The Story in Papua - Chapter 2 (English Version)

Chapter 2

When we arrived in Ugo Village, I was grateful to the society that responded to me very well there. The next day, my field leader held a meeting with the tutors whom we recruited, they were Mr. Amsal Dedemu as a tutor in Children Class and also a teacher at school, Mr. Tinus Namburemba as a tutor in the adult class, and a Priest, Mr. Agus Seharumba as a tutor in the adult class and also as the area coordinator in this place. I learned to handle the tutor’s manner from that meeting. After that, Fredrik returned back to Manggelum District where he did his main duty and I started to do my activities in this village.

First of all, I walked around the village to know the situation and condition in that place. There was no electricity in each house. There were only 3 houses that used solar cells including the place where I lived, but they had broken. So, I lived in a place without electricity at all. Besides, there was no public toilet or even private toilet in each house. And you know guys, in this village, there was a public school which all of the teachers were not staying in this place because they went to the regency and never returned back to the village for a long time. When Fredrik left the village, Mr. Amsal directly went to the Regency as well.

So, there was no teacher at all in this place. That situation made me and Mr. Priest help to teach at school. Every morning from Monday to Saturday I used to teach at this school from 08.00 am to 13.00 pm. In the afternoon, I, Mr. Priest, and Mr. Tinus taught in adult classes but Mr. Tinus only taught for some days because he often went hunting. So, there were only me and Mr. Priest who taught at this place.

On October 16^th, 2018, I went to Boven Digoel Regency (Tanah Merah Regency) by water transportation or speed boat to buy my logistics and in order to call my family and my friends because there was no signal in Ugo Village. When I started going to the Regency, I saw that Mr. Tinus did the same. So, it meant that Mr. Priest would be alone to teach the students in all classes. In the middle of our way to Boven, on the embouchure, we stopped for a moment because there were societies who cleaned the river by eliminating the woods which lied athwart and barricaded the boats. After that, we continued our trip and stopped again in Kouh Village (Kouh District) to fill the fuel of the speed boat. Finally, we arrived in Boven Digoel Regency at nightfall.

When we were still on the port of Boven Digoel, I wanted to call Mr. Priest. Daniel Iha because I stayed in his place if I were in Regency, but my driver asked me to join him to stay in the dormitory of Ugo’s society in km 2. Ultimately, I followed him and met Ugo’s society whom I never met in the village, but some of them, I had met in the village before.

I bought everything I needed in the evening, for Mr. Priest alone in the village to teach because the next day on October 17^th, 2018, I had to go back to the village by the same speed boat. In the morning, we directly returned back to the village. When we were on the embouchure, we had to stop and spend the night there because the river was ebb but at night there was rain. The next day, the river started flowing and we could go to the village.

In the village, many people went to the backwoods and embouchure. At that time, Mr. Priest just got information that his daughter who studied in Merauke Regency was very sick and on the way to Boven Digoel Regency to be hospitalized there. So, Mr. Priest had to go to the Regency to see her. Ultimately, Mr. Priest, his family, and some people went to the Regency. Then, the situation in that place was so silent and almost empty because almost all of the society went out of the village. There were only the headman family and some people who stayed there. The next day, there was an announcement to the villager to follow the Timothy Course in Uni Village (Bomakia District). After that, on October 20^th, 2018, I joined the villagers to go to Uni by walking with them and their children. We started going there in the morning and arrived in the middle of the backwoods at nightfall, so we stayed and spent the night there. After that, in the morning, we continued our trip and arrived at Uni at nightfall which meant that our trip to go there needed 2 days by walking. We followed the course for 4 days, and then we returned back to the village for 2 days again. On October 28^th, 2018, I just realized that the course would be held in Ugo the next day and Mr. Priest returned back to the village with some villagers because he was the one who took the responsibility for the course which was held on October 29^th, 2018 until November 1^st, 2018. The next day after the Timothy Course finished, Mr. Priest went again to the Regency. Then, I was alone to teach at school from Monday to Saturday and at adult class from Monday to Thursday. When I taught at school, I learned to handle the character of those students because many students could not be directed as easily as I thought.

On November 18^th, 2018, I went to the Regency by Long Boat to buy some logistics again and communicate with my family and friends. At that time, 2 of my students accompanied me. When I arrived at the port, I directly called Mr. Priest. Daniel Iha because we had to stay in his place, the manse for the Priest. I bought all of the logistics that I needed as soon as possible while I waited for the information of the Long Boat that we could use to return back to Ugo. When I was in Regency, I came to the places where Ugo’s society lived, such as km 2, km 3, Ambonggo 1, and Ambonggo 2. On November 22^nd, 2018, we went to the port to return back to Ugo because we had had a driver, but when we arrived at the port and waited until noon, the driver called us and said that the trip was postponed, and we would go the next day. In the afternoon, I met Fredrik because he came to the Regency. The next day, I and my students returned back to Ugo and did the activities as usual (I taught the students by myself). The process of learning and teaching was held until December 20^th, 2018. After that, we enjoyed our holiday time for Christmas 2018 until New Year 2019.