Indah sekali, tapi susah untuk projekt...

FGD Tolikara Day 2:

It’s a really good thing I let go of the FGD’s going as planned before we came and instead was praying that it would be fruitful and we would get information, even if things went nothing like we had planned.

I woke up at 6 and Rahel was already in the kitchen cooking, so I joined her. With 1 burner and a full meal to cook (big breakfast, snacks, big dinner was our plan), it took a while. Full breakfast meant rice, vegetables, and eggs or chicken, all cooked in oil of course. I thought it would be much easier and faster to just wake up and eat a big bowl of oatmeal or cold cereal, but back in January someone told me – it’s not a meal without rice!

Here’s a little cooking lesson…
1.Cook the rice and chop the vegetables
2.Heat minyak goreng (frying oil) in a pan
3.Add chopped cabe, bawang putih, and bawang merah (hot peppers, garlic, and onions)
4.Add cut up carrots and potatoes
5.Add cut up beans and cauliflower
6.Add a packet of spices and salt and a little water
7.Cook until soft
8.Fry chicken or eggs
9.Eat with kecap manis or saus tomato (sweet soy sauce or ketchup)

So anyways, breakfast finished, they didn’t really know where the churches were so they asked after breakfast. If it were me at home – I’d have had all my directions together the night before so I wouldn’t show up late or get lost, and I'd probably not sleep worrying about getting lost and being late! …but at about 8:45 (we were supposed to start at 9!) we finally had everything together and left.

Our plan for the day was Aruku and Gileme – two of the farthest churches, so to get there meant taking an ojek and walking a lot. Might be the stupidest thing I have ever done to take an ojek, I prayed the whole time. It wasn’t all that scary, I just knew it was probably risky. Later I found out Rahel was thinking about safety though – we sometimes walked where we could have taken ojek’s because the roads were worse and Rahel was “takut” afraid – I think for me.

We got off at the top of the hill and walked down. First we passed Gileme, where Thoni and Rahel spoke with someone to let them know we were here. There weren’t many people around, and we found out someone in Gileme had died, and that means there was a “duka” – I really don’t know what all that entails – but is basically the mouring/funeral tradition and everyone goes. We also found out that like Kolenggar, they thought a doctor was coming and many people had showed up yesterday at our scheduled time.

Since Aruku is close to Gileme, we weren’t sure whether people would be there or at the duka. It is one of the farthest churches/villages in the cluster from the city and at the bottom of the hill/mountain we had come over. There was a school and a cluster of buildings. Outside the fence there were some women and children sitting around, no one specifically for our FGD. They were not as receptive as Kolenggar and were a little intense. However we went in the compound and sat down outside a honai where a grandmother was sitting. There were only a few mothers and some young women (unmarried), but we started anyways. It went ok, got “cukup” (enough) information, but not as good as the day before.

I looked over at one point to where Thoni and Otinus were supposed to be doing their FGD with the fathers, but I only saw Otinus sitting with a bunch of kids and teenage boys. No men or Thoni in sight. It turns out they didn’t trust us and thought we were there for political reasons. Maybe since we weren’t conducting the focus group at the actual church, but in the community, we didn’t have the same credibility as the day before even though we still explained the connection to the church. Thoni did get to interview one of the men though.

We didn’t stay long at Aruku, but trekked back up the hill to Gileme. In the compound just before the church we saw some women and children who waved and beckoned us. Rahel wanted to go up and do the FGD there since there were so few people around and probably wouldn’t be many at the church. But Thoni wanted to go straight on to the church. Apparently it was up to me, who is basically clueless about the culture and area! It was still early so I said we have time for both. I appreciated both of their opinions – Rahel’s understanding of what information we need and being flexible and open in how we get it, and Thoni’s understanding of the importance of our going through the churches.

We walked up the hill to the cluster of honai and sat down with some of the women. They were crushing some sort of nut or fruit and Rahel started helping them. They gave us some of the fruit/nuts as they took the shells off. I had no clue what they were. They answered “buah” (I thought this meant fruit) when I asked what they were; and when I asked whether they grow in the ground or on trees, they said trees. They looked like nuts though.

One of the woman brought out a bucket of sayur (greens) which we ate some of and then the women and children ate. During this time we had some informal discussion and I was able to ask a few questions – like how they cooked the vegetables, where they get their water, and about breastfeeding practices (several woman were breastfeeding). Questions that we don’t have time to ask in the FGD but are also important and I was curious about.

I also got to look in a honai here; it is surprisinly bigger than it looks on the outside with an "upstairs" for sleeping. Downstairs is the living area and where they do all the cooking. They do all the cooking on fires in the same honai where they sleep - not very good for health. I noted that in my head, but later on Rahel actually mentioned it to me and said it is different, better, in her village and Wamena. There are two separate honai or houses - sleeping and cooking is separate.

Once there was a small group of mothers and children, we got started. Shortly after, about 5-10 men came from the fields, so Thoni went over to start with them. The men often didn’t understand or seem to care about the health of women and children and this was a little discouraging for Thoni. I kept telling him that even a little information is important and maybe even more important is keeping the men occupied so we can really hear the mothers information and knowledge. From my limited experience in the discussions about HBC in February, when the men were around the women didn’t talk much. However with just the women (same women both times) they had lots to share.

Leaving the compound, we headed back to the church, however no one was there at all this time. So we kept going. Behind the church was a path/road that would take us a different way back – past Kolenggar and into the city. We stopped for a snack at a beautiful spot. Sometimes in Wamena/Karubaga I can see the mountains and just want to be standing on top or hiking, enjoying the beauty. I said “Gunung-gunung indah sekali, tapi susah untuk projekt” (don’t know if my bahasa Indonesia is correct – but should be the mountains are very beautiful but difficult for the project).

The return walk was quite far and I got a lot of sun! I had put on sun screen at the beginning of the day but forgot to bring it to reapply. And I left my hat/visor in the US. Luckily I remembered my friend’s advice to use vinegar on a sunburn. So I looked up the word for vinegar and asked if I could buy it somewhere in Karubaga. Luckily you can and it seems to have worked. My arms where I put the vinegar did not peel, only my nose and ears are peeling slightly now. I was trying to explain my problem with the sun to my companions who don’t really have to worry about that – “terlalu banyak matahari” (too much sun), “sekarang saya merah” (now I am red)…

When we got back it was time to cook again – another long process. It was fun helping with dinner. I played some of my music and had fun trying to find songs they knew. I also had some interesting conversations with Rahel. In Gileme they said they had to walk far for water, and I was trying to explain tippy taps – how people can still have good hygiene – washing hands and face, with small amounts of water. It was a little difficult but I showed them a picture when we returned to Wamena. She said now I understand and can show my village Tagime! Rahel seemed to understand the purpose and need for the MCH project. She had a great attitude and seemed motivated through the week, even when it got difficult.