Besides keeping promise, in fact I do really miss people in Mendure, a small village in Lombok where I stayed for a week--especially the children! So, I tried to recall those memories and immortalize them in writing. Enjoy my story :)
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| We are YOUCAN EMPOWER 2017! |
After passing a long selection (administration, interview, and survival test in Yogyakarta) to be part of YOUCAN EMPOWER Volunteer, here we are 9 volunteers for Lombok Island. Actually there are 12 volunteers but 3 of them couldn't make it due to academic duties. It's quite difficult at first to discuss about our programs because we are seperated by distance. Luckily there are 2 volunteers from Malang, Dimas and Kak Reyhan. We met several times with the other volunteers from Malang but deployed in different regions. I think met them really help me especially in preparation because you have friends who had same problems where you can ask to discuss anytime.
What you need to prepare before volunteering in a region you never visited before is all about mindeset. Volunteering is different with vacation. That's why we had to pass a survival test in Yogyakarta (part of YOUCAN EMPOWER Selection) before deployed. We had to make a research about the village in economics, education, and health. Then, we arrange the programs and timeline. But remember, the expectations usually is different with reality, so we should be flexible with our timeline and programs. To avoided bad things, we always stay in touch with the committee of YOUCAN EMPOWER until the D-DAY, because one of them, Kak Uni is natives of Mendure.
Mendure, a small village in Central Lombok was our destination on February 23th. The preparation was complicated because everyone had their own way. Dimas, Kak Reyhan, and I from Malang still had not book tickets 2 weeks before the D-DAY. The definition of "ruwet karepe dewe". After all of dramas and confusions, I was so excited after finally arrived at Lombok International Airport. Because it's my first time traveling without my family and almost alone if I don't have same friend with same destination. Fortunately, Dimas also departed form Surabaya so we took same flight, while Kak Reyhan from Jakarta to Lombok.
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| believe me there is an airplane in front of me! YOLO! |
My first impression about Lombok is.... HOT! Quite different with Malang or Batu, East Java. Not so long after we arrived at Lombok International Airport, The YOUCAN EMPOWER Committee, Mbak Ima picked us by car to the Mendure Village. Our driver is from Lombok Island, called Mr. Z. He was very nice and told us some daily language and histories about the orgin meaning of Lombok. "Lombok is not chilli literally. Lombok in Sasak means straight, true or commonly interpreted honest, plain, or in other words commonly defined Fitrah," he Said.
Ookaay.
It took an hour until finally Mr. Z stop the car in front of a small gate. And here we are... Mendure Village!
As the first timer or newbie in volunteering, I was trying to adapt with people here. They are using Sasak Language like Mr. Z told in the car. Amaq for Sir, Inaq for Maam. Tabeq for excuse me.
"Tabeq Inaq," I said it with extra smiles when I met some of women welcomed us because finally I can practie this language with the natives LOL. And those women smiled to us and said, "Tabeq."
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| Inaq-inaq |
FYI, Kak Uni said that Sasak Language is diverse by the villages. Not by provinces, BUT VILLAGES! It means, in the different village, there will be different structures or vocabulary used as language, but still Sasak. Beside Kak Uni and Kak Ima as committee, there were Kak Nining and Kak Bagus, YOUCAN members who also help us especially for language translator and accomodation. Kak Uni, Kak Nining, and Kak Bagus are students of University of Mataram, so they will help us to adapt here.
After all of the volunteers arrived, villagers held a welcoming ceremony and eat together.. The welcoming ceremony attended by village officials and religious leaders. Some girls, include Kak Uni were dressed in traditional clothes to welcome us, while the men was preparing the food to eat together. It's so unique for me, because in Mendure men were so helpful and not prestige to prepare the food. Most of food here are spicy so I couldn't take too much. Beside that, the eat portions are extra large. Such a culture shock for me because everyone can finished their food include the girls! Not only that, we don't use any spoon to eat something like soup :( So we had to use our hand skill to get the soup :(
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| welcome ceremoy |
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| a portion without spoon :( |
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| took photos with village officials |
Maybe I was bad at adaptation with Mendure dishes, but there's something I suddenly like in Mendure at the first sight, the children! I like to went arround in Mendure Village. Everytime I went, there will be children follow me like they want to get to know me and the other volunteers. Actually, I used to hate kids because they are so annoying for me. But once I met them, they were so lovely! They taught me and the other volunteers Sasak Language, and I taught them Javanese. Amazing! They were so innocent and sincere until I don't have any reason to don't like them :)
From this event, actually I am so grateful because I can love kids more than before LOL. Maybe it is because they are using different language from me and I think that's cool to learn Sasak. That makes us (me and those children) good friends. But, I realized that I just stayed a week there and it would not be easy to say goodbye after that :(
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I think I should end this Part 1 here. It is still the beginning of journey. There will be lots of unique cultures and amazing children I met in Part 2 and 3. What's gonna happen next? Were we facing many obstacles during the empowering programs? Will there be more drama? LOL.
Cheers!
Emma
