Bertam revisited

From: N. Sivasothi
Date: Mon Oct 5, 1998 12:35pm
Subject: Bertam revisited (long)

Just back from Bertam over the weekend with some of the ORB [phase] 1 volunteers, and have returned, well fed, but lacking sleep! I only brought bananas and bread but these guys were so well supplied and continually passing me food, I needn't have brought anything! And the left-overs provided a continual relay of snacks and water to the entire load of staff and volunteers during the boatride to Geranting and Sekupang the next day!

After we had got permission to stay overnight, we moved in, and it was evident Raleigh had left behind many friends amongst the villager's - smiles and greetings that were called out the whole length of the walk in. My new friends were extremely pleased to see the completed projects, the objective of their trip, and the delight began the moment they stomped on the solid planks of the jetty! By time we settled in the community hall (also sighed over), I had been painted a picture of what it was like when they had first come to the island !

In the shelter which served as the kitchen resided the boat, looking like a symbol of the once nomadic sea-faring lifestyle of the Sea Gypsy villagers, who landed only to bury their dead or celebrate a marriage. ***Someone please snailmail me the Berta Minggu article, and I will provide a rough translation for the list; it was a good article of the life of the villagers, and the best spread of the Raleigh expedition that I've seen so far.*** It was odd to see the lifeless kitchen shelter, that had bristled with activity all day for two weeks, the first to get going and the last to end. I would like to say I stood and reminisced about the Milo, but I had to watch the reaction of my new friends.

By then the functionality of the school toilet had been verified with considerable satisfaction, and the school compound and building was examined. Most of the plants around the school had died as expected, but happily, one survived - having lasted that long, it will survive for years to come. Haida, I have since found a lot more about gardening with belukar plants (e. g. for starters, we should have cut off all the leaves AND trimmed all the roots - this species apparently has a very high stomatal density), and the next expedition will receive much better advise than you had about the planting!

I missed the rest of their reaction for I then visited the mangrove. The first thing that struck me as I made my way into the mud was how much cleaner the mangrove patch near the village was. Then I remembered - International Coastal Cleanup! You guys did a great job!

Only then I realised how much messier the village mud originally must have been. When the second phase first arrived, it had already been cleaned up by ORB1. The before and after shots must have been quite contrasting! Han Chong, I hope you have the slides, and can show the difference on Oct 11.

Two brave souls followed me into the chest-high (occasionally neck-high) water later that night, had a glimpse of the night life of emerging snails, crabs and fish and overcame their fears about the swamp. Only later did they tell me they were actually quite scared of the dark waters, for I saw hardly any fear. But their heads did turn very quickly whenever a strange new sound emerged from the darkness!

Settling on the jetty in the glow of lanterns and the moon, we munched on mooncakes and surprises like vacumn-packed jagung! We watched the lightning continually flashing in the distance, as the sleepier ones dozed, waking from time to time to listen passively to various conversations and the gentle snores which were permeating the warm night air. The bright moon descended into the western sky, turning a fiery orange and sank into thick back clouds looming over the island.

Finally in true darkness, the prawn fishermen hunted as the exposed mudflats stretched between the islands, almost merging in the very low tide caused by the pull of nearly full moon. Their bright lights peppered the sea as they hunted, and I dozed off, almost in mid-conversation at what must have been 4 or 5am. When thunder finally grumbled close to daybreak, we conceded the threat of rain and scrambled back to the community hall.

The Sunday morning storm ranted and rained even in Singapore, while we huddled and munched on breakfast. The air was washed clean for the visit of Ibu and the staff who had left Singapore that morning...

Gotta run.

Cheerio all!

Siva