BBC Travel

Pack your swimming gear we’re off to the beach to swim, slide, surf, parasail, jet ski or scuba dive. Take your pick! For kids who live in Bali, many can swim well by five and some are entering international swimming and diving competitions — and winning — by age ten or eleven. What else do kids want to do in one of the world’s best holiday resorts? Spend some time in the water, of course. Here we take a quick journey around Bali at some of the water sports’ highlights in the north, east and west of the island.

Bali has several water parks, three located in Kuta; the fabulous Bali Waterbom, the Circus Water Park and the New Kuta Green Park, the latter two catering mainly for locals.

KUTA’S WATERPARKS

Waterbom

Waterbom is located near Discovery Mall in the centre of Kuta’s Jl. Kartika Plaza. It has a host of features and activities, with 20 slides, swimming pools, kiddies’ pools and a lazy river where you float along inside your tube in a large meandering circular flow. The 3.5 hectare park is well laid out, with many features, like the gazebos, hidden behind shrubbery, making them more private. There is a selection of good food stalls in the food court which serve a wide range of dishes and snacks — fish, chicken, fruit — at realistic prices (unlike most adventure parks). It is very busy at lunch time, but if you have a gazebo your meals will be delivered to you.

New to the park in 2010 were three additional water slide features, the aqualoop, better known as “Climax”, the Boomerang and the Superbowl. The Boomerang sees riders shoot down the slide and up an almost vertical wall before sliding back to the finish. Superbowl sees you in your inflatable slide down a drop, ride a circular wall, and as you slide into the middle, you then shoot through a tunnel and come out riding the water slide from side to side as you come down fast.

The most exhilarating slide is undoubtedly Climax! Climax starts with a single rider getting inside a perspex tube. The door closes, the trap door opens and you fall through mid-air at high speed, slide down the loop before coming to a halt by creating your own big wave. You come out of this literally shaking with the feeling of being in free-fall if only for a moment. It’s scary, but so much fun. Climax is also affectionately known as the toilet bowl slide because of the feeling of being flushed.

Waterbom is a great day’s entertainment for all ages. It’s relatively cheap by western standards and if you are in Bali long enough, buy a two day pass as the extra day is cheaper still. A two day pass is valid for seven days. Towels, lockers and gazebos are available for hire and there are plenty of pool chairs to give your feet a rest.

Instead of using cash, you get a cash-band that has credit on it and straps to your wrist, so no need to carry a bag. Any extra credit gets given back to you at the end of the day.

It’s best to arrive early (open 9am-6pm every day), so you can get settled in and go on the popular rides before the queues get big around lunchtime. Even when busy though, you don’t have to wait too long.

For those who like a little pampering, you can get a whole body massage — or your feet cleaned of dead skin delivered to you by fish that nibble at your feet.

Jl. Kartika Plaza
Tel: +62 361 755 676
Fax: +62 361 753 517
E-mail:info@waterbom-bali.com
Prices (2013):
US$ 31 ($50 for two days) adult
US$ 19 ($31 for two days) child (2–11 years old)

Circus Water Park

Circus Water Park opened in 2010 and features waterslides, pools, water bucket, Phinisi boat and restaurant area.

Book early at info@circuswaterpark.com
Jl. Raya Kediri, Kuta
Tel: +62 361 764003.
Prices are for adults US$11 (concession $7.20) and $6 ($4) for kids, with family package 2+2 at $33 ($27)

New Kuta Green Park

New Kuta Green Park, which opened in 2012, sits within a five hectare park and features wave pool, waterslides, flow rides, flying fox and bungi trampoline.

Jl. Raya Uluwatu, Pecatu, South Kuta
Tel: +62 361 8484777
All three venues have concession prices for families and larger groups and there is plenty of free parking.
Prices: Foreigner Rp.112,000 and Rp.72,000 for domestic – so bring along your KTP, Kitas or Indonesian drivers licence to show you live here.

EAST COAST’S WATERSPORTS

Nusa Dua’s Watersports

Nusa Dua/Tanjung Benoa has become the place in south Bali associated with parasailing and jet ski. When the winds are light, the jet skis are out. When the winds are stronger, the energetic parasailers come out in force. Surprisingly few water skiers take to these waters, perhaps because of the cost. Try a banana boat or flying fish for a bit of watery fun.

A recent and popular feature is the “Walk on the bottom of the sea;” no swimming ability necessary, you just need to be brave enough to put on a divers helmet with full face mask and air hose to the surface and spend half an hour at shallow depth (max five metres) enchanted by the wonders of the coral reef, protected from sharks and barracuda by a protective net. It is an experience of a lifetime for kids (age nine and over) who have never seen the delights of the undersea world up close and very personal. They come back to the surface with every diver’s question-and-answer: “Did you see so-and-so… really awesome!”

Bali Seawalker is located at Puri Santrian Resort, Jl. Danau Tamblingan, Sanur, Denpasar. Prices start from US$ 46 for kids.

North Bali’s Diversity

Whether it’s diving at Menjangan Island in the West or taking a dip in Air Sanih’s cool spring pool in the East, north Bali’s Buleleng district offers a wide range of activities both on and off the water.

Located 10km west of Singaraja, Bali’s old capital and only large town in the north, is Lovina, this district’s “Tourist Central.”

Lovina’s Watersports

Lovina has every kind of accommodation, from big hotels to budget losmen, a host of restaurants, bars, dive shops, supermarkets, banks and transportation to suit your needs and your pocket. It is particularly favoured by younger tourists who want to get away from teeming south Bali.

