Back to Ulu Papar - Day Seven

Day 7 – 29th November 2016

Banana stem and banana 'heart'

I woke up at 6am with the cockerels but it was a slow breakfast – sweet coffee, fried rice and soup (wild boar and banana stem).  We left at 8:30 am (well 9am) after a final couple of glasses of tapai. I was a bit nervous that this might make crossing the river even more difficult than when we arrived, especially as it seemed to be flowing even more strongly with all of the rain over the last couple of days – luckily for me, I was deemed incapable to carry my own bags and was guided across (completely unscathed this time). It was just a short trek back to where our car was waiting for us to begin the return drive to Kg. Nampasan.

 As planned, we stopped in Pongobonon again to set up the functioning computer. Unfortunately, (and frustratingly) it didn’t go to plan again. I think I have finally worked out the secret rules of the pre-paid meters and cards. There is definitely a link to the PC which programmes them which means I need a ‘reset’ card made by the laptop which is now in Kalanggaan to be able to use the new PC with these meters. At this stage, it seemed like the best thing to do is to take the equipment back to Kg. Nampasan and we’ll sort it out when we next return.

Pongobonon computer before I dismantled it for the second time.

The view at lunchtime

The journey back was hot and bumpy but we did have a good stop for lunch at Goin’s parent’s house and there are some beautiful views along the way.  This trip has not been as productive as I had hoped but it has definitely highlighted how important it is to design systems to be robust and reliable for remote communities like these. 

Back to Ulu Papar - Day Six

Day 6 - Monday 28th November 2016

Things which happened today:

• Joel and Goin did some maintenance tasks in the power house
• We installed prepaid meters through the village
• We practiced Malay, English and Dusun (the local language)
• I played cutting and folding paper with the kids
• We drank tapai and played cards

Back to Ulu Papar - Day Five

Day 5 - Sunday 27th November 2016

Yesterday Luno found out that Goin and Joel have already finished their work in Longkogunan (he seems to have some phone signal somewhere) so the plan has changed and they’re going to walk here today rather than the original plan which was to meet them at Longkogunan. It means that I won’t be able to do the water filtration survey there but, given it’s a three-hour trek, I think that it’s unlikely to be a good idea to install large water filters and tanks there in any case. My attempts to suggest that we keep to the original plan were not understood anyway (although this might be a strategic communication barrier!)

The plan for our work today (or so I thought) was to go and install meters into the other houses in Kalanggaan. I had forgotten that today was Sunday though so we haven’t started on installing the meters yet. We’ve been to Church which was just a 10 minute walk up the hill. One other family came to the service which was conducted in the local language but followed the same general format as church services in the UK, with a mixture of readings and hymns. The kids spent most of the service playing around outside the church and collecting sour fruits to eat.

We’re back now but it’s almost lunchtime so we can’t do any work now until after that. Joel and Goin are here and we’re all out on the decking. Some of the men are mending the fishing nets while lunch is being prepared in the kitchen.

After a very slow conversation in a mixture of broken English and broken Malay, I think we’ve now got a plan for the next few days. Rather than having to carry the heavy computer and screen on the hike to Pongobonon, we’ll wait until our transport is booked on 29th and get them to collect us from the end of the road early in the morning. We’ll stop in Pongobonon on the way back to give me time to set up the PC there and leave the meter installations to Henry who is a competent electrician.  Joel and Goin also have some work to do in the Powerhouse here – something to do with a restrictive pipe.

With this new plan, there was no longer any need to work on Sunday so we went fishing this afternoon instead.

I had optimistically brought my camera along which was a bit of a liability given how prone I am to be knocked off my feet by this river. Luckily Goin was looking after me well – in the faster flowing bits of river he held my camera above his head with one hand while securely holding onto my arm with the other to keep me upright! Having successfully kept the camera dry through the river, it started to rain. We saved the camera again though with some natural waterproofing using big leaves to make a parcel. The big leaf I chose happened to be covered in hundreds of ants - I’m definitely not adept in the jungle!

A natural waterproof packet

Dinner tonight should be good but, having met it face-to-face, I’m not sure I’m that enthusiastic to eat the prime catch...

Back to Ulu Papar - Day Four

Day 4 - Saturday 26 November 

Today has been frustrating again! Yesterday there was a faulty screen but a functioning computer in Pongobonon and a faulty computer but functioning screen in Kalanggaan. My idea was to collect the computer from Pongobonon and install it in Kalanggaan, leaving the loan laptop (which I’ve already set up) in Pongobonon. It would be easy to replace the laptop on another site visit since Pongobonon is relatively close to the road.

