Papuan Rhythms!

The Christmas celebrations in Ayau got me thinking about this post which I began ages ago... thought I should revisit it, and maybe even post this time.

Music is an integral part of the culture here in West Papua, and it takes many forms!

Tifa, Suling Tamboor, Yosban, guitar (EVERYONE can play guitar - should help me learn in the next few months as well!), and talk about harmonizing ability... these people have got it in their GENES!

Suling Tamboor (Pipes and Drums!)
Not just for Christmas, but any special event or celebration! This is a picture from the MPA declaration in Mayalibit Bay last year.




Tifa is a traditional drum; a symbol that has come to represent West Papua. It is used in more of a story-telling accompanyment, such as this village elder (chanting in a language that is no longer understood by the majority of his people).



The tifa has truly become the symbol of West Papua... it is almost the only form statues take here... at bus stops and intersections.





Yosban is actually a combination music/dance... it is stories set to music, usually improvised with fun twists to include the people at the dance. The dance itself is performed in two lines, with everyone following along doing the same steps... similar to what we call 'line dancing', actually! Except in this case, instead of combinations of steps, it's the same step over and over several times, then a new, different step, and so on. The steps usually involve lots of stomping and slapping. It's really a riot! This is our friend Rudy, who is the king of the yosban in these parts, and usually leads the dance!




In West Papua you will find music anywhere and everywhere!





... and of course, if the appropriate tools aren't close at hand, either you make them...






... or you improvise!




It's no wonder everyone here seems to be a natural musician... they start from an early age!




Well, I'm off again to another new area today... we will be doing a three-day education program in the village of Kalobo. It is a unique and completely different area than most of Raja Ampat; a village comprised completely of transmigrants from Java. The village head is known for his ability to 'call' the dugongs, so I hope that we'll also get a chance to see these gentle 'sea cows' after our programming is done!

Funny Sense of Humour!

Sasi is a sanction/stay imposed on certain crops, usually by the church, to allow for its recuperation. It is usually employed for Pinang (Bettlenut) or Cabe (Chili Peppers), or other plants that people would tend to go through rapidly if left un-checked.

Coconuts are year-round crop and superfluous on this island in Ayau; someone's idea of making folks smile was to put up a 'SASI' sign - in the middle of a huge coconut plantation! It worked on me, and we had a good laugh last week!



The sign reads: Warning Coconut Sasi

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a very happy holiday season... I hope it was a memorable one.



It was another tough one for us, being away from family and friends, home and snow (!?), for the second Christmas in a row (unheard of for our family!)! But of course, because of good new friends here, it was special and memorable in its own way! But I still don't think I'll ever get used to a green/hot Christmas!

So what did we do??? Well, after getting back from the wonderful diving trip, I met up with Martin in Manado (he had gone back ahead of time), and we spend the few days before Christmas just enjoying having our own space (our house, even though it has now become an office as well, was vacated for the holidays), and visiting with friends, and people-watching in the malls (which were over-crowded, stuffed, and crazy... and surely no longer adhering to building codes!).



We had a 'Latino-style' Christmas -- on Christmas eve we gathered together at the home of the soccer coach, with his family, and the other Latin soccer players living in Manado (above). We had a nice meal and drinks (a yummy Chilean specialty called "Cola de Mono" (yes, that's the tail of the monkey!)), and gift opening. I was spoiled with a guitar from Martin, which means I'll have a chance to continue to learn (since I didn't bring the guitar that my brother gave me for Christmas two years ago to Indonesia with me!)! I'll definitely have time once the boat arrives and we're at sea for three weeks each month!



"Cola de Mono"

6 cups milk
1 cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup instant coffee
2 cups tequila
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Bring the milk, sugar and cinnamon to a boil.
2. Dissolve the coffee in the hot milk mixture.
3. Put in the fridge to cool.
4. Once cold, add the tequila.
5. Pour into capped bottles and return to the fridge.
6. Serve very cold.
7. This keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks

We came immediately back to Sorong on the 26th in order to leave that same day on a boat headed to Ayau (the farthest group of islands in Raja Ampat), where we attended 'Christmas Together' and ran a 3-day education program.



