Newbie diary - by Jeannie Foo

I was told to condense my 1-week trip to Yogyakarta into a blog post for the newly-born FON blog. But being the eager newbie and a long-winded person by nature, this has become a mini novella of sorts. So please bear with me as I take you to re-visit Yogyakarta and our wonderful partners.

Now most people I know don’t get to brag that they travel within the first month of a new job. But the nature of FON is such that it wasn’t long before I found myself being told 2 days before that, “We’re going to Yogyakarta!” and, after the daze of booking and packing that followed, suddenly I found myself in Adi Suchip to airport. (But who am I to complain? Elaine got back from Aceh just those 2 days before – so she effectively worked through 2 weeks)
What did I expect? We’re going to rough it out – mattresses on office floors, walking through acres of cassava plots, grilling our partners on the ground for those nitty gritty details that they just don’t want to give up.
Well, something like that.

In reality, we checked into a hotel called Ministry of Coffee (nothing at all like mattresses on floors) and met some of the friendliest, most passionate people I have ever known.

The trip kicked off with us attending our partner IDEA’s budget advocacy training, which was a real eye-opener. Not only were people from 5 different communities discussing budget issues rather civilly (that doesn’t happen everyday) but they were doing it in a hotel in the middle of a huge cabe (chilli) and herb field.

And that is also where we made plans to take a motorcycle ride into a village to attend a community meeting…

Alright, being completely honest, I was just a little concerned about the motorcycle ride. Living in the heart of KL and, unfortunately, being part of its hoard of aggressive drivers, a motorcycle ride to me spells D-E-A-T-H, and in no painless way. How relieved I was when my dear driver, Mas Hari, took it extremely easy on me by going at a granny’s pace of 40 kph and, I have to say, I enjoyed the cool night breeze and the gorgeous starry night as we drove past busy night markets and quiet paddy fields. The meeting itself was in a little pondok in the middle of a cattle farm (therefore the jingling of cow bells and the smell of fermenting grass) where the three girls - Elaine, IDEA’s Mbak Suci and myself – sat encircled by about 20 men from the village.

Can I just say how excellent their proposal-writing skills are and how much we take the little things - like good roads and walkways – for granted. The villagers have to request for grants just to keep them in good shape. Shame on us cosmopolitan dwellers!

The ride back was also notable for our pit stop at a stall by the roadside that sold the worryingly-named teh sampah. Perhaps you are aware (or not) that sampah translates to rubbish? Unwarranted fears though as it only looked like rubbish (that’s still not a good thing, right?) because of the ginger, cinnamon, rock sugar and mint leaves (amongst other things) that were floating in the tea. A great tummy-warmer for the mild winter night and the beginning of my love affair with Jawa tea.

Sunday was a more relaxed affair as it was time for catching up on sleep (yay!). Lie-ins on Sunday also mean that you can discover that they show Dragon Ball on Indonesian TV. And dubbed in Bahasa Indon for extra entertainment value. Needless to say we went shopping in our free time, just to get a feel for the Jogja lifestyle of course. It was field work, I tell you. Field work!

Later that night Mbak Suci and Mas Hari were kind enough to show us a little bit more of the Jogja life by taking us out for some nasi kucing. Cat rice you say? Nothing of the sort. In reality, nasi kucing is a staple of Jogja students looking for a cheap meal (Rp 1000 - that’s 10 US cents!) of rice and sambal (cat-sized portions), best enjoyed in a mamak-like environment – sitting on a straw mat under the open sky with good company and buskers providing dining entertainment.

We were also subjected to a local Jogja custom of walking blindfolded between two large trees (and I believe it really is a custom because we weren’t the only ones doing it) which, if done successfully would lead to your greatest wish coming true. I have to point out though, a) it’s not as easy as it sounds and b) later on we were told we did not walk nearly quite as far enough so only half of my dream will come true. :( Boo.

Back to work on Monday as we met more contacts in the Ministry of Coffee and I finally was able to put some faces to names. Tuesday saw Elaine and I bundled into a car to go to Seri Hardono in Klisat where we met with cassava producers in the village.

**Educational note: Cassava is a tuber-like plant better known as tapioca that, surprisingly, contains cyanide before it is processed. Therefore, it is not a good idea to eat raw cassava.**

Once again we were recipients of the villagers’ hospitality as they fed us with noodles made of tapioca, kueh made of tapioca and more of that insanely sweet but addictive tea. I also found out more about how tapioca flour is made and it really isn’t an easy process. In short, think cutting, rolling, adding water, stirring, straining, drying, grinding. Never ever take food for granted again!

What struck me was the fact that this was fairly close to the epicentre of the quake of 2006 and there was absolutely no sign of it as the whole village was completely built up. No broken foundations or cracks in the road – either I have an over-active imagination or it just goes to show how resilient people can be.

Final day of work in Yogyakarta was spent with partner organisation LBH that is working to legally protect earthquake victims from the financial effects of disaster. To help with their proposal, they organised a forum between government officials, bank representatives, local NGOs, academics and other stakeholders to discuss how to go about doing this. I’m afraid I can’t go into details about it because for one, I already struggle with terminology regarding taxation, legal jargon and government policy. Comprehending this becomes near impossible when it is in another language and referring to an unfamiliar country.

What did translate across the language barrier was the passion that the LBH staff had for their work. Especially when we had a further chat after the forum, they were really in touch with who they were working for and what they wanted to achieve. They seemed almost selfless in their work and that was just a very refreshing experience. Of course you could put it down to their capacity to take out stress on the table tennis table right outside the office. Perhaps that is a good office investment…

And so, a week later I find myself back in the old office, sitting behind the screen reminiscing about my first FON trip. It hardly seemed like work, getting to know our partners and seeing what work they were doing. The real pain? Writing the reports after. It was a great way to truly understand the work FON is doing (important for a newbie, may I suggest more trips to deepen my understanding?) and good bonding time for Elaine and I (over dubbed Chinese movies and more Jawa tea). And many thanks for the lovely people who took us for meals, and sightseeing and who just came to meet us! You made this a very painless first trip indeed!

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