Lovina itself has many attractions, from its black chromatic sand beach with its colourful fishermen’s outrigger canoes to the hundreds of dolphins which are seen almost daily a kilometre or so offshore. One of the favourite excursions in Lovina is going dolphin watching. Fifty to eighty outrigger boats head out every morning around 6am in search of schools of dolphin. Hundreds of dolphin can be seen in an hour or two at this time of the morning — a real sight to behold. Lovina beach draws the crowds again around 6pm to watch the sunset.

Hot Water Springs and Buddhist Monastery at Banjar

The Hot Water Springs, located about 2 km inland from the main road at Banjar, is a natural hot spring which is open daily 7am–6pm. Its water is rich in iron and sulphur and is believed to have healing properties. There is a large swimming pool kept warm by the continuous hot water flowing into it and a mini 3.5 metre high triple-piped waterfall which pummels the flesh, making the body feel relaxed and fresh.

Brahma Vihara Arama, built in 1970 in adjoining Tegehe hamlet, is popular with Buddhist visitors from all over Asia who come here to worship and meditate. It has several unique Balinese Hindu features including colourful dragons guarding the entrance and a wooden drum tower for calling the monks to prayer. Its location on the northern slope of the mountains affords a wonderful view of the north coast. Tel: 0362 92954.

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A three-week trip with two kids in tow from Bali to Flores by ferry, bus, foot, motorbike and shared taxi, while enduring lumpy beds, stained sheets, tiny dark rooms, dripping faucets and freezing mandi may not be everyone’s idea of a holiday, but it was the school holidays and the opportunity was just too good to pass up. Like an aging former football star racing a train to the crossing, I also wanted to see if this old hippy could still do the backpack thing.

An unforgettable experience awaits the hardy traveller to Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia’s southeastern islands. The region is home to hundreds of ethnic groups, speaking scores of different languages, practicing in widespread animistic beliefs, fighting arts, mass tribal dances and unique religious holidays. Astounding natural wonders include Komodo’s three-metre-long monitor lizards, the virgin game reserves of Rinca, the otherworldly coloured volcanic lakes of the Kelimutu volcano on Flores, and one of the world’s premier surfing Meccas at Hu’u in southern Sumbawa.

We started our adventure on the very day of the fuel price hike and at the very start of the summer vacation break, so we had to contend with artificially inflated prices as soon as we left Bali’s Ubung Bus Terminal. We boarded a semi-express bus to Padangbai where we met the ferry to East Lombok and the start of our journey, leaving Bali’s year-long rainy season behind us.

Time has wrought gargantuan changes since my last visit in 1989, a year I vividly remember because it was the fall of the Berlin Wall. Signs of modernity in Nusa Tenggara are the increased number of English speakers, the appearance of laptops and baby carriers, the much wider use of the jilbab head coverings and the phenomenal expansion and improvement of Indonesia’s interisland ferry system. Passages of six to seven hours on these government-subsidized ferries were an unbelievable bargain.

Still very much in evidence are the old rattletrap buses – ancient remnants from the 1960s that will never die! Travelling these broken down contraptions was like being thrown around inside a cement mixer surrounded by squabbling babies, tethered goats, chickens in bamboo cages, sacks of rice and cassava, boxes of ramen noodles, baskets bulging with fruit and vegetables while passengers smoke stinging clove cigarettes alongside plastic jugs of gasoline. They don’t leave until as many people as possible are packed inside.

We soon discovered that the further east we travelled, the more prices increased for everyday commodities. Hotel rooms got more basic the more inland we went, yet tariffs stay the same. Theft also becomes less frequent, with more reports of stealing occurring on Lombok where it’s believed that Sasak pickpockets cast spells on their victims.

Facial features and body type become increasingly more Melanesian. The hair becomes curlier, the skin darker, the handshakes softer, the stares unafraid and the languages more melodious. The food also becomes more basic, the electrical outages more frequent and the infrastructure ill-equipped to handle the region’s growing development.

A Chinese Mandiri bank clerk, a long-haired surfer from San Bernardino, a talkative Australian couple from Adelaide, a textile trader from Nggela, a grandmotherly Catholic sister from Sumba and a delightful 33-year-old Lebanese Christian woman travelling the world were just a few of the characters we met during our three-week journey. These newfound friends, whom we’d share even the most intimate confidences in hotel lobbies and during all-day bus rides, would be gone instantly with the blare of a bus or ferry horn and a wave and a smile. Asking their names seemed an unnecessary civility.

Startling changes had taken place in tourism, technology and standard of living. In the 1980s all you’d hear is the wind but now in peoples’ hands everywhere were blinking, ringing and chiming electronic devices. Even in these remote islands, conversations couldn’t wait anymore. The smartphones quickened commerce. Drivers, conductors and bus agents perpetually used them to fill up buses, meet passengers or order dinner. Hotels and touts used them to fill rooms. On the upside, my daughter Aysah was able to send and receive emails wherever her Blackberry got a signal. The whole Realm of Wallacea is wired! No Wi-Fi needed!

Many of the former places I stayed had gone to seed, now just concrete slabs, patches of grass and broken walls or had been reborn as another hotel or metamorphosed into an Alfamart. Homestays, which were “known for good service” in guidebooks, now had terrible service. Rooms were often without electrical outlets or mirrors with broken showers and toilet seats, no blankets and served undrinkable coffee.

