Travel Story from Rambunan Village

by Charles Roring

My tour in Sonder villages was considered complete if I had traveled to Rambunan village. Many travel agency haven't provided tour package to this region. It is around one hour traveling by car from Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. After two days staying in Sonder, I continued my trip to that village. It is a special village that produce sugar from palm trees. Palm sugar is an important ingredients in South East Asian cuisines. Palm sugar is made by heating the sweet sap that has been taken from Aren palm trees usually in early the morning and at around 5.00 p.m. in the afternoon.

Aren palm tree (pohon seho) in Rambunan village of Minahasa

If you plan to travel Rambunan village, ask your tour and travel agency to arrange for a special trip to that village. The best time to visit it is during full moon period. At the time the Aren trees produce a lot of sap. The sap is sometimes fermented and distilled by farmers to make CapTikus. Cap Tikus or Sopi contains high percentage of alcohol. So, if you travel by riding motorcycle or driving a rented car, don't drink too much or you won't be able to return to your hotel.

Palm sugar from Rambunan is sold to local traditional markets in Minahasan towns such as Sonder, Kawangkoan and Tomohon. Some inter-island traders export it to West Papua, Maluku and even Eas Kalimantan. The quality of palm sugar from Rambunan village is the best in the world. The Minahasan people living in Rambunan have been making palm sugar from generations to generations. Although the process is done manually, the sugar they produce is always consistent with it taste. In addition, palm sugar from Rambunan village contains pure brown crystal. I recommend any travelers to buy some so that they use it later when drinking coffee or tea with dodol cake whose main ingredients are rice and palm sugar.

Dodol cake from Sonder Minahasa. Photo by Charles Roring

Similar to many other Minahasan villages, Rambunan village depends on agricultural commodities such as rice, clove, fruits, vanilla and corn. I like traveling to the villagers gardens and have parties with them there. Budget travelers can even arrange two or three days staying in such village to experience more about the village life and customs of the local people.

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Traveling Across the Villages and Towns of Minahasa Highland

I traveled to Minahasa highland several years ago. You can contact a nearest travel agency in your city to locate where Minahasa is. It is a regency located in the northern part of Sulawesi island of Indonesia. I spent two weeks there staying in a Minahasan family. I traveled most by public transportation and car. Most of the towns are beautiful. Because they are located in the mountainous region they follow the contour of hills, valleys and slopes of the highland.

Sonder town in Minahasa regency, the Province of North Sulawesi, Indonesia

People grow beautiful flowers in front of their houses. So, if you travel from one village to another, you will see colorful flowers and enjoy fresh air. In towns like Tomohon, Kawangkoan and Langowan, travelers can go around the towns by hiring Bendi. Horse drawn cart. The price for one hour is around twenty to fifty thousand rupiahs (around 2 - 5 US dollars).

In Kawangkoan, travelers can stop at kiosks that sell roasted peanuts. There are two or three inns there. You can stay there for one night. The next day if you travel to Sonder, you can ask the driver to stop by for lunch at Terapung Resto - it is a floating restaurant where you can eat fried or grilled Nila fish. Its taste is delicious. Another village that is located some fifteen minutes driving from Sonder is Tincep. You can enjoy the beautiful scenery of rice fields arranged like steps on moderate slopes between Sonder and Tincep. Travelers can enjoy various kinds of flowers sold by the villagers. Tincep is the larges flower market in the region. There are two or three waterfalls in that village. I recommend that you stay in Tincep for one or two days before continuing your travel to other towns. In addition to flower market, rice fields and waterfalls, travelers can enjoy white water rafting in Timbukar village. Don't forget to wear life jacket when you get into the boat.

Minahasan people are full of smile and laughs. They like singing folk songs, playing music as well as drinking saguer. For this drink, many tourists who travel to this region say that the refined one is strong enough to make you hang over the next day before continuing your trip. When saguer has been fermented and distilled, the end product is called Cap Tikus. Its alcohol content is probably higher than whiskey. So, don't drink too much if you plant to leave the village early in the morning. If you still have time, you can take a short trip to Leilem to see how the local craftsmen make furniture. Next time I will tell you my travel experience in another village or town. by Charles Roring

Recreational Divers Must Support Coral reefs Conservation

by Charles Roring
Divers both professional and recreational around the world are the first-hand eyewitnesses of dying coral reefs. Human induced activities that cause climate change such as burning fossil fuel, cut trees, reclaiming lands have direct impact on coral reefs. Every year scuba divers see the number of reefs is decreasing.
Divers can inform and encourage their friends to participate in saving coral reefs environment by reducing the burning of fossil fuel or cleaning up the beach.
To better inform their friends, they need educational materials about the importance of coral reefs to the livelihood of mankind. Nowadays, there are a lot of books, videos or websites that dedicate their contents for the conservation of coral reefs and marine environment. A very good website that I recommend is Coral. It provides handbooks such as Sustainable Tourism for Marine Recreation Providers, and Introduction to Coral Reef Ecosystems, Threats and Solutions.
Another resource which I say as very good is The Ocean Conservancy. It contains information on how to carry out coastal clean-up. The organization is also working on coral reef monitoring protocol that can be easily performed by recreational divers. It has a program called RECON – Reef Ecosystem Condition.
If there is anybody who is interested in experiencing real diving in order to know what it is like to breathe underwater and enjoy the beauty of coral reefs environment, he or she should take a diving course. There are a lot of diving schools around the world. In the US, there is Midwest Scuba, whereas in Australia there is Pro Dive.
Scuba diving is relatively an expensive sport. But it is not just a mere sport. It brings us closer to nature. If we can see by our own eyes how beautiful coral reefs are, we will support any efforts aiming at protecting our marine environment.

