Last Village and Back to Java

          

  We (team awesome to the left deep in thought) have just finished the last surveys for my research this summer. We have talked to 120 people, have conducted 13 focus groups, and have talked to various village leaders throughout western Lombok. What I have concluded about my research is I feel like I know so much, and at the same time I feel like I know nothing. I feel like I could make so many conclusions about what is happening in and around these villages, but I also feel like those conclusions would be debatable. This feeling may go away as I look at trends in the data, think about the stories from the villages, and start calculating fuelwood use in Lombok more in depth. For now I will remain lost in my thoughts and all the answers I have received as I finish entering the data for Dasan Griya.

            Dasan Griya was our last village, but was one of the most challenging, if not the most challenging. The village is in a hook like shape, and the only way to get to the northernmost hamlet is to cross through another village. The hamlet is completely different from the rest of the village, but this is where the Mandor lives. The Mandor is the village level protector of the forest, and we have been staying with them since my work has been through the regional forest management entity. The problem with this hamlet is primarily the roads. They are bumpy, full of rocks, narrow and steep. The drivers of the motor cycles always have to leap from rock to rock with their feet to keep the motorcycle going. The road further into the hamlet is even a bit worse, and conveniently next to large drops in the forest. I will never have a career as an action adventure hero, and this trip has confirmed it. My arms are always sore after I get off the motorcycles from holding on so tight.

            Although the roads are a little more adventurous than I would like them to be, I have to say this is the nicest place I have stayed climate wise. There are very few mosquitos, it is slightly cool with a breeze (which I have come to appreciate), and it has been raining. That is a great bonus to this village. 

            So everyday we would start by slowly maneuvering around the road down to the village where most of the people live. On my quest for interviews I was able to taste some palm sugar, watch a community health worker immunize babies (I am scared of needles and I wanted to cry for the babies), a learn about how industries operate in Indonesia. I met a traditional blacksmith, some women in a cracker producing factory, and a lot of palm sugar makers. This village has been very interesting in that regard.

            When we would finish down in the village we would come up the scary road back to our homestay. There we would break our fasting for the day due to Ramadan, and we would eat too much. Then we would go quest for respondents in the evening, which was a lot of fun trekking in the dark through the forest to people sitting in their homes. By the time we got back I just want to fall down and sleep, but there is always something happening like talking or singing karaoke.

 

           Somehow the two months I needed to do my research in Indonesia is almost over. I have 4-5 days left in the country (days dependent on when I post this). Sometimes it feels like I have been here for months, and sometimes it feels like I have been here for days. My time in the villages was wonderful, and I am sad to leave, but time for more adventures like analyzing my data and finishing my Master’s, both kind of important things.  

Village in the Forest

I just returned from Guntur Macan, which is the village that I can easily say has been the best village experience thus far. After we got permission from the village office to be there Tony, Agus and I met the Mandor, which is the Indonesian version of a community forest monitor. We followed him to his house, which was 400 meters straight uphill. Tony and I got stuck a couple of times on the hills because the weight of him, my backpack and I was too much for the poor little motorcycle. Although the first time trying to get to the Mandor’s house was difficult, it was magnificently beautiful. When you ride up the first hill you come to a plateau of sorts where you can see a lush valley of forest beneath you. It was refreshing to see after being in villages dedicated to agriculture or that are in general deforested. Another thing that I immediately noticed was that it was much cooler in this village than anywhere else I had been on the island. I almost forgot what the sensation of cold was like aside from taking cold showers since my house does not have hot water in Mataram. It was refreshing in the afternoon, but I was not prepared for it at night. Either way, it was nice to be less then hot and humid for a few days.

The home we stayed at was surrounded by trees, and really big trees, which I have seen few of in the villages we have been in despite being in a tropical forest. People use the trees for food, fuelwood, to make palm sugar, and to support their livelihoods in a variety of ways. However, it is easy to see that the forest is in better condition here than anywhere else I have been. I can also tell that the government gas stove program has been more effective here then other villages. Whether that has mitigated forest degradation is something I have not concluded yet, but this village seems to use the forest very differently.

Another great thing about this village was that tourists never go to the village. This was great because they did not have any preconceived ideas about how I was to behave and they were curious to learn about me. An elderly woman was very happy and fascinated by me. She wanted to look at me, and touch me. She was impressed by how tall I am. In some ways I feel like I was being examined. She had never met a tourist before and she was happy to see how friendly I was. She gave me a gift of a huge bunch of bananas and had me over to her house to let me see her stove and her ducks. Everyone was much more excited to talk to me, and many people worked on practicing their English. They were really proud to use it for the first time after learning it in school. It was fun to see their faces light up when they talked to me.

I also was able to befriend a lot of the children in this village, which was fun. I chased around the Mandor’s son and neighbor until they started beating me with sticks. The game was less fun after that so I ran and hid. They were small so it did not hurt, but they won, and they were proud of themselves. The older son of the Mandor also was very fun. He took us to a waterfall with his friends, helped me catch and feed kittens that were wandering around the house, and he bought fireworks, which happened to be on the 4^th of July. So I was able to see fireworks after all. They were small sparklers and popping things, not actual fireworks, but it did the job and they were fun. I am excited to see what the last village has in store for us.