair and was reluctant to take any money so, 50,000 rupiah and a bunch of bananas late, off he went happy as a clam.

tofu vat

Now with water, a short lesson for Laurie that no, you don't climb into the tub, you use the small bucket to scoop and slosh over you for a bath and you slosh it into the toilet too for a flush.

Traditional Dance Festival in Soe

Several visits with friends in for dinner, our new volunteer in Kupang arriving and staying with us and visits to friends homes  filled our week, rounded out with a weekend to Soe to attend a huge festival of traditional dance. There were at least 50 booths set up selling and displaying local handicrafts and food and a very full evening of watching and participating in the dancing.

 Such fun and an overnight at the organization my colleague James works at as they have rooms for women escaping violence that were not being used at the time.

Laurie the potter

James and his friends took us by motor bike the next day to tour around this central part of West Timor to a beautiful lookout in the hills and a fabulous waterfall like none I'd ever seen, with many plateaus for pools to form and paddlers to enjoy. It is a major tourist attraction in the area and enjoyed by local people on the weekends. It was great to paddle in the water and enjoy the greenery and cooler temperature of the hills. A fine reprieve fromt he intense heat of Kupang.

Ijen Crater

A great holiday and lots of memories added to our repertoir in more than a  35 year long friendship.

Hidup Setiap Hari - Everyday Life

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One year ago I was winging my way to Indonesia and what a year it has been. I have just finished my time with my first visitor, friend Laurie. We had a great time together as we always do, saw new sights for me and for Laurie, Java, Bali and West Timor.

I was going to do a bit of recap of the year but as always “every day in Indonesia is a mystery” – my constant saying.

Very sad news this week that the young man I wrote about in my May5  Blog by the name of War has died. He never got to go to his upgrading and technical training on the island of Sulawesi, which was our dream and his. He didn't get away in May as we thought he would. Not sure of the reason.

He became ill in June and was hospitalized with massive water retention and over the summer his father sought a traditional healer, then he was back in hospital this last month and died of what sounds like kidney failure. I think more than his kidneys failed him.

Laurie was still here, so she came to the village with Berty my colleague and I to pay our respects at his home where he lived with his grandparents. His bed had been moved to the main room of the house, where we had all sat only 6 months ago discussing the possibility of him going away to school. He was dressed in the traditional village wear and covered by a thin lace cover. His family sat on the floor around him and the cries were what Laurie likened to an Irish wake. It was so sad. Villagers came and sat outdoors of the home under the newly erected tarps held up by bamboo poles. This was not an event I wished to record but War deserves the respect of being honoured as a symbol of all of those who die young. Like all of those young people, he hoped for a better future and was excited to finally be moving forward in a life that had stagnated after his polio at age 13.

War Loinati: In Memorium

Photo from May.

War died at age 20 and it was the day the interviews to go to Sulawesi were finally being held. He would have been on his way.