But all the things that had not changed since my last visit 23 years ago gladdened me. Every town we visited had retained some of its innocence, had not yet become congested noisy hellholes with bumper-to-bumper traffic like what had happened to many urban centres in Bali and Java. I was thrilled to discover that an old hotel I had stayed in was still there and to meet someone who still remembered the old days.

The superb snorkelling on offshore islands, the splendidly isolated beaches of Lunyuk and four-metre-high waves crashing on reefs were all still there. The most important lesson I learned from travelling with kids is to go slower and to spend more time on the beaches. Our goal was to reach Kelimutu and return to Bali within the three weeks we had before classes began again, but the pace of travel was just too hard on them.

When it came time to head home, climbing aboard a huge executive long-distance air-conditioned bus was another luxury that wasn’t around back in the day. Gliding over clear seas on the half-empty Lombok-Bali ferry with big flat screen TVs, electrical outlets and vendors selling ice cream and sweet pineapple on a stick, we reclaimed civilization.

I thought back to those strange and lovely far-flung eastern islands – the high adventure of a Joseph Conrad novel, the crew members wearing kris in their belts, the bottle of rice wine and a yarn shared with a fellow traveller and the ships leading us through the night like the North Star. I wanted that journey never to end.

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It was a fine day in Benteng, Selayar. The 100-kilometre long island just off the southern coast of Bira, South Sulawesi, is known to some as a diver’s haven and marine biodiversity hotspot, but in a different way from Bali, Lombok, or Raja Ampat.

The streets of Selayar parade rustic wooden houses elevated on stilts, painted in bright colours. The air is mostly warm with the sunshine, but fresh and breezy like the sea. The landscapes flaunt the unpretentious sights of fishermen’s boats by serene beaches and friendly community hubs; wet markets, warungs, multifunctional soccer fields and dive centres.

One of the highlights of this trip was visiting Kampung Penyu in Desa Barugaiya, Bontomanai. Kampung Penyu, which covers about a kilometre of the west coast of Dusun Tulang, is laced with mangroves and swamps that lead to this black sand beach with coconut groves and the blue waters of the Flores Sea.

In the sand is this fenced area with blue tags on it. It is the grounds on which turtle eggs are incubated, marked with the expected hatching date, number of eggs, and the name of the person who has adopted them.

Sharben from the Sileya Scuba Divers is one of the initiators of Kampung Penyu. “It’s our mission to raise awareness among the residents of Kampung Penyu to guard our ancestors’ homeland and the wildlife that has made it home,” he said.

My travel companions and local children instantly lightened up as Sharben brought a bucket filled with hatchlings in water. As we gathered by the shore, Sharben showed us how to release these young turtles to the sea. “Put them on the ground with their back to the sea, and let them instinctively turn around to find their way into the water,” instructed Sharben.

My friends – divers from Bandung and Jakarta – turned the ritual into a game by lining up the hatchlings and racing them to the waters over handmade obstacles and ditches. But silly humans couldn’t fool the poor critters, which proved themselves smart and powerful enough to paddle their way to the sea in a matter of minutes.

“Only 10% of these hatchlings would make it to adulthood and produce offspring of their own,” said Sharben. 90% would either fall prey to natural predators such as sharks and seagulls, or die due to human threats such as bombs and chemicals.

In Kampung Penyu there are three species of turtles, including the Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). Despite all being cosmopolitan species found in tropical waters all over the world, their conservation statuses range from vulnerable to critically endangered.

The idea for Kampung Penyu was conceived in July 2012 when Sharben came home to Dusun Tulang in Barugaiya to take care of his family’s land. He stayed with Datu, a close relative and community leader. Together they started a conversation about turtle eggs, which Sharben’s grandfather used to consume on a daily basis when they were young.

In August 2012, Sharben, Datu, and two friends from Sileya Scuba Divers Benteng inspected the coast of Tulang for remains of turtle nests. It was past breeding season. Instead, the men found that the beaches were littered with marine debris carried by the Western Monsoon, creating a hazardous environment for spawning turtles.

Since then, members of Sileya Scuba Divers have been regularly meeting in Benteng to start a campaign against the sales of turtle eggs. They invited members of the community and installed banners in the local markets to familiarize them with laws protecting endangered species.

In order to gain community support in eradicating the sales of turtle eggs, Sileya Scuba Divers compensate poachers Rp.1,000 per egg – well above the market price of Rp.800 per egg. Starting in February 2013, inspections were held in local markets to save turtle eggs. 85 eggs were rescued then, with redemption compensations donated by the Takabonerate National Park. In late March, three of those eggs hatched. The rest were damaged from having been rinsed with fresh water in the market.

After the sad incident, Sileya Scuba Divers invited locals in Tulang to build proper protected nesting grounds for turtle eggs. Beach cleanups were also organized to ensure that mother turtles have safe places to lay their eggs. On 22 April 2013, while celebrating Earth Day with the local government and a travel community from Makassar, the project was christened as “Kampung Penyu”.

In early May, 102 out of the 104 eggs nested in Kampung Penyu hatched. The hatchlings were released to the sea the next day.

Today, Kampung Penyu is a self-sustaining project funded by members of Sileya Scuba Divers and donors. There is currently only one continuous donor, but many opportunities for one-off donations through its turtle eggs adoption program or tours in Kampung Penyu.

Kampung Penyu intends to adopt the compensation model practised in Derawan in 2005, where turtle egg compensations are gradually phased out as former poachers start earning a living from sustainable alternative livelihood programs. In Selayar, Sileya Scuba Divers are training former poachers to farm mangrove crabs.

