Braving strong currents for a drop of water in East Flores

Braving strong currents for a drop of water in East Flores

By Azis Tokan

EAST FLORES (Antara): Although a natural phenomenon, the dry
season always arrives with some menace every year at a number of
areas in East Nusa Tenggara, such as the Ile Ape sub-district in
East Flores.

The people in this sub-district live in a cape without a
single spring of drinkable fresh water. There are a number of
artificial wells in the area but the salt content of the water is
too high to make it healthy to drink -- but there are times when
there is hardly any choice.

Teeth tarnished with yellow spots are a common sight, the
consequence of drinking water with a high salt content for a
considerable period.

There is one way to get safe water.

That is to cross the strait between Lembata Island and
Adonara, where the strong currents, locally called wato woko,
have drowned scores of people.

But the search for drops of fresh water have driven locals to
make it their routine business to brave the strong currents,
dismissing all risks, which are particularly high between July
and November.

A 20-HP outboard engine can cover the distance between Adonara
and Lembata in some 45 minutes. But the locals usually take a
small boat with two rowers, taking about 90 minutes, preferring
to save fuel money.

Hasam Balawala, 55, a resident of Wakat Ehak hamlet, Dulitukan
village, Ile Ape sub-district, said in the dry season locals
usually start from Tanjung Bagia beach or Wakat Ehak beach in
Lembata at daybreak so they can return at the latest at 7 p.m. to
avoid rough waters.

Hasam said at certain times residents make use of the strong
currents from Lembata to Adonara so they can save their energy
otherwise spent on rowing.

At certain hours, however, the currents can be quite
threatening, especially those rolling down in six rows and
locally known as ole wura.

"We are often surrounded by ole wura. In such a situation we
jettison our cargo, including our priceless water, to ensure that
the boat will remain afloat. Sometimes these strong currents take
us to Banda Sea," Elias Kobu, 37, another resident said.

If the sea is calm, Hasan said, people are happy to row
because they can easily fish and get enough catch to last two
days.

Braving strong currents in search of fresh water has been
practiced by young and old alike over generations, he added.

On one trip they usually carry 10 20-liter jerricans. This
supply of some 200 liters of fresh water, used for drinking and
cooking only, will last a week. For other purposes they use the
water from the wells.

Elias, who was once at sea for a week, said that he collects
sea cucumbers.

He said that the inside of the sea cucumbers are wrapped in
palmyra palm leaf and then boiled, the gravy is separated. He
sells the boiled inside of the sea cucumbers and the gravy at
Waiwuring Market on Tuesdays and Fridays.

"We like to start from Lembata at daybreak on a Tuesday or a
Friday. First we sell our catch in the market and then collect
fresh water. We return at night," Kobu said.

Dry and barren, Ile Ape district is well-known for its
delicious dried fish, which is not salty as no salt is added to
it in the process.

People in Adonara also like ima wain, the tasty gravy taken
from boiling the inside of sea cucumbers, which is prepared by
Ile Ape locals.

Fish, the boiled inside of sea cucumbers in palmyra palm leaf
wrapping and ima wain are usually exchanged for agricultural
produce from Adonara such as bananas, coconuts and other fruits,
which Ile Ape is lacking.

Despite the clean water problem, local people admit that they
love their village.

"Although clean water is difficult to find in the dry season,
we prefer to remain in our village. If we leave this village, we
will be cursed by our ancestors," Kobu said.

The reason that Kobu gives is rather mystical in nature. In
fact, people living in Ile Ape and other villages in Flores still
maintain a strong moral bond with nature.

"We have other kinds of fortune to compensate us. Our village
is a known producer of legumes and dried fish in East Flores,"
Kobu said.

Waiwuring, a beach with brown sand in the eastern part of East
Adonara sub-district, is where the Bajo people of South-East
Sulawesi live. They have been there, living in their stilt
houses, since the 1930s, Daeng Baba, 56, a community elder in
Waiwuring said.

He said that in this sloping coastal area, the wells are only
half a meter deep and the water is therefore tasteless.

Ile Ape people take fresh water from these wells. "To the
Waiwuring people, water is public property," Daeng Baba said,
adding that no permission is needed to take water from any wells
in the area.

East Flores district head, Henky Mukin, told Antara in Kupang
recently that the district administration has earmarked funds for
clean water installations in Ile Ape sub-district.

"The water will come from the sloping area of Mount Ile Ape.
Hopefully, this plan, when it is realized, will solve the clean
water problem in Ile Ape," he said.

He added that the re-greening project undertaken in this area
has not been successful because local people let their cattle
graze on the plants grown under this scheme. So local people
may continue to be baffled by their perennial clean water
problem.