Work trip to Bengkulu

Being part of the Public Participation Subdivision, it was all hands on deck for the annual “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence” campaign which ran from November to December. Part of the campaign included Komnas Perempuan supporting regional events held by partner organisations around the country. I (Nat) was fortunate enough to accompany one of the commissioners (Neng Dara) to the province of Bengkulu in Sumatra from 24 to 27 November 2011.


Arrival at the Bengkulu airport


The house in Kota Bengkulu in which Sukarno was placed under restricted residence 1938-1942


Although a large city, the streets of Kota Bengkulu are relatively quiet

We got straight into it as soon as we landed in the capital city (also called Bengkulu or Kota Bengkulu) on the Thursday with a media audience with local print and television media, our faces featured in the next day’s paper. Our hosts, Cahaya Perempuan Women’s Crisis Centre were gracious enough to drive us around and made life easy.


Sunset on Pantai Panjang

Friday morning saw us attending a public dialogue with civil servants and important government officials who in my view demonstrated a shallow understanding of human rights. There was even an outspoken professor who called it “violence against men” when women wear skimpy clothes because it makes it difficult for men to “resist”.

Being the only “white” person there was like being a celebrity. Even though I was there to assist Neng Dara, everyone wanted photos with me. I even got my name mentioned in the VIP greetings they do at the beginning of speeches.


The clean mountain air of Curup

That afternoon we packed up and made our way to Curup the more rural regency of Rejang Lebong. Driving up into the mountains along windy roads really reminded me of going to Tambunan in Sabah – it was strangely familiar yet unfamiliar. Curop is quite high above sea level and I was looking forward to a more temperate clime. Once there we went straight to Bupati’s (regent) official residence. It was a palatial mansion that was probably unnecessary for the equivalent of a rural mayor. We were greeted in the official reception hall and I was seated next to the man himself. Somehow they had got wind that an Australian was coming and so they had prepared two interpreters! Being some of the few people who could speak English in town, they turned out to be local high school students. I felt that I had let them down when they realised I spoke fluent Indonesian. I also felt awkward that I was receiving so much unwarranted attention. Following food and drink and general chit chat to my added suprise I discovered that Neng Dara, an important lady who was the former head of Cahaya Perempuan and myself would actually staying in the “palace” as VIPs that night. Everyone else had to stay in a hotel. Somehow I also found myself in a suite of sorts. I had my own private lounge room, four-posted bed and spa. Typical of Indonesia I didn’t have a sink or toilet paper though. By some stroke of further weirdness, the other VIP lady who was a founder of Cahaya Perempuan used to live in this house 6 years ago when her husband was randomly bupati of this regency! She still knew some of the servants by name and told me that my room was where they used to house visiting governors and other big shots. Wow the things you get for being a white person.

With my 'translators' at the Bupati's residence in Curup

In true Indonesian style, the spa in my suite in the Bupati's residence had been turned into a water container

The next day’s event went quite well. I’m beginning to understand though that Indonesian officials will generally open an event but do not stay for it. As soon as the bupati gave his speech, the prayer was read and he left. Half the other officials in the audience walked out with him, leaving lower-ranking officials and government servants (mostly women) to remain.

At the public dialogue in Curup

Overall despite the unwarranted attention, it was a great experience. By starting my days early, I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of sightseeing and I made some great friends. Bengkulu is interesting as despite being beautiful (and far cleaner than most of Java), is not really a tourist destination. The province was a former British colony until 1824 when it was traded to the Dutch for Malacca (and Singapore). Bengkulu still has the marvellously preserved Fort Marlborough which I visited and stunning beaches. I also made it to the Suban hot springs while in the mountains. Though apparently the capital has a population nearing 1 million people, there are few high-rise buildings and shopping centres, giving it the rural feel of a small town that’s just very spread out. I didn’t encounter any fast food outlets and roads were basic at best. It was refreshing to breath the unpolluted air!