“I wouldn’t have started and continued to support this project if it didn’t benefit the local community,” said Sharben. He said he hopes that Kampung Penyu will ensure that future generations in Selayar will still get to see the turtles that call the island home.

In a peaceful and relatively secluded small island where local life is a love affair with the sea, it’s easy to think that Selayar is now free from environmental threats to its wildlife. The truth is, even Selayar’s marine conservation challenges are still many.

Conserving sea turtles are never exclusively about saving one or a few species. Rather, it requires the orchestration of protecting the entire ecosystem in which they live. With many factors beyond the community’s control – irresponsible netting, fish bombing, chemical fishing, coral bleaching, marine debris coming from other places – there is so much more to saving the turtles than safely hatching their eggs.

While Selayar is no unspoiled paradise, there is still a lot of beauty in its blissful landscapes and zestful underwater life. And the fact that young locals are doing something to conserve it offers hope that the beauty will remain there a little longer.

To visit or donate to Kampung Penyu, contact:
Mobile +62 (0) 852-5525-8910
Twitter: @SSD_Selayar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sileyascubadivers.selayar
BRI Selayar Account nr. 0257-01-006731-53-1 Sileya Scuba Divers

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In understanding Balinese literature, we must start with a religion and mythology founded in India over 3,500 years ago. The Ramayana and Mahabharata epics have played a gigantic role in Balinese art, theatre and letters. The Mahabharata, with 100,000 couplets is the longest poem in the world, telling the story of a tremendous 18-day-long battle fought between two family groups in the legendary state of Bharat during India’s Vedic Age (1500-500 BC). Translated into the high language of Kawi in the Middle Ages, Bali’s rich classical literature is largely based on this Indian masterpiece.

The Ramayana, containing 18 books and 24,000 verses divided into 500 songs, is about the Aryan hero Rama (Vishnu reincarnated) who defeats the wicked King Rawana of Ceylon who has stolen his consort and is generally troubling the world. The Ramayana provides the inspiration for Balinese dance dramas such as the Kecak and Legong. Written over 2,000 years ago, this epic is as old as Homer’s Iliad. The poem also incorporates the same legend; the abduction of a great beauty followed by a terrible war to rescue her.

One of the greatest and most influential works of Indonesian literature is Sutasoma, which relates the life of a prince born as one of the incarnations of Buddha, a Bodhisattva. Throughout Buddhist Asia there are many variations on the story of how this divine being subdued the all-devouring demon Purusada. Sutasoma is comparable in both complexity and scale to that of the Ramayana. Episodes from the poem are often alluded to in Balinese literature, regularly recited and studied in contemporary Balinese wayang theatre and frequently seen in Balinese temple sculpture.

Another of Bali’s most enduring classics is taken from the story of Calonarang. Acted out in a powerful dance drama, this is the struggle of King Airlangga to save his kingdom from destruction by the widow-witch Rangda. This famous literary work continues to exert a strong influence in modern-day Balinese culture. The character of Calonarang demonizes of the mystical powers of female seers that have taken place in patriarchal cultures across history. Anthropologists and drama historians see the drama’s central character Rangda originally as a maternal figure, the personification of the witch par excellence, the wise and eternal old crone. Historians claim that she was the legendary Queen Mahendratta from an 11th century East Javanese kingdom.

Some of Bali’s oldest “books” are sacred lontar palm leaf manuscripts produced from the 16th century onward. The Gedong Kirtya library in Singaraja houses a collection of 4,000-odd lontar books which record the literature, mythology, calendars, horoscopes, folklore, rituals, black and white magic, medical science, genealogies and histories of Bali. There are also handbooks on law and ethical codes, holy incantations, village regulations, how to care for horses, singing doves and fighting cocks. The most precious are kept in a special air-conditioned room.

Novels of the Modern Era

A dozen or so modern books are essential reading in the understanding of the extraordinary changes that have taken place in Bali beginning early in the 20th century. Several books deal with the initial clash of civilizations that resulted from the first European incursions into Bali. First published in 1937, A Tale from Bali by Vicki Baum is a fictionalized account of the horrific ritual suicide, which took place in colonial South Bali in 1906 when Dutch soldiers slaughtered the Royal family of Badung and their followers.

After hearing a recording of Balinese gamelan in the late 1920’s, a young Canadian-born composer living in New York dreamed of one day visiting the source. Among the world’s first ethnomusicologists, Colin McPhee arrived in 1931 at a time when Bali was undergoing a prolific explosion of the arts. He lived on Bali for eight years until the very eve of World War II. His book A House in Bali was the first narrative of the island by a classically trained musician. The book is referred to frequently in academic monographs as a classic, not only of literature, but of musicology and ethnography as well.

An American traveller’s experiences in Bali in the late 1920s covering daily life, village customs and temple festivals, are masterfully told in Hickman Powell’s timeless classic Last Paradise. Island of Demons by Nigel Barley is a fascinating historical novel about Walter Spies – a famous ethnographer, choreographer, filmmaker and painter – in Campuan in the 1930s. Our Hotel in Bali is the story of two Americans who arrived in Bali in 1936 and opened a hotel on Kuta Beach, the first Bali-style hotel at a time when tourists were just beginning to arrive on the island.

Other important works cover the post-war nation-building period. Dancing out of Bali, first published in 1954, tells the story of a young Englishman, John Coast, who has just been released from a Japanese prison camp. In 1952, he and his Javanese wife brought a Balinese dance and gamelan troupe to Britain and the USA to huge acclaim. His book is a remarkable personal adventure that would be of interest, not only to Balinists, but also for all readers.

