Oh what Luck!

Came home for the second time during my 8 week posting and yes. it has been a struggle.

IN the last week, my kordes (group coordinator) and our only other male group member was involved in an accident. they both attained quite visual bruises and cuts; which turned out to go deeper than what was visible. So, they were taken back to Makssar, the main town for treatment. So we were going then , going to be without a coordinator, nor any male counterpart for the most busiest week of our stay.

then Wayan, the coordinator went ahead and told me to coordinate our messed up group. I was already treasurer with much hatred blown my way for somkehow taking the post away from the previous treasurer. So i refused at first, then i realised in truth that my group mates have been taking it all for granted. No work gets done without the boys. i wanted to change that.

And so only after 2 days of my holding the post, i was labelled "Power-crazy chick".
Yes, i made sure nobody showers more than 10 minutes and woke everybody up by 6. But in my defense, our programs started at 8. I'm a planner. for things that i know, i can control.

Today though, is a different matter.

heidy Ika and I left our post in Suppa at 6 am to arrive in campus at 10.30am. Alhamdulillah i found out i got an A in acupuncture! Although Huey beat me to the highest score. i was just ecstatic that i could graduate this september. Then we went up to the production house; where we were supposed to take our grad photo (all dolled up in kebaya and bun) only to find it empty and locked. We were told we should come back tomorrow.

All happy and with one goal in mind (de-stress) we headed to MP (mall panakukkang) for lunch and a movie. (Batman two rocks. though it is a tad long. Joker is saddistic. yet classic.) by the time i got home, it was 8pm. And just when i turned the lock of my front door, all the lights went out. Dang.

So i waited it out in the dark, illuminated by the few candles i could find for 40 minutes before i gave up waiting and decided to go to a friends house and shower.
On the way though, i misstepped in the middle of the road and broke the strap of my brand new sandals. I dragged my feet all the way to Rusunawa (the apartment building) amidst the laughter of a few passerbys.

Oh what luck. Thankfullly that friend was home and got to clean myself, shower and pray before i settled in to update my laptop as well.

Everything happens for a reason. Maybe i'm just meant to get abother pair of shoes. Hehe.


I may be deemed power crazy. but at least it works. for these people. and me. I know i can do it.:0)

It was still early in the day, about 2 hours after leaving the house, we were already in Pangkep.
I sitting on the passenger side of Huey's Honda jazz as i took in the breathtaking view.

In a moment, i felt a sense of deja vu. The view was not exatcly the same (how can it ever be?) but so similar..rocky beach side to my left, as we drove a narrow barrier-less road, with sloping greenish hills to my right. I was taken back to my road trip in NZ with my sis. The only thing different was my companion, and the music playing in the background.

Sulawesi is a cyclist's paradise; or so i read in an article once. It was writteb by a norwegian cyclist who travelled this very road i was on with his son more than once (i believe he said four). driving away from the hustle and bustle (or dust and noise) of Mkassar, i found the rest of the southern island to be peaceful and beautiful. Pangkep is a small, clean and organised. Pare=pare; my point of destination was a bit more of a complicated town with winding hills and increasing traffic. But cleaner, and more peaceful to the eyes than mkassar was.

Anyway, the drive to my post was only 4 hours long, and it turned out that the village i was posted to was one of the few modern ones. At least more than 40% of the residents had functioning toilets (be it indoors or outdoors), access to clean water and good sense of hygiene to keep away diseases. However, my post was known for experienceing endemics of DHF (dengue High fever) and HIV positive patients. Wasn't i scaredwhen i found out..

All in all, we are sent to do our jobs and help the residents to overcome the health crisis and educate them towards a better understanding of how everything SHOULD be. And we are given 8 weeks to do so.

Its been 3 weeks now, and the most i got to learn is that these people are pretty hard headed. Some would accept your help, and knowledge but most would choose to live ignorantly. This is definitely a challenge. And i am still trying to find ways to reach some of them.

We have planned programs that includes:
- public toilets
- sewage lines
- bird flu and DHF awareness
and etc.

4 weeks. that's how much time we have left to act upon our research and evaluate the outcome of our actions.

so far, i have to admit. it has been fun.