The waterfall at Suban

The heated pool at the Suban hotsprings was empty at 6am

Fort Marlborough in Kota Bengkulu

Indonesia v Malaysia soccer

An experience like no other is to watch an Indonesian soccer match. Many of my work colleagues warned me not to go as they can frequently turn dangerous but we threw caution to the wind and went to see Indonesia v Malaysia for the final group match of the SEA Games soccer tournament at the ageing Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.



Indonesia considers Malaysia its biggest rival in everything it does, particularly in sport. Strangely, this is largely a one-way thing as most Malaysians are unaware of this rivalry, more often measuring themselves against benchmarks set by Singapore. Nevertheless, this soccer match was set to be a dazzler and given our Sabahan links we couldn’t miss it.

Indonesians are fanatical about their national team and these emotions are amplified tenfold when up against Malaysia in soccer or badminton. Over 100,000 people squeezed into the 85,000-capacity stadium which meant that in the event of an emergency we were done for. The crowds rushed the ticket gates and officials were unable to control the stampede. We later learnt that 2 people died that night.


View of the crowd at one of the gates as they rush the turnstiles

The atmosphere was electric but I was disappointed at how disrespectful the crowd was towards the visiting team, booing during the Malaysian national anthem and chanting obscenities the whole game. Nevertheless Malaysia won the game 1-0 silencing the crowd. The two teams later met again in the final which was also won by Malaysia.

At least we can say we survived an Indonesian soccer match!




The crowd atmosphere before the game

Candice starts work at Sahabat Anak

I began work on the 30th of September 2011. After 4 months acting as a lady of leisure house wife I was really looking forward to getting back into full time work. Life had been pretty sweet lying by the pool, catching up with people for lunch and going to the salon for cream baths (a wonderful Indonesian head massage/hair masque). Only problem was I really didn’t have enough friends who also had nothing to do in the day time…so I started to get a little bored.

AVI has helped me find a position with an organisation called Sahabat Anak. They work with street children in Jakarta and focus on education and advocating for children’s rights. Before we came here I knew I wanted to work with an organisation that cared for the urban poor in Jakarta. Jakarta is a tough place to live and although it is a city full of millionaires, it is also a city full of people who can’t even scrape together enough for one meal a day. Children are particularly vulnerable in this environment. Frequently they do not attend school as they have to beg, busk or sell bits and bobs on the streets. They either earn money to feed themselves or to support their families. Frequently they experience physical and sexual abuse from private citizens but also from authorities as well. They are susceptible to becoming prostitutes or even being trafficked as sex slaves. Sahabat Anak is working hard to form friendships with as many street children as possible. Through developing friendships with the children they are able to provide quality programs that suit their needs such as educational, nutritional and health programs. Sahabat Anak aims to get children back into formal education and help these children dream of a bigger and brighter future. Already 15 of the children Sahabat Anak has worked with have continued onto university despite all the obstacles it takes to get them there.

My job title is Public Relations Advisor and consists of a whole array of things. Mostly I am looking into their social media networks and developing a blog for them while also improving their website. The internet is the biggest form of communication in this day and age and most foreigners who come to Jakarta hear about Sahabat Anak via the web in some shape or form. However, I really have no idea how to do all this, so thank God for YouTube tutorials. I am also working together with the Sahabat Anak team to develop a survey in order to collect data on the children that they work with.

While all this is going on I am also helping organize a fun run for the 18th of December in conjunction with The Jakarta Globe (a local English newspaper here). We also have a campaign which will run next year with The Jakarta Globe and Starbucks which I am also a part of.

There is certainly a lot going on. Our office is being renovated, so we are working in a construction site, and we also share our office with one of Sahabat Anak’s projects with is the Children’s Activity Centre – an informal school for street teens who are unable to access formal education. The kids are great though and are helping me learn more and more Indonesian. Although most of the time I have no idea what they are saying. I have loved the whole experience so far. And I am keen for next year and all the new projects I will be working on!