K’tut Tantri in her book Revolt in Paradise tells the gripping story of British-born artist and adventurer Muriel Pearson, known in Java as Surabaya Sue and in Bali as K’tut Tantri. The most exciting chapters chronicle her experiences during the early years of Bali’s tourism industry and Indonesia’s struggle for independence.

The Night of the Purnama by Anna Mathews is an evocative description of village life in Iseh in eastern Bali at the time of the catastrophic eruption of Gunung Agung in 1963. During the following six months it poured out ash, lava and volcanic bombs, burying whole villages, destroying rice fields, killing nearly 2,000 people, and bringing terror and famine to hundreds and thousands more. In more recent times, William Ingram in his book A Little Bit One O’clock has written a heart-warming and insightful account of an expatriate American living with a Balinese family in the 1990s.

As for children’s literature, A Club of Small Men by Colin McPhee is the true story of men and boys from ages six to 60 who created a gamelan group in Sayan village in the 1930s. Also worth picking up is Balinese Children’s Favourite Stories, which contains 12 tales for kids aged four to eight, some based on Aesop, others are authentically Balinese, with paintings illustrating the stories. Gecko’s Complaint is a folktale about fireflies with colourful and charming pen and ink drawings by Sukanada. Sadri Returns to Bali portrays the 10-day Galungan festival through the eyes of a former child dancer, a joyous time when the gods come down to earth to visit and be entertained.

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Entrance to Nausus in Mollo

Fine sunrays kiss the pine-covered hills and lush grasslands as our motorbikes swept through the rural dirt roads. There’s a glittering pond to my right and a herd of gorgeous brown horses grazing to my left. In the distance, I spotted two towering rocks peppered in shrubs. I had set my eyes on the first sights of Mollo.

I first learned about Mollo, a district in the highlands of Timor Tengah Selatan, at a cultural exhibition in Jakarta several years ago. The displays of colourful tenun ikat products reminded me that they came from somewhere in my maternal homeland of NTT. In the backdrop there was a cartoon on the story behind the textiles, on how “Mama” Aleta Baun courageously stopped the marble mines plundering her homeland’s sacred rock towers.

Having grown up in a mining compound, I believe mines have an interesting relationship to the natives of the lands where they operate. On one hand, it would be almost impossible to find goods in our modern urban civilisation whose production did not involve mined commodities. On the other hand, mining is not without serious impact on the lands where they operate and the people who have traditionally depended on that land for their livelihoods. So despite my awareness of my own dependence on the mining industry, I have come to respect communities who do stand up against it to protect their homelands.

Marble mining began in Mollo in 2004. The jobsites include Nausus, Naetapan, and Fatulik. “Our elders did not know what mining meant. They thought that the company was there to chisel an artwork out of the rocks,” said Aleta. When they realised what was really happening, the natives of Mollo formed the indigenous association Pokja OAT to fight against mining in their homeland.

Horses Grazing with Fatu Nausus in the Background

According to a village elder, the mine initially approached the local tribal rajas to negotiate permission for operating in Mollo, but did not really involve otherwise important community leaders. The mine promised to build houses, power plants, schools and health clinics for the locals. But it didn’t take long for locals to notice the damage and suffer its consequences.

Long before the people of Mollo studied science, their ancestors had recognised Fatu Nausus as an important regulator of their homeland’s hydrology.

“The marble towers are porous and there’s vegetation growing on their surfaces. When it rains, the water trickles down those pores and follows the roots of the vegetation, forming wellsprings at the base of the rock,” explained Aleta. The Nausus wellspring, as well as those found at the bottom of other rocks in Mollo, become the water source of four major rivers in Timor. “Mollo is the heart of Timor,” said Aleta, likening the wellsprings of Mollo’s rocks to a heart pumping blood to the entire island.

The Timorese believe that rocks are a land’s bones, water is its blood, and the earth and forests its flesh. Being an agrarian society, depending on the land for its livelihood, the Timorese believe that disruptions to any of these elements will cause the earth to lose its power to sustain life.

Therefore, the Timorese believe that the ancestors entrusted them to look after the land and make sure that it remains capable of providing good livelihood for later generations. Timorese surnames are traditionally derived from sacred local rocks, waters, or forests—by bearing the surname, one professes himself or herself as a guardian of the element of nature after which the clan is named.

The soil in Mollo is sandy clay, so when rocks are removed, erosion easily occurs. “An entire village that lived under the rocks had to move,” said Aleta. “The water debit in the wellsprings decreased, and many disappeared altogether because the mine stripped our forests. We get floods in the rain, but safe water supply is difficult.”

Mama Aleta

The mines also caused a loss of habitat for monkeys, cuscus, civets, birds, and snakes.

“According to tradition, the base of the rock is grazing ground for livestock. Tradition forbids us from disturbing the rocks,” said Aleta. “Even the WWF and the government assigns the place as a conservation reserve and outsiders are not supposed to access it. But sometimes this country can be funny.”

Aleta attributed the mine’s closure to the consistent prayers and rituals of the people. The Timorese are known for their sacrament of trees. Sacred trees become a place for bees to build a beehive and produce honey. However, this ritual is sometimes used to declare war, as has happened between Mollo natives who support the mine and those who are against it. Perhaps, this familial enmity was the greatest of all the disasters that led to the mine’s closure.

Some members of the community also retaliated by wrecking company vehicles. However, seeing that violence did not solve the problem, the community decided to stand up for their rights in peace.