What a neat few days. The Ayau people celebrate 'Christmas Together' on the 27th or 28th of December each year... all the people from the 5 villages spread around the group of islands gather in a different village each year for their celebrations. This means a trip as long as 12 hours by dugout canoe in favourable conditions for some! Their celebrations are fairly simple... they parade doing 'Suling Tambur' (drum and pipe bands) day and night non-stop for days! It's not a parade in our understanding of the word, either... because everyone participates, and there are virtually no spectators; the people who aren't playing a drum or flute are dancing (not marching) along behind! Each village has its own band (and sometimes more than one!), so there were about 8 different groups marching in the streets (that sounds funny... there are only TWO streets in the village of Yenkawir, and of course, they're sand). The instruments are mostly made from natural materials, of course, and the drums are absolutely wonderful... each one unique! They use tarps, pig, goat or shark skin wrapped taught over wooden bases they have carved themselves.








They usually also have a special church service and a 'feast' (which usually includes seaturtle!). This year, the people of Ayau have committed to not eating sea turtle, in an attempt to help conservation efforts... they have not been consuming it (apparently) for almost a year! CI made sandals for all the residents of the islands (about 2000 people) with the message 'thank you for not consuming turtle' in the local language, indonesian, and english, and we took them as christmas presents to the big celebration! Folks were thrilled!






After the 'Christmas Together' celebration on the 27th, we ran a conservation education program for 21/2 days in one of the villages with kids. The program included activities about corals and coral reefs (including a snorkeling trip), coastal ecosystems ecology and, of course, sea turtles! It was a lot of fun as well, and although our new 'education assistants' are still pretty rough, it looks like they're 'coming along'!








Needless to say, the kids had a blast!

Wow! The Trip of a Lifetime!



What more can I say, really!? I think the smile on my face says it all... I had an incredible trip. I just got back into Sorong (Soo Wrong; it seems even more-so after coming off a ten-day high!) this morning, and already the whole thing seems like a magical dream!

An intense dive trip (35 dives in 10 days!) which spanned Raja Ampat's most celebrated dive sites, and included a few new special spots! I even hit my 100th dive! The group was a very interesting mix of people, and I really enjoyed getting to know them all.



When the possibility arose, I was upset that this opportunity overlapped with Martin's trip to Ayau with the Coral Reef Monitoring Team, because he had taken my dive computer and my log book, as well as my camera and underwater housing with him! In the end, it was of no consequence, and indeed I thoroughly enjoyed not being burdened with lugging a camera on every dive, and more-so, with feeling the pressure of getting good photos. In fact, diving without a camera is so much more 'real'; you can see and appreciate so much more! As it turns out, I'm a pretty decent spotter! Who knew... I guess a little marine biology knowledge goes a long way... it helps you know where to look anyway! Of course, my better-than-average vision (which recently astounded the local doctor treating my eye infection, and I am convinced is to balance my less-than-average hearing!) probably has a lot to do with it as well!

A little bit about the experience:

The boat - an immaculate schooner, built in Indonesia by the master boatbuilders in Makassar two years ago. Classic and tasteful. The most exquisite liveaboard dive vessel operating in Raja Ampat. Far outstrips my current digs in the staff house in Sorong... the boat not only had showers, but they had HOT water!




The crew - a delightful group, warm, friendly and professional. Lucky for me, I was able to actually get to know them on account of my Indonesian! The team is headed up by the phenomenal cruise and dive director, Stew.




The DIVING - incredible! Lots of new eye candy for me... things I've never seen before, new sites, awesome caves and caverns, beautiful coral reefs, unbelievable amounts of fish... I even saw my first manta ray underwater!



Here are a few more pictures... sorry, I know scrolling through them isn't a nice format, but with blogger there is no other way.






The scenery was stunning, above and below the water!






We went sunset-kayaking to explore the many channels amongst the coral karst formations in SE Misool.






The "study/massage lounge". The study lounge for those of us doing the Nitrox certification course while on-board, and the massage lounge for those needing a little extra relaxation at the magical hands of Yovin!