Jakarta weekend escapes

Life in Jakarta can be tough if you don’t get out now and then. The good thing is there are plenty of awesome weekend trips to do to escape the Big Durian. And yes it does occasionally smell like one. Krakatoa in our last post was one of the many we’ve done this year. Here are a few more we’ve managed to squeeze in over the last couple of months

Grand Final Weekend in KL (Candice: 29 Sept, Nat: 30 Sept – 2 Oct)

Although Candice left a couple of days earlier, this really was a weekend trip for me. Kuala Lumpur is only a couple of hours flight from Jakarta and is a welcome distraction every now and then for some good food. Although I have never really liked KL, it’s so much cleaner than Jakarta it almost feels like being in Singapore! We decided to catch up with some friends to watch the AFL Grand Final at a pub, an event hosted by the Malaysian Warriors Australian Rules Football Club. Thankfully much to the delight of everyone assembled Geelong thrashed Collingwood.

Bandung (29-30 Oct)


Asia-Afrika Street in Bandung

We’d been talking about going to Bandung for ages but kept putting it off. There’s an executive shuttle bus that leaves from almost right outside our front door and so one day we just booked tickets and went for the weekend. Leaving on the Saturday morning at 5.15am after a long dose of karaoke the night before probably didn’t help but at least we got two full days to play around with.


Bandung's art-deco buildings have seen better days

Bandung is the fashion capital of Indonesia and attracts hordes of local and international tourists for it’s “cheap” shopping. We couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about as the prices weren’t that low. The city has its drawcards but apart from some art deco buildings in the city and the shopping, there aren’t many places of interest and the museums are mediocre. Thankfully the day trips outside Bandung are amazing. We were able to get public transport to Tangkuban Prahu volcano and back. It took up a whole day but was worth it. There weren’t a whole lot of non-Indonesian tourists there which meant the souvenirs were tacky. It was colder than Bandung but not cold enough for fur coats and hats!


Candice at one of Tangkuban Prahu's active craters


The hotsprings


The eerie mountain mist and foliage made it look like something from LOTR


Waste not, want not. We'll just have to use it again.

Pulau Tidung (12-13 Nov)



Having already been to Tiger Island (Pulau Macan) with our expat friends earlier this year, it was time to try an Indonesian equivalent in the Seribu Islands. Pulau Tidung was about a tenth of the price and we managed to squeeze in a weekend trip with some of my Komnas Perempuan workmates.

Getting on the boat at Muara Anke


Children on the narrow streets of Tidung

It was a truly Indonesian experience and while we had a great time I don’t recommend Westerners come here if you’re not prepared to forego certain comforts you may be accustomed to. The electricity on the island had been out for almost a month but the tour agent hadn’t bothered to tell us that our ‘air-conditioned’ accommodation would actually be an oven.
There are about 2000 people who live on the small island and motorcycles are everywhere; no cars though as the laneways are too narrow. The island is probably only 50 metres wide but is a few kilometres in length. Technically it comprises two islands joined by a man-made bridge – and it’s definitely worth a weekend exploration.


Candice and Andy on the way to snorkelling


Sunset

Baduy (18-20 Nov)

The Baduy people are a small indigenous community that live only about 170kms from Jakarta in Banten. Ethnically and linguistically Sundanese, the Baduy have lived in relative isolation for at least 400 years. They are accorded a special status by the Indonesian government and live in a large forest reserve. The Baduy shun modern technology such as electricity and machinery. They are culturally forbidden to use modern vehicles and must walk barefoot everywhere. Often they will walk for days to cities like Bandung and Jakarta to sell their wares.


The Baduy village we stayed in

The population of less than 10,000 people are separated into two clans: the Inner Baduy (Baduy Dalam) and the Outer Baduy (Baduy Luar). The Outer Baduy villages form a ring around the Inner Baduy villages and are tasked with protecting the latter from outside influence and visitors. The Inner Baduy only wear white or black traditional cloth and safeguarding Baduy culture, rituals and sacred sites. The Outer Baduy on the other hand usually wear blue or black traditional dress. It was common to see young Outer Baduy males wearing modern dress – some even had Blackberries (who knows how they charge them without electricity). Some live on the fringes and are permitted to use vehicles. School is forbidden for all Baduy and very few can speak Indonesian.


