Savu & Rai Jua News
- Sept '05
Failed
crop of corn in Lii Ae (Liae)
The
crisis on Savu and Rai Jua has deepened further,
as the islands' palm trees have failed to
blossom, due to the extremely dry weather.
Usually, during periods of extraordinary hunger,
the Islanders turn to palm syrup for sustenance.
The palm blossoms produce nectar, which is
harvested to produce a highly nutritious syrup.
Unable to harvest their palms, many people have
now left the islands to work in Kupang, so they
can send money home. Some parents have even sent
their children to Kupang, in the hope they can
find work, thereby abandoning their childen's
educations. In such cases, the parents are
themselves unable to work in Kupang, on account
of not speaking Indonesian. Their desperation is
highlighted by the fact that, in numerous cases,
they have had to sell cattle to fund the trip.
Failed
crop of corn in Rae Dewa
Astonishingly,
the government has failed to address the
situation on Savu, despite receiving large sums
of money from numerous aid organisations. The
Kupang based Alfa Omega Foundation (YAO) has
donated over 500 trillion rupiah to the relief
effort, while an additional 100 trillion rupiah
has been donated by ten other humanitarian
organisations, including World Vision Indonesia
and the Womitra Foundation, also based in Kupang.
All this aid has been distributed throughout the
East Nusa Tenggara region, yet somehow Savu and
Rai Jua were overlooked.
The secretary of the East Nusa Tenggara branch of
the Indonesian Agriculture Union (Sekretaris
Dewan Cabang Kerukunan Tani Indonesia, HKTI,
Cabang Kupang) asked the government to respond
immediately, to prevent the situation getting
even worse. Mr. Nathaniel Kanahebi returned from
Savu with stories of sheer desperation. He
reported that the few springs that usually flow
all year long have now dried up. He described the
people as being confused and lost, not
understanding why the government had not come to
their aid. He entered many homes to check food
reserves, only to discover that most had run out
of supplies. Certainly, none had sufficient
supplies for the coming months. The only people
who could afford two meals a day were government
officers, since they alone received a stable
income.
A single delivery of aid arrived in June, care of
Garuda Food Jakarta. Volunteers walked great
distances to deliver the rations to remote homes,
with priority given to those families suffering
malnutrition or other diseases caused by the
harsh living conditions. Altogether, 988 boxes of
snacks, in the form of wafer creams and the like,
were delivered to 12 villages in Lii Ae (Liae)
and 17 villages in Heb'a (Seba). One of the
volunteers described the living conditions as
confronting. Even so, the people expressed
gratitude for the little help they were given.
Parched
landscape in Lii Ae
In
the past, Savunese society has held together
through periods of drought, because the people
were primarily concerned with growing their own
food. However, with social development comes a
greater dependence on money. Nowadays, farmers
occasionally leave the island to work in Timor
for a few months, so they can afford to send
their children to school. Of course, this is time
that would normally be spent farming. So, when
they return to Savu, they need to buy food that
they would otherwise have grown.
Seaweed
racks and pollution on B'año Beach
Of
course, social and economic development is
desirable. However, there are many indirect costs
that only become clear during hard times. For
example, farmers are now more inclined to sell
their palm syrup rather than store it for their
own consumption. Their subsequent reliance on
money exposes them to market forces, which push
food prices up whenever there is a shortage. This
is compounded for remote islands, due to
transport costs which have risen with the global
price of oil. Some farmers have diversified into
seaweed, which sells for about EU0.50 per
kilogram (dried). However, the seaweed farms have
disrupted the marine ecology, which in turn
impacts on the fish stocks. Ultimately, the
islands' reliance on money forces residents to
move to Kupang and elsewhere in search of greater
financial security.
Clearly, economic development challenges the very
fabric of traditional societies. However, it has
also been seen to undermine the family unit
itself. An extreme example of this resulted in
tragedy for a B'e B'ae (Bebae) family, who
ostracized one member of the family for devoting
all his time to seaweed farming. The family
wanted the man to divide his time between seaweed
farming and palm harvesting. However, he refused
to give in to their wishes and continued to
neglect the family's tradition of harvesting palm
nectar. It would seem that seaweed farming was
more appealing to the man, because seaweed is
much easier to sell than palm syrup, which
requires direct negotiation with customers. In
retalliation, or perhaps only to make a point,
the family denied him access to their palm syrup.
This so devastated the man that he took his own
life. He was found hanged in the tool shed beside
the seaweed farm.
Time and again, teachers, academics and village
heads have held meetings in Kupang to discuss the
situation on Savu and Rai Jua and to beg for
government assistance. However, the government
continues to ignor the crisis. To add insult to
injury, the head of the Kupang Region, Mr. I.A.
Medah, recently authorised a 10 million rupiah
subsidy to build a mosque in Heb'a, despite the
Muslim community being only a tiny minority, of
whom none are Savunese. However, the big question
is surely how over 80 trillion rupiah could flow
into the region from aid organisations (approx. 5
million Euros) without the Savu Islands receiving
one cent of it.
© raijua.com
A
ritual leader (Mone Ama) of Eastern Savu (Hawu
Dimu) has recently converted to Christianity,
leaving many people without a ritual leader. For
some time, Grandpa Ma Dj'ari (Ba'i Ma Dj'ari Ga)
had been thinking over the possibility. He
consulted with a priest three times before
finally taking the step. However, once the
decision was made, his entire family followed
suit and converted to Christianity as well.
Ba'i Ma
Dj'ari Ga conducting a death ritual
Scenarios
like this have been happening within Savunese
society ever since Christian missionaries arrived
during the early years of Dutch occupation.
Today, more than 75% of the population consider
themselves Protestant, while about 20% continue
to live accordingly to the Savunese tradition of
Djingi tii Eu.
Unfortunately, the motivation to convert to
Christianity is not solely a question of faith.
For many Savunese, poverty is the over-riding
factor influencing their decision. By converting
to Christianity, they free themselves of all the
material demands of the ritual ceremonies, which
are both costly and time consuming. For example,
Christians do not have to slaughter cattle, as
Djingi tii Eu do, to celebrate a birth or when a
family member dies.
In the olden days, people never had to buy cattle
to perform rituals, since they received donations
from family members. But ever since the
government insisted that children attend school,
people have had to sell their cattle to fund
their children's educations. This has forced many
to abandon their traditional customs and to adopt
Christianity instead. The schools even require
students to present baptism certificates upon
their enrollment, further alienating Djingi tii
Eu (Postcard
of the Savu Islands:Vol.1).
Ba'i Ma
Dj'ari Ga with relatives
© raijua.com
A
25 years old Savunese resident of Onekore in
Ende, Mr. Rafael Bire Wadu, died in Ende Public
Hospital on the 7th of August, having been in a
traffic accident the day before. Rafael was
riding his motorcycle when a motor vehicle
collided with him head on. He suffered a probable
brain homorage and spent 8 hours in intensive
care, before succumbing to his injuries. His
pillion passenger, Desire, suffered a severe gash
to her right foot, while another victim of the
accident was reported to have a broken a leg.
© raijua.com
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