Linda and Rawa Kehidupan

Porara Swamp and limestone cliff

In 2011 while an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development (AYAD) volunteer, my daughter Linda McRae visited the village of Tapanggaya in Konawe Utara, Sulawesi. The destruction of this community’s fresh water, fishing and fertile land as a result of nickel mining shocked her. While visiting the nearby villages of Linomoyo and Bendewuta she heard of a proposal for mining the limestone cliffs that edge the nearby Porara swamp, their main source of  income and food. 

She could not stand by and allow a similar event to happen in this healthy and relatively prosperous community so she started a project: creating a movie to educate the villagers on the need to retain their land.

On 27 January 2012, before the movie could be finished, Linda died from a brain tumor.

I went to Indonesia in June 2012 to retrace a little of Linda’s path in the country by visiting some of the places and people she knew in Sulawesi, and helping her non-government organisation LePMIL (The Institute for Coastal and Hinterland Community Development) finish her project.

The movie Rawa Kehidupan (Swamp Life) has been created as Linda envisaged it; a story of the fishermen of Linomoyo and Bendewuta and their reliance on the freshwater fish of Porara Swamp to provide food and economic prosperity for them and their families. Linda wanted to show the villagers their own story to prevent them selling land for mining or other development, such as palm plantations, that may threaten the swamp’s future.

In August I visited Bendewuta and Linomoyo with LePMIL staff for the screening of Rawa Kehidupan, which inspired a discussion about sustainability of the fishing industry and economic prosperity for the area. Sumardin, Kepala Desa (Village Headman) of Bendewuta, is aware of the appeal of short term wealth over long term sustainability. Thanks to Linda’s movie the villagers are also alert to the issues. I am confident that with Sumardin’s strong leadership and advocacy for the village with local government, longterm protection of the swamp is now assured.

Rawa Kehidupan movie cover

When the movie was screened in Kendari for the local film industry and NGOs, most feedback suggested adding to the movie to tell the story of the ecosystem; how the swamp, forest and mountains are integral and essential parts of the whole. Yasril (LePMIL’s Director) and I believe the movie has achieved what Linda wanted, but has the potential to do far more than just educate local villagers. With research and more filming, it could become the story of an ecosystem, to be used as part of an environmental campaign, regionally and nationally; perhaps even internationally. So Linda’s legacy to LePMIL could become an important item in the Indonesian armoury of environmental tools and also encourage collaboration between local NGOs.

$800.00 remains of the $4,000 total donated to Linda McRae Dreaming, including $500 from the generosity of Earth Garden magazine. We have been waiting for other money that Linda had in her Indonesian bank account under the name of a trusted friend. Unfortunately it seems her trust was misplaced. As a result we are currently unable to replace LePMIL’s old and unreliable movie camera with a more up-to-date model to go with the Apple computer and Final Cut software purchased by Austraining. However Yasril plans to write a proposal to attract funding that will ensure research and filming will go ahead.

Linda made 2 trips to Linomoyo and Bendewuta, staying only 10 days in all, but she made such a strong impression that she had many close friends; all were shocked and saddened to hear of her sudden death. Sumardin still has the measuring stick, used by Linda and the LePMIL crew to measure water levels for a potential hydro project, which Linda asked him to look after till she returned.

Ekeng, LePMIL’s movie director, asked his friend Risa for help with Linda’s memorial movie. After looking at the material, Risa chose “Another Day” by Dream Theater as the background music to inspire others to fulfil Linda’s dreams. Lack of a translator has caused delay in completion of this second story.

The Community leader of Bendewuta, Mr Taufik, challenged me to learn Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) so I can return to talk with the community. I hope I can achieve a reasonable standard in the language so I can do that; also assist LePMIL staff to learn Bahasa Inggris (English) and develop Rawa Kehidupan to it’s full potential. Another project that is important to me is having Linda’s thesis, Resistance, questions of governance and development in an East Javanese forest community (2009), available in English and Indonesian on LePMIL’s website.

In these ways I can be sure that Linda's name will not be forgotten in the country she embraced as her second home. 

