Selamat Tahun Baru 2013 - Happy New Year 2013

our room on Lombok

A second New Year and again on Bali. This time my Christmas was spent with Don here and although the time went very quickly, it was quality time. The volunteer experience goes well beyond the actual time spent in placement and in a country far from home. It lasts a lifetime – memories of people, places and activities. Many volunteers tell me that going back home is often tough because there is no one there who can share your experiences or understand the context. I am very fortunate in that I have had my friend Laurie come here and now Don over the Christmas vacation time. Both will listen to my reminiscing as loved ones do, but they will also be able to understand, which helps lots on the return home and in the years to come, as it’s the people one meets that will stay in the memories most of all.

obviously Pam on the rented bike

 The great part was having Don at home with me in Kupang, meeting my workmates and friends who support me in my volunteer role and in managing my time far from home. They are now real to him and they welcomed him as they have me.

As I continue my second year here, of course there are reports to write, documenting activities and work-planning for the months to come. Not much different from colleagues at home!

sunset at Sengigi, Lombok Island

I hope this short Blog and of photos from the Christmas break finds all of you well and ready for whatever 2013 brings – both of us rented motor bikes in Bali and on Lombok Island and had a great time touring. I just realized most photos are on Don’s camera as it wings its way home to Canada!

All the best in the New Year to all of you, friends and family and friends of friends!

Kursi Roda Mengantarkan - Wheelchair Delivery

suggestion through the window!

Some days are just worth getting up for! Oh I know, all days are worth getting up for as the alternative is not great but this one was definitely worth it. Berty and I met a 20 year old woman a few weeks ago who had a motorcycle accident at age 17 and lost both of her legs. She is a high amputee and although there was insurance money involved and she was able to go to Bali for prosthetics she found them very heavy as she is just a slight bit of a thing as many are in Indonesia, one finally broke when the knee lock gave way and finally, when her stumps shrunk after the first year, they didn't fit. So, with nowhere for repair and re-fitting and the heavy weight she has done without. Her mother lifts her when she needs to get on the back of a motor bike and she doesn't go out much even to her church as it is just too difficult to get around once there.
So, we began asking questions about re-fits, lighter prosthetics, even knowing how diffiult high level leg prosthetics are to use, especially without good instruction and rehab. We learned the province does supply wheelchairs but the budget for this year is gone and she would have to wait until April.

But, good ol' Berty has made a good relationship with the disabled persons organization (DPO) by the name of PERSANI, which I located in my chats with Handicap International last February.  With a call to PERSANI Berty asked if they happened to have a spare chair that could be borrowed and out of the blue they had one that someone did not need any longer and were willing to send it out to our new friend Elmi in the village of Oesena! Hers to keep.

We rented a driver and car today and loaded up the chair, stopped by the village office to take some officials with us in order to educate them on the spot what is available for disabled people and to enlist any other help for accessability to the home, the church in the village. Great teachable moment!

Been a long time since the Glenrose days

Turned out even better as they had ideas on how to make the chair fit her better, cut the arms down and re-weld to the right height, take the foot rests off as she doesn't need them. I demonstrated the use of the brakes and the importance of them and how to turn. It's been a long time since I worked at Glenrose Rehab Hospital and learned about whelchair use. They all had a great laugh, then she showed how she could transfer from chair to chair. She was so happy and brave to use it right off. A neighbour man came by and hung through the window to put in his two cents worth on how to cut the arms down. (see photo above).


A Merry Christmas to all of you at home, and although we have chosen not to buy decorations for our house, we do have them in our yard - a full white pointsetia tree and beside it some sort of evergreen!!!! no snow in sight though!
If anyone is trying to buy a last minute gift for someone who has everything, don't forget about my fundraising page at CUSO that helps to send volunteers oversees - not money in the form of charity but volunteers to learn and share in another culture. (Absolutlely no pressure!!) Love to all, Pam in Indonesia.

Our Christmas Trees

Tidur Luar - Sleep Out

So what does one, or two, in this case do when living in 30C climate when the power goes out! Get creative.

