Manokwari and Numfor
door Kathrin Pape
After the successful Water Project in Indibo Wally and Coby still had time to visit the Women Program in Manokwari together with me. When we arrived at Ibu Kaikatui’s house we were greeted by about 50 women and 6 men from Raja Ampat who spent a couple of days in Manokwari to learn new techniques from the women in Manokwari. They were playing traditional music and we had the chance to have a look at Ibu Kaikatui’s beautiful gallery and at the handicrafts of the women. After talking to them for a couple of minutes they split into small groups to learn how to make different kinds of handicrafts. A few minutes later the buzzing house got quiet as the women were sitting in groups in different corners of the room and listened seriously to the instructions of the women. About two hours later some of the finished products could be already proudly shown to the camera. As always after a visit at Ibu Kaikatui’s house I was astonished by the eagerness of the women to learn and practice how to make their own handicrafts and the motivation could just be stopped by Ibu Kaikatui who in the evenings needs some privacy in her own room as well and politely asks the women to leave.
This week was although my last week of teaching at the high school as the students have mid semester test next week. I enjoyed giving classes and definitely improved my Indonesian language skills by answering their various questions about the daily life in Europe.
On Friday it was already time for packing my backpack again as Salo and me planned to travel to the island Numfor. As the island is known for it’s perfect waves for surfing we wanted to bring a surfboard along, but unfortunately that didn’t worked out as the small Susi Air Plane was fully booked. When we arrived on the small airstrip we organised ourselves a place to stay with the family of a grammar school teacher and took the motorcycle to explore the surroundings. After an about 1 hour drive along the lush nature and some small villages we stopped at he beach to have a look at the huge waves which came rolling in. Just one sad thought about the surfboard we had to leave at home and than we drove to the next hidden bay were we were able to jump on a small wooden boat to paddle out to the beautiful corals in every imaginable colour and the variety of fish. I jumped into the water and swam to the edge of the reef where I found the most fish. Alone and the ocean and far away from the boat I was very shocked when I saw an enormous shark rising from the edge of the reef! But luckily, after having a serious look at each other, he turned around and disappeared in the dark blue ocean.
We came back to the house after sunset and after a bucket shower and a hot meal we sat down and had a chat with the locals. The island of Numfor is very secluded from Manokwari, but still seemed to be well organised. Other than in Kebar Region you can find several shops and warungs to buy a decent meal. Almost every house has access to clean water via a well where they fetch water with a bucket. Even the school seemed to be open and the teachers are giving regular classes. The students were telling this week they are busy with preparing for their tests next week. The next day we woke up early as we wanted to take a small boat again to check out a different snorkelling spot. Around 7 o’clock we already jumped into the cold water again and had a fantastic view at all kinds of fish (angelfish, Napoleon, parrot fish…)
The plane was about to leave at 11 o’clock, but due to bad weather conditions we left at around 4 pm. Instead of waiting at the airport we sad down with two women who were selling tomatoes and chillies. The spot in the middle of the village and close to the airport was perfect to have a chat with the locals and watched their daily activities.
On Sunday it was a special day at the school as it was Suster Martinas birthday and we took a picture all together as a memory and had a delicious meal together in the evening.