Marble mining in Mollo ceased in 2010. “The mines were closed by the power of the people,” said Aleta. Back then, the community organised a peaceful blockade of the mining site. Even though the police and the military were backing up the mine, the community outnumbered them.

“We refrained from committing anarchy, so the police thought twice about arresting us, lest we press charges. There’s no verbal abuse from either side. We simply made sure that their machines did not touch our rock.”

Today, four years after mining in Mollo, the natives actively engage in Pokja OAT to execute food security, community leadership in protecting natural resources, animal husbandry, gender empowerment, the advocacy of justice, and business co-operatives. Aleta said she hopes that these activities also serve as a means of making peace in the community and mending of familial bonds that were severed by the mining conflict.

In 2013 Mama Aleta was awarded the Goldman Prize for grassroots environmental activism.

“Yes, we do need development. But what we really need are land, water, rock, and forests. We do not need destruction,” said Aleta. “People tend to think of NTT as poor. But we do not need handouts. We don’t deny that we are behind in terms of electricity, infrastructure, and all those amenities of development. But we do not need to live in excess. That will only cause us to forget who we are, forget unity, and forget our community. We prefer to live in modesty.”

Timor Tengah Selatan
Country: Indonesia
Province: Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT)
Land Area: 3,947.1 km² (TTS) / 30,777 km² (Timor island)
Highest Elevation: Mutis (near Fatumnasi, TTS) 2,427m amsl
Largest city: Soe
Population: 441,155 (2010 estimate)

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For a Walkable Jakarta

Picture yourself walking from your office or home to the nearest ATM or minimart on Jakarta’s sidewalks; it would not only be an unattractive picture, it’s also a disconcertingly heartbreaking one. As you dodge a motorcycle on your right, you are faced with a smelly pile of garbage or a street vendor’s cart on your left. In some extreme cases, you might even brush up against another motorcycle on your left side. Jakarta’s sidewalks are a nuisance as it is – being so small in relation to the massive amount of activities and people on them – notwithstanding its structural damages that are hazardous to even the most careful of pedestrians. Such a simple task as walking from one place to another shouldn’t bear a tremendous amount of risk and annoyance.

Many don’t realize it anymore, being long-time residents of Jakarta and accustomed to its ways, but the Big Durian’s sidewalks are infrastructures that are no longer used the way it was meant to when the construction of them first started. What used to be a smooth area designed for walking pedestrians has been transformed into an inconvenient and dangerous walkway, featuring unauthorized vehicles, street vendors and an adornment of potholes. Jakartans are slowly but surely becoming accepting of the sorry conditions of these sidewalks. Most of us lack the resources or determination to speak up on the issue. Enter Safe Steps.

Safe Steps is a campaign by a group of people who are just as fed up as some of us are regarding the user-friendliness of sidewalks in Jakarta. They are speaking up about the issue and are demanding a tangible change. Safe Steps is the brainchild of Count Me In, a volunteer initiative run by the Jakarta Globe. Launched just recently, in March 2013, Safe Steps has planned a year-long campaign demanding improvement on Jakarta’s sidewalks and overall pedestrian life. The good people at Safe Steps believe that this is a cause worth fighting for, as it is beneficial to all layers of citizen. “It’s an issue a lot of people complain on but never do anything about,” said Divya Pridhnani from Count Me In. “And one of the most prominent reasons is the lack of mass appeal. As a media company, we feel it is beneficial to start a widespread public outcry with our large resources and reach.” Other initiatives that have paved the way to triumph on this issue, such as Koalisi Pejalan Kaki (The Pedestrian Coalition) who also started the Carfree Day movement in Jakarta, are now joining forces with Safe Steps.

When it comes to good quality and healthy pedestrian life, the rules are quite clear. The city’s regulation on Article 275-1 of the 2009 UU No.22 states that violators of the functionality of pedestrian facilities are subjected to a fine of Rp.250,000. The next clause goes on to discuss a whopping Rp.50million fine should a public property, such as sidewalks, be damaged and unfit for intended use.

The grave conditions of sidewalks are a result of many factors, namely non-regulation vehicles riding on the structure, natural causes such as rain or maintenance issues, etc. Some sidewalks’ accessibility are also disrupted by piles of dirt, usually next to a plunging hole, as part of ongoing roadwork. As a result of these damages, sidewalk-related accidents and deaths are becoming a real problem – give local newspapers a read and see the number of reported incidents. Such a simple and universal structure, when treated poorly and left unrepaired, are grounds for a lawsuit or worse, accidental casualties.

In conquering the issue, Safe Steps has come up with some ideas that are both realistic and impactful, if not necessary. Starting with damage control, renovating and patching up the sidewalks could be just what the doctors ordered. The repair wouldn’t only be reducing the risk of pedestrians falling over potholes or jumping over gaping pits but will also improve quality of life – Jakarta’s citizens would walk more to get places. This is a two-birds-with-one-stone scenario as more people willing to walk leads to less number of vehicles on the streets. If given the option to walk safely and comfortably on our city’s sidewalks, there could be a significant decline in the use of cars, ojeks or taxis; at least for short trips. We could be manufacturing the first stages onto better traffic conditions – and less pollution – by performing a makeover on broken sidewalks. This is an appeal Safe Steps is making to city officials.

A petition has been started by Safe Steps in order to reach out to governor Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama and South Jakarta’s mayor regarding the issue. Their request is for the city officials to fix and transform sidewalks on the streets of Kemang for the better. Kemang is a great example of a busy, bustling street that reflects the productivity of Jakarta; smooth new sidewalks will be beneficial for pedestrians in the area. This will be a representation of what could be if the whole city undertakes a massive renovation project for its sidewalks.