Linda in a canoe with a fisherman and his catch, Porara Swamp

Jo McRae

To donate to the Linda McRae Dreaming Fund

see Heaven 

Address http://www.heavenaddress.com.

All donations will be used to benefit the environment of S. E. Sulawesi.

 

Linda’s death on 27 January 2012 caused delay to completion of her movie about Linomoyo. 

At Linda’s memorial AYAD presented the Apple computer that Linda had applied for to edit the movie and AYAD funded training for Yasril and Ekeng in Final Cut software at Jakarta in May. Donations to The Linda McRae Dreaming Fund began at her funeral. The fund is being used to pay for transport to Linomoyo, wages to those who work on the project and costs associated with the screenings.

Fortunately the Chinese mining company that inspired this project have not proceeded with their plans to mine the limestone hills as fast as expected, though we will find out more at the screening.

The premiere of "Rawa Kehiduran" or "Swamp Life" will be at Bendewuta on Saturday 4^th August. Subsequent discussions, facilitated by LePMIL, will help the community decide the manner in which they. wish to manage their future. With sufficient leadership and strength in the community to ensure the sustainable management of fishing, water and land use in area, that may be the end of Linda’s project in North Konawe.

The movie will be screened in Kendari the following week, with local NGOs invited to attend. Copies of the movie will be available, though only in Indonesian initially. The Australian version will be in English.

A Filming Expedition to the Wetlands

Our filming expedition last month to Linomoyo was quite successful, with the guys managing to capture all their planned images before the rainy season started. Our main objective was to film and interview remote fishing-dependent communities, so in a group of eight we hired two dugout canoes, and went on a long journey upriver with all our luggage and film equipment.

 We saw an impressive amount of wildlife along the way, from many bird species and reptiles, a beautiful range of butterflies and dragonflies, and also including a large family of the native booted macaque (Macaca Ochreata) sitting on the riverbank (listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN; http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/12557/0). We followed increasingly smaller streams, the last one being so low that we were too heavy to get through normally! Our lead film maker, Suprin, had to get out of the prow of the boat every time we hit a submerged log or a shallow section, and managed to pull us through safely.

Two hours later we arrived in a very small and dispersed community. The local dependence on fishing and waterways was immediately apparent, as the only vehicles were boats; the rivers are the people’s roads. We climbed up the bank and saw a group of women cleaning small fish, and men mending nets under the house.  This would be our home for the night, while interviewing locals and going fishing with them.

But first, we had to visit the local ‘tourist’ site; a spectacular bright blue lake in the middle of the island. A half hour walk through the bush, doing our best to avoid monster mosquitoes and getting our feet caught in spiky rattan, resulted in the beautiful sight of a deep, bright blue and clear lake surrounded by rainforest green and more butterflies. I couldn’t resist, I just had to dive in! Some were concerned about the story of a crocodile living in the middle of the lake, but it sounded a bit like a fairy tale to me. Although two locals swam too, my friends were still terrified that the crocodile would come out. Once I got out we saw an enormous fish swimming in the middle, so I’m glad it didn’t get to nibble me.

In the afternoon some of the guys designed a microphone boom, village style. After a lot of trial and error, a long pole was attached to the top of a tripod, with a standard microphone dangling from the far end, attached to one of the cameras by an even longer cable. We undertook a number of interviews that afternoon and evening, including one of myself. After that we went with the local fishermen on a night fishing trip; one man in the back paddled quietly, while his partner stood in the prow, delicately balanced and holding a long speared fork.

We travelled quietly through the black streams, with the man behind shining a torch into the water, where the fisherman might see his prey. We continued like this towards another community, catching only one fish in the process. On the way back we got another four fish (only one over 30cm), however the fishermen were quite vocal about how five years ago the fish population was much more abundant, with larger individuals more common.

The following day we returned to our base village on the edge of the wetlands, where we were lucky enough to hear a farmer play a bamboo flute in the middle of the construction of new fields. We also did some audio recordings of him and his friend, who plays a traditional guitar. We plan to overlay the images of the film with this local music.