Meet Sandra... a fabulous english/auzzie who I clicked with, and whose company I enjoyed immensely... she also happens to be an amazing photographer, under- and above-water. I am including a few of her underwater photos below her here, most of which I'm in, to give you an idea of her talent.










(crocodile fish)



(nudibranch)



(This is the lionfish that stung me! - Yikes... it can be more serious, but luckily I was fine... although it is incredibly painful!)








What a wonderful early Christmas present!

Hi all!

Just a quick note... got news that there was an earthquake in North Sulawesi last night (phone call in the middle of the night from CUSO checking on our safety and security!)... we weren't there, and we're fine! There was actually no damage in Manado, and all our friends there are fine... they said it was just a little tremor.

WOW!!!

The most amazing opportunity for me just came into the office!!! I have been feeling for some time now that I 've been working in Raja Ampat, for conservation, but that I really don't have a very solid idea of what it is we're conserving... I've only been diving here a handful of times and seen a limited area of Raja Ampat on the whole...

WELL! The cruise director of the Seven Seas Liveaboard dive vessel just left the office... we had a great visit... and HE OFFERED ME THE CHANCE TO JOIN THEIR TEN DAY CRUISE WHICH IS LEAVING IN TWO DAYS!!!!!! They never have open spaces, but it seems that there was a charter which was canceled and hasn't filled up completely since they re-booked it as an open tour. I'm in disbelief... but I'M IN! What luck... really, if we hadn't postponed the second part of the training, I would have missed this once in a lifetime opportunity! I can imagine that most of the guests are probably amateur marine biologists and I won't be able to help much in that regard... however I will certainly offer to do some presentations about CI and especially our education program for the guests.

Too bad Martin is still in Ayau with the monitoring team, or we would be going together... and what's more... he has my dive computer as well as my camera and underwater housing, so I won't be able to get pics of it all! Oh well, I'll be able to enjoy the whole experience to the max without being behind the lens of the camera!

Will write to tell you all about it when I get back in TEN DAYS!

Conservation Education Training Workshop
Waiwo, Raja Ampat

For the last long while I have been preparing a marine conservation education module that the CI Education Team will deliver to communities in Raja Ampat using the KALABIA conservation education vessel (when and if it ever arrives in Raja Ampat).

This training, which I also organized (in the end, virtually solo), was the first time the Education Team really came together to learn about Environmental Education, how to become an effective facilitator, and to simulate the program which we will be running in the villages. The plan was a 12-day training, but in the end it was cut virtually in half - well, the second part of the training, the field-testing in the villages, was delayed due to half the team contracting an eye infection! Honestly, although frustrating, and not 100% effective as far as the learning process of the new facilitators goes, I think it was the most responsible decision. We would hate to be the ones to bring this highly contagious infection to a village where their access to the required medicines is minimal.

The elements of the training workshop that we did complete were a definite success... the activities were varied, and all together, I think the team members now have a clearer idea of what the program will look like, as well as where their (our) strengths and weaknesses lie, and on what areas we will have to tailor further learning.

It was a team-building experience as well, not just because of specific team-building activities incorporated into the agenda, but also in the way that by living together for a week, working together throughout the day, and hanging out in the evenings, we came to know eachother further, and better understand the way we are going to function as a team!

We made 'cake' while learning about the difference between learner-centered vs. teacher-centered teaching approaches:



We learned the new Kalabia Team song!



We simulated the games and activities...



... the best part was watching people 'become kids' again... since if they weren't acting as team leader for an activity, they had to be the participants... kids!



One of the special components of the training was the 3-day puppetry workshop that we held. We invited two facilitators from a Jogja puppetry organization called PaperMoon to train us in all-things puppet... from the ground up... identifying themes, and writing simple scripts, to making the puppets and stage ourselves, to how to make the puppets come alive with their own personalities, and how to stage a play, and most importantly, how to facilitate that entire process with the kids (and adults) that we will be working with! It was tonnes of fun! Following are a few pictures from the puppetry workshop...

We certainly had fun making a mess!



The puppets themselves turned out really quite well for a bunch of amateurs!!!









We used bits and pieces of whatever was around for material for the puppets... recycling at its best!






people got really 'into character'!





... and the show, with it's limited audience, was a big success!