Villages and Tourism

I finished my first round of surveying and interviewing of people in the village of Malaka, and I just got back from the famous Gili Islands where I spent a couple days snorkeling and being a stereotypical tourist. So I finally have time to sit down and tell you about my experiences.

Malaka is a large village with 12 hamlets, and it is just north of Senggigi, which is a beachfront tourist attraction. We were welcomed by incredibly nice people in the hamlet of Lendang Luar. We stayed in a community health center for the hamlet, which was a one bedroom facility with a bed, a filing cabinet, some chairs and some pillows.  For a health center it does not seem to be used very often. In the 5 days we were in the village it was used once for an immunization clinic. I am not sure how often people seek medical care, but there was no doctor as I could tell, and the resources for the medical center seemed limited.

The people were exceptionally friendly though. They made us meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, and they even made it less spicy so I did not cry when I was eating, which has only happened once. Lombok is famous for their spicy food, and for someone that has grown up on a Mediterranean based diet spicy is not something I am used to. The village head we were staying with offered to take us to the various hamlets that we needed to go to, and when we were done he gave me honey from his hive, which is some of the best honey I have ever tasted. I am working on my Bahasa Indonesian so that I can have conversations with the people here and show the appreciation that I have for their kindness.

            The culture here is so friendly and open. We were able to walk up to homes and people would answer our questions, make us tea, and offer us cookies. They would have a 30 minute conversation and be happy to talk with us. By the time I am done with the day I have had 10 cups of tea or coffee and I am always full. This is a nice change from the United States where I do not know my neighbors and if you try to go up to talk to someone they ignore you or look at you like you have a disease. Even in the Gili Islands a place swarming with tourists and people “like me” I tended to talk to the local people because they saw I was alone and so they befriended me. Sometimes the men were trying to be too friendly/flirty, but it is nice that the sense of distance between people is much less here, and that starting a conversation with someone is not seen as threatening. The only complaint I have is that everyone smokes, which makes breathing less fun.

            So back to the village. We did 30 household surveys and 4 focus groups in the 5 days that we were there. It is actually quite tiring when each interview lasts at least 30 minutes each. We were trying to get a sense of the village and its use of fuelwood for industrial and home purposes. I am learning that this is quite difficult and after looking at the data I need to go back to the village and get a sense of the major industries in each hamlet, which I do not think I know as of right now. I learned this for the next village, and I think we can get a better sense of Malaka if we go back for one day.

As we did the interviews they got easier and easier, and the team started to work together better. We learned each other’s style and we each have strengths that are working well together. I have two students from the University of Mataram assisting me. Their names are Toney and Agus. Toney is funny and knows how to make people comfortable, which is awesome since I am a serious person with little fun in my soul when I am working. Agus is a very level headed individual and is exceptionally helpful when it comes to ensuring the interviews go well. He is quick and knows when certain questions need to be asked, which is nice to have as back up since he can help Toney interpret. I think it is working well. Otherwise they are just two college aged boys that goof around and do thing you would expect, and that is great!

            I think I will find this as I keep going, but education levels and incomes are relatively low in this community. Malaka is a major production village for primary goods for Mataram (capital city of Lombok) and the tourist areas. A lot of people have jobs collecting fuelwood, making bricks, collecting sand, breaking rocks into smaller stones by sitting for hours on end smashing rocks with a hammer for the foundation of buildings. The economic opportunity is limited here, and you can see the impacts that this constant resource extraction has had on the forest. I was talking to a villager that speaks very good English, and he was saying that the children have no incentive to go to school because their opportunities are limited in the village and essentially there is no incentive. Another boy I was talking to in Gili was telling me how much he wanted to be a teacher and show students “they need to go after their ambition,” but there he was serving me food on Gili island away from his family because he could not afford the $70/year tuition it costs to go to the University of Mataram.

            It made me very frustrated to go from the village of Malaka to Gili where all the tourists were. Everyday these tourists pass by this village and they will never know the lives of these people, they will never know their language, and they will never know the kindness of their culture. They come here for a couple of days to have a good time and then leave without even seeing the country that they are coming to. I enjoyed the islands, but it was difficult to know that the tourist experience was all Lombok was to them.

            Hopefully the work I do here will have an impact and can influence policy to offer economic opportunity that protect the environment while offering people ways to gain income. The villager that I mentioned earlier asked what I would do for Malaka. Off the top of my head I suggested having a short nature hike where people could get a guided tour to learn the plant species of the forest. This would give people incentive to protect the forest, would encourage people to stay in school so they can lead the tours, and would hopefully bring income into the community. He liked the idea and may pursue it. I guess what is great about this world is you can create something out of nothing, and I think Lombok and Indonesia is on its way to something as they become a middle income country. I just want to make sure it is not at the expense of the environment or at the expense of the health of people. These are just some of the thoughts as of right now.