An inner Baduy father and son acting as porters


Some of our group pose as Baduy women walk by


The river which is the source of everything

We were privileged to be able to visit the Outer Baduy for a weekend with a cool travel group we’ve discovered called Road Less Travelled. We stayed in an Outer Baduy village but unfortunately non-Indonesians (including Indonesian Chinese) are forbidden from visiting the Inner Baduy. We did however meet many Inner Baduy people who travelled through the village we were in.


Anjee and I opening durian of which were not in short supply


The naturally-formed hanging bridge which took 50 years to grow

And no our life isn’t just about travelling but we want to showcase some of the cool weekend trips one can do from Jakarta.

Krakatoa, an Island Volcano

On the weekend of 17 September 2011 we set out for the famed volcano-island of Krakatoa with Horst, Alice and Farina. Located in the Sunda Straight, Krakatoa is only a few hours away from Jakarta.


The boat ride

The volcano achieved infamy in 1883 when it erupted killing approximately 40,000 people and affecting the world’s weather and skies for the next 3 years. Extraordinary sunsets and skies could be seen as far away as Northern Europe. The eruption was so great that it blew the whole island apart, leaving nothing in the middle but sea. Decades later in 1927, an island began to emerge from the sea in place of the old crater and it was aptly named Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa). This newer addition now forms the centrepiece of the Krakatoa islands and regularly erupts. Other than lizards, birds and insects, the island is uninhabited and still highly volatile.

Krakatoa

After a 1 ½ hour boat ride, we spent time snorkelling around Rakata Island and then hanging out on Krakatoa itself. The islands themselves are uninhabited and but the fertile soil ensures quick growth after each eruption. The sand was black. After a barrage of 'crack' jokes, we pitched our tents for the night and proceeded to climb the mountain. The ascent was relatively easy except we were not able to go all the way to the summit as it was too dangerous.


At Rakata

Jetstar jumps on Krakatoa

View of the smoky summit as we climb

Climbing the volcano


View of Rakata Island from the mountain

Krakatoa looms out of the sea like an angry chimney. Lined with sulphur, it looks like it is snow or ice-capped. In fact the higher you climb, the hotter it gets. From the high ground we were able to see the other three islands in the group: Sertung, Panjang and Rakata.

Our guide, "Black" recounted an incident a few months prior when he was climbing the volcano with two French tourists and it suddenly erupted, hurling head-sized boulders down the mountainside. The three of them ran for their lives and thankfully nobody was injured. He predicted the volcano would erupt in approximately two weeks time. Sure enough, two weeks later we read that it was a no-go zone.




Cheesy video evidence that we've been to the Big Krak

Great snorkelling around Krakatoa


Lunch in Carita the next day

Flores and Komodo Dragons

As we mentioned in our last post, throughout the month of August it was Ramadan in Jakarta. This is a time when Muslims fast for the entire month and at the end they have a holiday called Lebaran where the fast finishes. Everyone in Indonesia gets about a week off for Lebaran. At this time there is a mass exodus from Jakarta as everyone goes back to their hometown to be with their families. So Nat and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get out and see some of Indonesia and as we knew that it would be crazy in the Muslim-populated areas of Indonesia we opted for a trip to the predominantly Christian island of Flores.

The view from the water from a hill in Labuan Bajo

Flores was spectacular! The landscape was completely different to anything we had ever seen in the South East Asian region. It is the dry season at the moment and it was completely dry! We flew into Labuan Bajo which is the fastest growing city in the province of Nusa Tenggara. This is because Labun Bajo is the gateway to Komodo and Rinca Islands where the unique and dangerous Komodo dragons can be found. However, Labuan Bajo does not resemble much of a city it looks more like a haphazard construction site.