Many streets, even major ones in Jakarta simply do not have this problem, as they aren’t even equipped with sidewalks! Perhaps one was never built, or an existing one isn’t visible anymore due to authorized/unauthorized changes (i.e widening of roads, making driveways that eliminate adjacent sidewalks altogether, etc.). Therefore, Safe Steps points out that the construction of new sidewalks is something worth delving into. At the moment, there is a total of 900 kilometres length of sidewalks all over Jakarta. This covers far too little of the 7,200 kilometres length of Jakarta’s streets in total.

To produce an efficient and productive sidewalk, renovation and construction of new structures aren’t the only venture to undertake; cooperation from the people is also a key ingredient. If the fine is to be enforced, many will think twice before using their motorbikes on sidewalks or crowding the structure with vendors’ carts. Sidewalks were and always will be intended for pedestrians.

“The streets of Senayan, around Plaza Senayan and Senayan City malls are fine portrayals of a well-designed street with ample sidewalks. There’s a visible path and people can walk comfortably there,” Divya pointed out.

Safe Steps invites citizens of Jakarta to create enough ‘roar’ by inspiring the initiation of new petitions for other areas. Their petition for sidewalk renovation in the Kemang area is a kickstart movement, but hopes that a snowball effect will be starting. Safe Steps will be holding various events throughout the year, such as a sidewalk fashion show (May 25) during Carfree Day on Thamrin, a live petition signing on the same day, the making of documentaries and videos on the plight of the sidewalks and many more.

Jakarta is a city with huge potential that could become more feasible as walkability increases. Safe Steps implore you to hold a sense of entitlement on the street’s sidewalks; they are ours, and keeping it nice and tidy will only benefit us. Join Safe Steps in voicing their outcry in order to take the necessary steps towards a walkable Jakarta.

To sign the petition, go to:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/safesteps/petition?doing_wp_cron=1397619855.1851840019226074218750

www.safesteps.org

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Sekolah Kami

As we approached the school to volunteer our time, girls swept with rush brooms and boys tidied up. They are used to picking up trash; many are the children of pemulung (scavengers). But their actions represent more than that. This is Sekolah Kami, or Our School in Indonesian, and these children have a sense of pride in their school that other students might take for granted.

Sekolah Kami is located in Bekasi and serves families in Bintara and the surrounding areas. There are gardens, and the school is equipped with a sheltered, gathering place, a play area, and of course, many open-air classrooms. These are functional and noisy, but dry.

A wall surrounds the school, creating an oasis, but just beyond the gates, there is extreme poverty. Ramshackle lean-tos serve as homes for many of these children. Down the dusty path, come four girls, dressed in vivid football jerseys. They are eager for school as they pass through the gate.

Over 160 students attend; in grade one through high school. The children love Sekolah Kami, but also work alongside their parents after classes and on the weekends. They help their parents pick through the landfill next to their home and sort the trash for sale to a middleman.

Stephanie Stallings and I are helping Class Four and Five today. The youngsters are welcoming and curious, practicing their greetings in English. “Hello, how are you? I am fine. Where do you come from?” Their average age is 10 years. Some are quick in their lessons and some are slow. Some can’t sit still and some know all of the answers. They are like children everywhere—busy, busy, busy. Busy mouths singing, busy hands gripping a pencil, busy minds learning English and busy hearts helping one another.

Stallings teaches the children English words for parts of the body and classroom items. They hunch over worksheets, and then check their work, before singing ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’. This shakes their sillies out. Later, the students craft sentences with the new words, using prepositions like ‘under’, ‘above’ and ‘behind’. There is a game of bingo to practice what they have learned, and a shout of “Bingo!” earns them some candy.

Children Playing

There are lots of smiles and shouts as the children run outside to play. The boys have a ball, and that’s all that they need, and the girls have made a jump rope of knotted rubber bands. They dance back and forth, flying over the stretchy rope in practiced steps.

Sekolah Kami was founded by Irina Amongpradja in 2009 in its present location. Ibu Irina originally started a school in 2001 for transmigrant children, but because of property issues, she took her education to the streets before securing the dedicated site for Sekolah Kami.

Ibu Irina graduated from medical school in 1984 and worked in East Timor before marrying her husband. They began a family and a life in Jakarta. She worked for the government in hospitals and a university, but wanted something more. With her children grown and gone, Ibu Irina looked for a new way to reach out to people. “Sekolah Kami is an attempt to break the vicious cycle of a life spent collecting empty plastic cups in the street,” she says. Education is not only learning, but recognising there can be more to their lives. “Sekolah Kami can be their stepping stone. It provides a childhood to every student—a childhood they deserve.” Tears begin to roll over Ibu Irina’s cheeks as she speaks. “These children have become like my own, it is a simple affair of the heart for me to provide the chance for a better future for them.” Even if the students cannot continue their education, she is glad to have provided them with good memories of friendships in a safe, beautiful place.

Amy Shaw visited Sekolah Kami 18 months ago and quickly became a consistent helper. She had no vocational experience, but that didn’t stop her from volunteering to teach English to the students each week. Shaw is also a dynamo as far as fundraising. A recent event netted Rp.80 M, enough to build a classroom, repair an existing roof structure and fund a lunch program. The students generally have no breakfast at home, and previously, they had only a glass of milk for lunch. Now, the children might receive rice, meat and vegetables on a typical day. But there is an ongoing need. Shaw adores the students and says, “They learn functional skills like sewing, paper and soap-making from recycled products in the trash as well as subjects like Bahasa, English, maths, music and even some French lessons for the older children by a French volunteer lady.”