First a little background info. Our house has windows that open, a screen door to the balcony and very high ceilings. But, when we asked the owner to put screens on the openings that are traditionally put at the top of the walls just under the ceilings in Indonesian homes, she decided on her own that would not be attractive so put in glass and had it cemented in! So, when the day is 30C plus, it cools a little at night to about 27C but not our house. It holds the heat which has nowhere to go even if we can get an errant breeze to pass through. This isn’t often as the evening goes on as the breezes go down in the night.

 

So, back to our story. My new housemate and VSO/CUSO volunteer and I started the adventure when our power went off at 11pm one night. That means our fans go off in our bedrooms too. So by 1 am I was sitting out on the balcony where it was only slightly cooler, but the mosquitoes finally drove me in. They don’t swarm as they do at home but there’s enough to make it uncomfortable and since I seem to have developed allergic reactions to some of the bites, I chose not to look like the alien from the red planet the next day as the bites swelled to red blotches on me, and went in side to splay on my bed and breathe deeply and slowly and hope not to perish before morn. I heard Nelly wander out at 3 am in search the same as I had but soon to return to her room.

Next day, still no power, the whole city went out for the night but most back on in the morning except our neighbourhood. A power station had a fire and not back in form yet. So, now our fridge is defrosting! And my one package of stewing beef being saved for a special occasion. It got cooked up on our gas that night! So as the second night approached these two women first had short panic about living through another night, searched out our candles and my headlamp and got creative.

Headlamp helps

We have 3 wooden benches on our balcony, put two together for my long body and one with a chair at the end for Nelly’s petite one. I put my yoga mate on mine for a mattress but that didn’t last long as my bones needed the cushions off of our couch as did Nelly. We got a mosquito coil going between the benches and the grande finale was her mosquito net, yet unused, would at the last minute be pulled over us from the back of the benches making a tent just as we did as children making tents on the living room furniture!

Worked like a darn and I had a great sleep! Exhaustion from the last night probably helped but it was pretty comfy. Nelly woke me from a deep sleep at 1:30 am to say lights were on so of course the power was back. I became Linus, dragged my pillow and sheet – not required as far too hot – and dragged them back to my bedroom and fell into bed.

Now we are back to the usual short outages just because, but they are bearable.

Never underestimate the value of a campout!!!!!

Hari ini laporan: Report of today

gambling on the graves

Just a little bit but had to capture this before it is out of memory and thought you readers might enjoy. I have been needing to go and register with our neighbourhood "head man" so he knows who is living in his area of responsibility.

One goes to him if there are ever neighbourhood issues to be sorted and if there is an emergency, then he knows who should be accounted for - a good way of mini census.


I asked one of the young moms who live next to me to take me to introduce me to him as having someone introduce a person to another is more polite here than me just arriving to introduce myself. When I went to find my neighbour Yenti she was outside with her women friends as all the young ones were having afternoon naps. It is customary here to bury your loved ones in the yard if you have the money and because the ground is so hard and rocky, they are above the ground tombs. SO, the women of the neighbourhood, about 6 of them, were sitting on one of the tombs as is common (you keep your relatives company and it is a nice flat surface to sit on too) and they were in the middle of a game, with a mitt full of money - yes they were gambling!  What a sight! Reallly caught me by surprise. I went today to see if I can watch and join them just to learn what they are doing but not to play! Would probably lose my VSO allowance in a minute of play. And get the pic if the let me. (turns out it's illegal so they hid the money for the photo op.)A
Then this evening walking back from dropping off my garbage a girls choir was practising on the steps of the school and I stopped to listen. Their voices were so sweet and clear and their choir director was sure putting them through their paces. She saw me listening from the street and after their piece, she turned and I clapped and all the girls clapped too!!!

A lovely exchange and hardly a word said. Put a lift in my step the rest of the way home. Again, wish I had my camera with me. Will start carring it everywhere again but these are just daily activites I'm doing when I come across these little snippets, so not prepared as a tourist!