This trip is all thanks to the support of Glenn Warland, our philanthropic trooper who has donated enough funds for us to finish the movie... which will be made much easier to complete once we get an editing computer! We’re waiting for news on this exciting development, so stay tuned J

A donation for our film making!

First of all, a huge Thank You to my friend Glenn for giving us our largest donation so far, of over $700! This is going to seriously help us to produce our documentaries in the Linomoyo area.

A group of us are heading up there on Wednesday the 28^th of September to film the tradition of hundreds of local fishermen camping in the wetlands, making the most of low water levels before the wet season starts (said to be in October).

We also hope to test the flow of some creeks to see if they can support a small hydro project during the dry season.

The mining company has not yet set a date for the meeting, which is good for us because we can do more local research in Linomoyo and the district capital before the meeting takes place (such as get detailed information which the government likes to hold on to, re: mining plans, forest classifications and plans to get Linomoyo on the electricity grid). Yet, this delay does mean that we will have to make at least one more filming trip before we can complete the documentaries. Whilst the meeting is delayed, a team of surveyors are currently determining the choicest parts of the mountains and cliffs to mine.

If you would like to support us (like Glenn and our other benefactors) to help and represent the community whose livelihoods are liable to be threatened by the planned mining activities, please make a donation. With our activities increasing in the area, we are looking for:

Transport funding per return trip of 5 days: $200

Providing a monthly wage at the base NGO rate to our amazing people who do so much work. This will give us more security with dedicated, reliable employees: $220 per person per month

(We currently have one hard-working vollie, Yasril, along with other people who provide assistance at different times. As our activities increase we would like to involve them and others on a full time basis too.)

You can contact me on linda.mcrae7@gmail.com.

Thank you for your on-going support.

Let's Make a Movie!

Based on recent donations from friends and family in Australia, last week we were able to support an exploratory filming and fact-finding expedition by a local film crew to the Linomoyo region. We hope to be able to produce at least two documentaries; one directed towards giving the local community a new perspective on their environment and dependence on the wetlands, and the second to promote the area to the wider Indonesian and international community. The film crew, consisting of my friends Suprin and Ibe, have already filmed over 50% of interviews and some of the scenery.

Next month is going to be busy for us, as the mining company plans to hold its first meeting in the community (we’re not sure of the date yet), and in a few weeks the year’s most hectic fishing season will commence. As we are entering the dry season in South East Sulawesi, the water level in the wetlands will begin to decrease. Coupled with a recently intense breeding season, the water will be swarming with fish for about four weeks. For this time, around 100 villagers will move to the water’s edge to live in temporary huts and tents, where they will be able to make in excess of four times their standard fishermen’s wage.

Hence, we are planning a large trip soon for filming, further research, attending the company’s meeting and possibly holding our own meeting with villagers.

We anticipate that the amount of funding required to complete the films, from filming on-site to high quality production in Kendari can be broken down as follows:

·         Video camera hire: $112

·         Tapes: $13

·         Generator hire (to be able to charge equipment
because there is no regular power supply): $89

·         Rechargeable batteries: $5

·         Four days car hire: $179

·         Increasing laptop RAM for better production capabilities: $78

·         External 500 GB hard disk: $56

·         Production time and labour: $335

Total costs: $865

·         We are also seeking the donation of a used but recent Apple computer, as this would provide the best production quality and be an invaluable resource to the local film-making community.

(Please note that these costs are estimates, and are based on the exchange rate of AUD1 = IDR8,956, as at 25/08/2011) 

Thanks for your support,

Linda

Small but positive progress

I just got back to Kendari from Jakarta, where I made some contacts at WWF, the Australian Embassy and got lots of inspiration for how to spread the word about what is happening in Tabunggaya and Linomoyo.

Excitingly, we received our first donation from Alice Graham; thanks Alice!!

We have also found out that the mining company will be meeting with the community on the 18th of August, so a group of us will be heading up to Linomoyo soon to observe how the community receives the plans, find out more about when and where the company intends to mine, and to further develop the scope of our project.

Thanks for your support,

Linda