Students of Sekolah Kami

Ibu Irina suggests coming to Sekolah Kami and meeting the children. “Give them some love,” she says, smiling. “Mingle, sing with them, offer them time and comfort. Do what you can—follow your heart.”

When asked why she would give up her career to run Sekolah Kami, creating this oasis for pauper children, Ibu Irina says, “Something higher than me is in charge.”

Visit the website to learn more: www.sekolahkami.web.id

Contact Ibu Irina at: sekolah.kami@yahoo.com

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Fluro Friday Bali water shot

Onewave is a non-profit surf community, founded by two young Australians in February 2013, to give people hope in order to beat ‘funks’ such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. These funks affect so many people, but are talked about by so few. Onewave lets people know they are not alone and encourages them to get in the ocean. They use a simple recipe: salt water, surfing and good mates.

Grant Trebilco and the Onewave community aim to share the stoke and peace of mind of the ocean, whether you’re surfing, body boarding, body surfing, stand up paddle boarding, the craft doesn’t matter. It’s all about getting salty with your mates. On Friday, 2^nd May Onewave held two ‘Fluro Fridays’ in Bali. I caught up with Grant and crew during the morning session at Old Man’s, Canggu.

“It was such an amazing turnout with 20 people catching fluro party waves in 2-3ft surf. By the end of the surf we had recruited 10 more people who wanted to be part of the crew. Passers-by stopped and asked what all the fluro was about, expecting it to be for a bucks party or something else. Once we told them it is about raising awareness for mental health, their faces lit up, and they wanted to be part of it. Finally it was normal to talk about mental health.”

Trebilco had visited Bali five times on surf holidays before he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But this time, he wanted to raise awareness for mental health through surfing. Since he launched Onewave with Sam Schumacher, every Friday is ‘Fluro Friday’. Fluorescently-costumed surf gatherings commence 6.30am at Bondi and Manly beaches, in Sydney, with events also being held in Byron Bay, Newcastle, Snapper Rocks, Tathra, Victoria and Wanda. The brightest fluro/neon outfits are known to make people smile and by wearing them it encourages individuals to ask questions that usually avoid the subject of mental health.

“Before we surfed at ‘Fluro Friday’ in Bali, I shared my story with everyone about how I had a manic episode at the Australian Open of Surfing because I was on the wrong medication. I stole a surf club paddleboard and paddled around the women’s semi-final, thinking I was raising money for Surf Aid. I was then handcuffed, taken to hospital and that’s how I found out I had bipolar. I’m just like everyone else, I have my ups and downs, but I can experience higher highs and lower lows. And what balances me out is surfing.”

Grant had suffered from anxiety and depression for years but didn’t tell anyone. When he ended up in hospital and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder he accepted there was a mental health issue. It was moving back to New Zealand with his parents and surfing every day with his dad (who also has bipolar disorder) that pulled Grant out of the lowest low. One good wave would produce a smile and real hope that things could get better for him. When Grant told his mates in the surf that he had been properly diagnosed, it was a great relief, as he could speak freely about life.

Bali Fluro Friday Group Shot

“We noticed that people spoke about mental health quite openly at the ‘Fluro Friday’ events in Bali. It is so important to remember that just because you live somewhere that seems like paradise, it doesn’t mean you are immune to going through a serious funk. From the outside, people who live in Bali can appear to have the dream life, but in reality they can be struggling on the inside.”

Getting the correct diagnosis is paramount, and according to Indonesian Psychiatrist Robert Reverger, MD there has been an improvement in the nation’s mental health care over the past few years. In December 2013 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono launched the government’s new health insurance scheme, the first step toward its target of covering all Indonesians by 2019. The president said the government has a “moral obligation” to help the poor get access to health services, which he argued the BPJS Kesehatan would provide.

This is important news for Bali, where the practice of pasung (chaining people with schizophrenia) still exists. Although mental health issues can be seen as ‘god’s punishment’ in poorer communities, people can seek out professionals.

“There are 26 practicing psychiatrists in Bali for people to obtain a correct diagnosis. Bangli Hospital (40 minutes north of Denpasar) specializes in mental health, Sanglah Hospital admits acute cases into ER and the Siloam Hospital sees private patients. The basic level of BPJS insurance allows its members to access free medication, including injectables that would otherwise cost Rp.1 million.”

When communities refrain from discussing mental health issues, people decide it is not normal so suffer from issues like depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. 45% of Australians will suffer from a mental health issue during their life, so we need to start finding ways to beat the stigma. The Onewave surfing community has a positive impact on people’s lives. If anyone wants to talk about the funk they are in, they will find accepting people at Onewave ready to listen and to have fun.

“It would be unreal if the Fluro Fridays kept going in Bali. If people don’t know how to surf we can teach them or take them for a swim. If they don’t want to get in the water, they can hang out on the beach, watch the surfing and take photos.”

Bali is so lucky to have a community of legends, such as Tai Graham and Nathan Johnson who are as passionate about kicking the stigma of mental health as they are about preserving the ocean and surfing epic waves. At the end of the day everyone has either been in a funk or knows someone who has. We can show our support by letting people know ‘It’s okay not to be okay’. Onewave is all it takes!

For more information please visit the website at: www.onewaveisallittakes.com

Contact Grant at: grant@onewaveisallittakes.com

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