It turns out that Luno had not understood this idea and so I was proudly presented with the laptop, not the PC this morning.  Getting Luno to confirm whether he’s understood and what he’s understood is pretty tricky.  I normally get a huge grin, a laugh, or he just says ‘relaax, relaaax’ which I don’t find very relaxing. We’ll try to make it work though and I’ll try to ‘realaaax’! I’ll set up the laptop here and we’ll have to go back to Pongobonon later in the week with the functioning monitor so that we can set up the PC there.

Testing the meters and practicing with the software

All-in-all we did make some good achievements this morning. We walked up to the powerhouse and intake, replaced the cooling fan in the ELC (it had stopped working) and I tried to identify if there would be a suitable site to put the water filtration system. We also set up the laptop and practiced using the software and installing the meters using the same test setup as in Pongobonon.

Doing some work to keep the route up to
the intake clear

The route up to the powerhouse and intake is not an easy one here. It involves crossing back over the strong river which had swept me off my feet yesterday as well as a few streams. Some of the vegetation needed cropping back to keep the path passable and we all found a few leeches and one dangerous snake (quickly taken care of with a parang).

The route to the intake

Picking the ripe papaya

I’m sitting on the decking again. It’s 6pm and the tapai is out again. This afternoon we got the meter properly installed, ate some fresh papaya and I went for a wash in the river. I’m feeling much more ‘relax’.

Back to Ulu Papar - Day Three

Day 3 -  Friday 25th November 2016

It’s 10:30 am and we’re now at Kalanggaan. I’m sat outside on the decking which is a pleasant temperature with a cool breeze.  There’s noise from the kids watching the TV inside*, the river right by the house, chickens clucking and insects humming. There’s a kettle on the fire but I’m having to wait a while for my coffee unless I want it lukewarm.



*The TV takes about 30 minutes to warm up and even then shows a slightly squashed blurry picture. There's definitely no need for HD here.

We left Pongobonon at 7:45 am this morning to start the trek here while it was relatively cool. For most of the route we walked along the track road, and then the last twenty minutes is along a trail. Although the way is well kept, it's still not quite so easy as it may sound - the road is pretty much either up or down the whole way and we needed to ford a few streams and rivers... I managed to cross the first river with my kit completely fine but wasn’t so successful on the second river - it was just too strong for me and I ended up being swept downstream.  The good news is that I escaped with just a colourful bruise on my shin. I’ve also still got dry kit and a working laptop because Luno had already safely taken my bag - I’d foreseen that it might happen as soon as I started crossing this river!

Luno pondering the best route across the first river we needed to cross. I managed this one fine!

It's 8pm now and we’re sat on the decking after a delicious meal enjoying a glass of tapai.  I’d definitely give Kalanggaan top marks for catering so far in Ulu Papar. We had stewed babi (boar), chicken and spinach, beans and (of course) rice. The tapai also tastes alright which is a stark contrast to the fermenting liquid that I struggled to politely refuse last night!

We struck some problems (again) with installing the prepaid meters this afternoon because the computer seems to have broken. My normal first step would be to consult google but that’s not an option here. Luckily there’s currently a spare computer in Pongobonon because the monitor there was faulty. Luno isn’t so keen on this idea but he has agreed to walk back to Pongobonon tomorrow to collect it while I do the survey in Kalanggaan for the water filter installation. It seems to be another case where cutting corners on price is making our job much more difficult. The computers are cheap second hand refurbs from a shop in Donggongon and, like the cheap meters, seem to be more hassle than they should have been.

Today has been another day of highs and lows. It is definitely frustrating when everything seems to be broken, and communicating my ideas can be painfully difficult (my drawing skills are coming on a treat and my Malay is definitely getting better). On the other hand, everyone here is very friendly and cheerful in spite of the fact that nothing seems to work when I turn up! It is also a beautiful, peaceful place which I’ve been able to appreciate properly in quiet moments; brushing my teeth outdoors last night gave me the opportunity to look up at a clear starry sky, bathing in the river in Kalanggaan is refreshing and beautiful, and the walk here from Pongobonon had some awesome views down to the river below and waterfalls alongside.

Our hosts' house in Kalanggaan