We ventured out of Labuan Bajo on a two-day, one-night trip to Komodo and Rincah islands. The boat we took had no life jackets and no radio, even though we had been assured that these would be provided - welcome to Indonesia. We cruised around a number of different islands en route to Rincah island. Rincah is the less-famous and smaller version of Komodo. Here Komodo dragons can also be found as well as monkeys, wild buffalo and bird life. When we arrived on the island we were greeted by our first Komodo dragon that was sunning itself by the entrance to the island. The guides on the island took us around with a stop off at the kitchen used by the rangers. Underneath the kitchen were heaps of Komodo dragons. They are not fed by anyone but they apparently come because they can smell the food. After this we went on a big tour of the island and saw the nests in which the female Komodo dragons lay their eggs. We eventually came to a watering hole where three wild buffalo were bathing. Lying near by, quietly, were two Komodo dragons waiting for their opportunity to bite and kill the buffalo.

Trekking Rincah Island



Komodo dragons

A Komodo dragon can eat half its body weight in food. To kill a buffalo they will attack it while it is in the watering hole and bite it. A komodo dragons bite has over 60 types of bacteria in it therefore the bite will eventually kill the buffalo. It can take up to two weeks for the buffalo to

die but the Komodo dragon will wait patiently and then gorge itself on the buffalo. Komodo and Rincah are actually quite big and way too large to walk around in a day. There are even villages on both islands which existed before the whole area was gazetted as a national park. The locals have

grown used to living with Komodo dragons and everything is on stilts. Komodo dragons have been known to kill and eat humans (especially children) so it’s worth taking precautions.

On our way back to our boat we went by the kitchen again where we spotted two Komodo dragons passionately mating (as it is mating season at the moment)! What a sight!

Komodo dragons mating

Our trip continued on with some snorkelling around the islands. It was amazing and so colourful with millions of fish. However, you can see the damage that tourism and fishing are doing to the reefs and I am not sure that it will look so beautiful in years to come. We visited the famous “Pink Beach” which has a pinkish tinge due to red coral in the sand. Unfortunately while snorkelling we were all attacked by thousands of little prickles in the sea that must be related to jellyfish. They stuck to our clothes and hair and stung like hell! Nat: I have still not been able to identify these thorn-like creatures but perhaps they were jellyfish larvae.

The random prickles that attacked us

That night we slept out on the boat, which literally meant we slept on some mattresses on the deck of the boat. It was so quiet and so nice to be under the stars.

Pink beach - where the sand looks pink

Sunset

The next day we continued onto the famous Komodo island. The scenery here was spectacular and we saw many more Komodo dragons sunning themselves in the morning sun. We also saw jungle chickens, wild boar and deer. The island seemed to be teeming with life. After Komodo island we went to some deeper waters to try and find manta rays! What an experience that was! As the boat sailed through the water we found huge manta rays flipping there fins above the surface at the same time the guide on the boat told us to jump in (with our snorkel gear on) and follow the rays. Candice saw a couple but Nat was too slow in jumping in and missed most of the rays.

Komodo island

As close as Nat dares to get

For our last two days in Flores we went out to another island (Seraya Island) and stayed the night in some very cute bungalows. It was very relaxing and nice to lie on the beach. Nat went for an exploration of the island and found many goats running around, some were even in trees.

On our last day in Flores we headed inland to a beautiful waterfall. It was incredible to see the ever changing land scape of Flores. The people up in the villages were extremely poor and it was

a bit of a shock to the system after seeing all the wealth in Jakarta. We trekked through rice fields and forest to get to the waterfall while a hoard of local children followed us and taught us words in their local language, Manggarai. The waterfall was beautiful and freezing and well worth the trek. Once we trekked back to our staring point we sat down and some of the other people who were with us shared their food around with the local children. It was amazing to see the children break biscuits in half and share them with the other children. No one asked us for money and no one tried to sell us anything. They were a group of people who were as intrigued to see us, as we were to see them.

To cap off our trip we popped in to Bali for a couple of days to visit fellow-volunteers Dennis and Deborah. Whatever the criticisms of the fact Bali is too touristy, we have to admit Legian beach has beautiful sunsets!