Blessing One: No Future without a Past

I might be sitting in the very last row of this plane that is carrying me to Kuala Lumpur in 11 hours and 40 minutes, but I am counting my many blessings.

The up-coming fashion designer, Olivia Sinaga, wants to be present at the launch of the Boat Budaya. Our theme, ‘Celebration of the Batak Weaving Tradition’, is what she is all about. She has been converted into a staunch supporter of her own culture’s textile heritage.

She contacted me by email while I was sitting in the departure lounge. She wanted to bring me her beautifully crafted shawl inspired by the Batak sibolang textile. Now if this isn’t a blessing…

Olivia visited the villages of Tano Batak to learn about her own textile heritage. Her study inspired her beautiful new creation. I hope to wear it during the launch of Pulang Kampung III and to use it as a dramatic illustration of the axiom: without the past, there is no future.

Blessing Two: The Youth will Attend

MJA Nashir wrote to me a few days ago. He has been working non-stop for weeks to realize our launch. In addition to being dedicated, Nashir is a methodical worker who leaves nothing to chance. What he puts his hand to, he does well and thoroughly. Now he has put his hand to getting our special guests from North Sumatra to Taman Mini to attend the launch of Pulang Kampung III.

He has called on Pak Jerry to trouble-shoot the logistical challenge. Pak Jerry is our faithful project chauffeur who has proven time and again that he can leap every logistical hurdle without a misstep. He knows what we fight for and how we go about our work; he knows our contacts and how to find them in Tano Batak; he inspires trust. He has agreed to go to Muara to pick up our weaver, then pick up two of our youthful participants, Lasma in Simalungun and Febrina in Karo. He will inspire trust and confidence in their parents.

I am anxious for Lasma and Febrina to meet. They are both very bright, but born to poor families and consequently have never had the opportunity to enjoy tertiary education. Both are interested in perpetuating Batak culture; both are devoted to Batak textiles.

Pak Jerry will fly with our precious cargo and stay for the opening. I am so glad! He is a member of our team  and we would not be complete without him. He will make sure that everything flows smoothly. 

Tears came to my eyes when Nashir told me how he had arranged things. He is realizing my dreams.

The two young Batak men who will join us at the launch in Taman Mini, Manahara Tambunan and Os came to my eyes when Nashir told me how he had arranged things. He is realizing my dreams.

Blessing Four: Confirmation of the most Profound Sort

Ani Siimanjuntak and Jeki Simatupang are a young Batak couple. Apparently they visited Anjungan Sumatera Utara at Taman Mini quite by chance when MJA Nashir was there some months ago and, according to Ani, there was an immediate ‘click’.  She and her husband have long been enthusiasts of Batak culture. Ani’s mother is an expert basket weaver and Ani grew up with respect for this craft – now also threatened with extinction.

Ani and Jeki threw themselves heart and soul into their self-assigned role of fundraisers for the Pulang Kampung expedition. Nashir and I quickly learned that they are precisely the key that we had missed in our prior fundraising efforts. Jeki is a born strategist. Both are fully plugged into the Batak community of Jakarta. They move in it like fish in water.

Ani and Jeki well know what they are up against. Throughout their lives a different model has been held up for them, a model of development and modernity that stipulates leaving the villages and adopting an urban lifestyle with Western trappings of success. By honouring the villages, Pulang Kampung turns that model on its head. Strangely but I don't think surprisingly, this upside-down model is resonating in the hearts of many Batak people. Ani and Jeki are touched when they see that their Batak friends are touched. Surely there is a part in all of us that would rather see our culture's past as heroic rather than dispensable!

Ani and Jeki have been campaigning tirelessly. Their list of Batak families is long and they visiting them one at a time to share the essence of the Pulang Kampung journeys and solicit support.

How gratifying is that? Ani and Jeki are proving over and over again that the time for the Pulang Kampung concept has come. I am humbled by the magnitude of their devotion and their effort. 

I am scheduled to meet this exceptional couple tomorrow.

Read all about it in the Bhinneka Tabloid

http://tabloidbhinneka22.blogspot.comhttp://tabloidbhinneka22.blogspot.com

MJA Nashir wrote it -- except for the part that Pak Tatan Daniel wrote about Nashir. 

Pak Binsar Sihombing presented Nashir with the opportunity to use his tabloid to tell the world what we are doing. He believes in the Pulang Kampung project.

All worked so very hard to realize this tabloid and to excellent effect. It is an excellent device because it captures the essence of what Pulang Kampung is all about. It is a convenient and efficient way to share it all.

Thank you Pak Binsar Sihombing, Mas Nashir and Pak Tatan Daniel!

A Hundred Blessings: Investiture by T-Shirt

MJA Nashir and I were astounded when a young Batak fellow came to our Pulang Kampung I exhibition in Erasmus Huis in Jakarta in 2011 bearing a heavy, awkward, trussed-up bale. When we opened it, we discovered 100 T-shirts printed with our poster image.

It was a gift from someone who believed in our cause: Christian Gultom (he had read about it on Facebook). Christian is a quiet man who has a textile business to support himself while he devotes his heart and soul to those who are less fortunate. He is a rare person with a heart made of pure gold.

For Pulang Kampung IV, he promised us another bale. Nashir made the T-shirt design and not too long ago the heavy freight was delivered. Now I see from the pictures that Nashir has recently posted on  Facebook that he and the organizing team at Taman Mini are all wearing the T-shirts. Like an emblem of solidarity with the Pulang Kampung effort.

Nashir composed a photograph of himself wearing the T-shirt. He adopted the familiar Ompu Nerda pose, pointing his finger at the viewer, demanding reflection:

If not I, who?

If not now, when?

We will use the T-shirt as part of the fund-raising effort. The remainders of the bale will be snapped up. Knowing that, Nashir has ordered some more (at our cost).

Christian Gultom’s gift is giving over and over again. In 2011 we distributed the first bale in North Sumatra among those who had played a role in the first Pulang Kampung project. Now the shirts have increased symbolic power. The wearers are members of the team and supporters of the the third Pulang Kampung journey. There is every indication that there are growing numbers of these.

Oosterbeek paints the Boat Budaya green

Things are suddenly coming together. An unexpected, generous donation for solar support for the Pulang Kampung journey meant that I could go to Bureau Cambium in Oosterbeek and discuss the options.

Wibo Teerlink showed me the Luminaid. He blew up the little cushion and then turned on the solar lamp. We tossed around how the little cushions would look in the evening - when the musicians are on stage or when Rangsa ni Tonun is being shown in the villages. I have just stuffed ten of these aids in my suitcase.

And then there were the Wakawaka power to power the cell phones and other small gadgets (we will try them out on the second-hand cameras that I bought).

Wibo's neighbours, Dirk and Sineke van Uitert, were the generous donors of the solar aids for the journey. (They had also donated generously to the first Pulang Kamung journey.) I couldn't refrain from knocking on their door after leaving Bureau Cambium to show these supporters what they had provided for the young people on the Pulang Kampung journey. I stacked up the goodies on their kitchen table and then took this photograph.

It will be fun to show the four young people who are joining the journey how solar power works. I will invite them to blog about it. We'll see what comes out. I hope that my kind donors will be pleased. I think that my boundless appreciation for their kindness will be contagious.

It's going to happen...