Dive schools must also emphasize subjects such as the conservation of coral reefs ecosystem, responsible recreational divers in their diving course curriculum.

Beach Hotels and Dive Resort Must Provide Educational Materials on Coral Reef Conservation

by Charles Roring
Coral reefs around the world are worth US $ 375 billion in goods and services (Status of Coral Reefs of the World, 2002). One of the services that are related to coral reefs is diving.
Recreational diving, if well managed, can give significant contribution to coral reefs conservation efforts. Tourists who come to dive should be informed about how important coral reefs are for the survivability of marine ecosystems. The information in the form of booklet or newsletter can be provided in every cottage or bedroom where the divers stay. In addition, webmasters of the resorts or beach hotels must also provide articles about coral reefs in their websites.
Dive centers must train their dive guides so that they can guide their guests properly. Before entering the sea water, recreational divers must be informed about such matters as neutral buoyancy and the principles of eco-diving that respect and protect coral reefs and sea animals.
Snorkeling and diving and other marine recreational activities can be good to the environment if the people who conduct them know the importance of marine conservation.
Marine tourism industry generates billions of dollars every year. Such a huge amount of money should also be allocated to the protection of marine environment through the providence of educational materials, clean up projects and coral reefs implantations.  The coral reefs conservation campaigns should not only be restricted to people who are involved in marine related activities but also every human being who is living on this planet. Everybody should give his or her contribution in reducing the global warming. Global warming is the major causal factor of recent deaths of coral reefs. When the temperature of sea water increases, more coral reefs die.
We can reduce the coral beaching by changing our living habit. We can go to work riding bicycles, walk and by public transportation. The less carbon dioxide we emit, the more coral reefs can be saved from beaching. So, it is the responsibility of every member of this planet to restore this environment.

Is it possible for a mute girl to speak English

Cindy (in school uniform) is playing with my nephew

Most of you will give pessimistic answers. If her mother tongue is not English or if the surrounding environment is not an English speaking community, it will be very difficult for the mute girl to master the language. Even to speak bahasa Indonesia is difficult. How can she  speak English? Bahasa Indonesia is the language that she encounters everyday, both at school and at home. How can she speak English in an unsupportive condition like that?

This afternoon, Cindy came to me. She looked sad. She said that her parents do not allow her to study in Kolese Santo Yusuf, Malang. Her parents said that all of their three children are studying in Malang, Surabaya and Denpasar. If she goes to Malang, they will be left alone. In addition, they cannot fully let her elder sister look after her. Her elder sister has her own life. Cindy has to receive her parents decision of not granting her the permission to study in a school which is far away from her home. Her home is in Manokwari, a small town in the northen coast of West Papua.
Cindy also said that her mother rejects to teach her English because she does not understand the language. Well, I think her mother does not speak English that's why she is confused. As far as I know, Cindy knows a lot of vocabularies. But she needs more time to practice pronunciation. She is intelligent.
Honestly, I cannot easily understand her bahasa Indonesia if she speaks in normal speed. Sometimes I must ask her to speak slowly, word by word. If I still cannot understand what she said, I will ask her to write them on a piece of paper. So, the communication between I and Cindy is done in spoken and written ways. Speaking English will be more difficult. I know she doesn't really enjoy learning English. Her physical condition limits her speed in learning new things.

I encouraged her by showing her success stories of people like her who overcome their hearing problems. One of famous figures whom I introduced is Beethoven. Although he was deaf, he became a famous composer. I opened wikipedia with an article about Beethoven. That day, I tuned to satellite radio in JCSat. It was playing classical music. I asked her to touch the loudspeaker. She placed her palm in the loudspeaker. She could feel the vibration. Later she placed her ear on the loudspeaker. I could see how she began to cry. She said the music was beautiful.

At the same time, her mother was in Europe. She called her mother to buy CDs of classical music. One week later, her mother returned home with those CD. She brought it to me and I played it on the CD player. Even though she could not fully listen to the sound, she enjoyed it very much. With a hearing aid she could distinguish guitar, piano, violin or trumpet that were being played.

So far, I haven't been able to help her understand the international phonetic symbol which is the foundation of learning English pronunciation. I strongly believe that she can understand grammar. I need to find new methods that are effective in teaching pronunciation to a mute girl like Cindy.
She will graduate from next year. She said that she will carry on her study in a junior high school that is located to her home in Wosi. It means I will not meet her frequently.
I can talk to her almost every day, because her shool is at the back of her home. After school, she always waits for her parents to pick her up in my bookstore. During those times, I can teach her English little by little. It is not easy actually, but it is possible.
She needs patients and persistent to master English. I don't know if I can still have the chance to teach English or not. I hope she can speak, and write English one day. by Charles Roring

Also read:

• Birds in the highland of Minahasa
• Olive-backed Sunbird
• Birding in Minahasa Peninsula
• Morning Birding Tour from Tomohon town

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