Cutting bamboo stems for use as temporary electric poles, linking
cables from the dam site to The kampung. — Photos courtesy of University
of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
IT has been months ago since
I visited Kampung Sapit, an isolated village some 400 metres above sea
level and accessible only via a narrow motorcycle path.
Perhaps, owing to its remoteness and an acute lack of basic infrastructures, the kampung is not connected to the main grid.
During
my short two nights stay there, what impressed me most was neither how
the villagers – young and old alike — made the 90 minutes hike to the
kampung seem like a stroll in the park nor how cold a shower could get
at dusk, but, oddly enough, a 14-year-old named Anthony.
It was my
last night and the villagers were holding a small party. At the end,
the usually playful and perky village boy lamented: “It’s so cold and
dark tonight – it will be rough heading back to my house.”
At that
moment, I was sort of out for words. As a city boy used to enjoying
round-the-clock electricity and most other amenities urbanites take for
granted, I have never thought a five-minute walk home could amount to a
struggle. But for little Anthony, reaching home meant walking down a
pathless hillock and crossing a small bridge, held together by two
bamboo stems, in the DARK!
I asked: “Did you bring a torchlight?”
Apparently stunned by my asking, he pointed to the full moon above:“That’s my light.”
Indeed,
nights at this village, wedged between two mountain ranches, can be
chilly and also pitch dark when some 60 Bidayuh families call it a night
and turn off their costly diesel-powered generators, their only source
of electricity.
However, it appears the dark clouds of deprivation
have been blown away by the winds of change. I was informed
recently little Anthony and the Kampung Sapit folk can finally look
forward to running electricity supply and brighter nights as an
non-governmental organisation —Engineers with Borders Malaysia (EWB) –
has ventured into the village to build a micro-hydro generator.
“All
this while, the villagers have been relying on generators for
electricity, lasting only a few hours each day. One family needs to
spend between RM600 and RM900 on diesel but those who cannot afford it
have to turn to kerosene lamps,” explained PKR Mambong branch chairman
Willie Mongin who was the main facilitator and co-sponsor for the
project.
According to Willie, the micro-hydro generator, even as
we speak, is producing up to 3 KVA of electricity, allowing each
household to light up two to three light bulbs all day long. The
villagers can also charge other low voltage electrical equipment during
the day when light bulbs are not needed.
“During the commissioning
of the project, we faced various obstacles and put in enormous effort
but thank God, the hydro generator finally works,” said Willie.
A self-help project
The
mini-dam that builds up water pressure from the nearby stream, was
built by the villagers for the villagers. All building materials were
carried from Kampung Parang (at the entrance of the only path to Kampung
Sapit) to the construction site.
After the dam was completed,
with the help of the EWB team, 2.5 kilometres of external aluminum
cables were laid from the micro-hydro site to the village and 600 metres
of piping connected from the dam to the generator unit.
Indeed, much sweat and toil has gone into the project.
“We
tried our best to give whatever we could to the villagers but due to
unforeseen events, we actually spent about RM80,000— much more than our
initial budget. The cost included food and transportation. The
facilitator personally met almost half of the cost while our sponsors
covered the balance,” project manager Sanjiv Indran said.
Apart
from the mini-dam project, volunteers from University of Nottingham
Malaysia Campus (UMNC), Light Up Borneo (an NGO), EWB and Rural
Expedition Aiding Community Health (REACH) had travelled from their
hometowns across the country to further assist Kampung Sapit in areas
such as education, health and waste management where the villagers are
lagging seriously behind
Education
SK
Kambug is a small boarding school in Upper Padawan, housing more than
100 pupils from the surrounding kampungs such as Sapit, Assum, Kampung
Parang.
Shining a bit light on the pupils’ day, 29 UNMC students,
dubbed the Notties, donated a mix of educational and story books to the
school. On top of that, they prepared a comprehensive programme of fun
and exciting educational activities to arouse the creativity,
inventiveness and knowledge of hygiene among the cute hyperactive
children.
To boost the children’s creativity and inventiveness,
the Notties put together interactive games such as word puzzles and math
quizzes, and taught the children how to extract DNA from bananas. The
Notties, from different faculties of engineering, also showed the
youngsters how to build a rubber-band car, using only a plastic bottle
and rubber band.
As for basic hygiene, the Notties demonstrated to
the children the proper ways of washing their hands and brushing their
teeth. Free toothbrushes and toothpastes were distributed to remind the
students to keep their smiles white!
“As teachers, we appreciate
what they (Notties) are doing. It will motivate the pupils to practise
cleanliness — and speak English as well,” said Joseph Gordon, an English
teacher at the school for 11 years.
“Even with the warm weather,
my students are still chanting ‘we are happy.’ This shows they are
enjoying the exciting educational activities.
What the students have
learnt in science and
maths will definitely help them to be more creative and innovative.”
Waste management
Sapit,
Assum, Parang and the other kampungs in Upper Padawan are not covered
by any waste management services.The villagers need to tend to their own
waste by either burning it in their backyard or even neglecting it, at
worst.
“During our 11-day stay in the area, the problem we
identified is that the village has no proper system to maintain
cleanliness,” noted Mohammad Ezmir, the Nottie Waste Management Team
leader.
“But I’m glad the villagers know what their problem is —
that burning plastic trash can release toxic fumes which are hazardous
to health.”
During their stay, the volunteers held a gotong-royong
with the villagers to clean up the kampung, collecting 10 bags of waste
and 10 bags of recyclable materials for sale by the villagers.
To
help resolve the waste disposal issue in Kampung Sapit, the Waste
Management Team have imparted the basics to the villagers, and also come
up with the novel idea that motorcycle owners in the kampung will help
dispose of the trash whenever they head out to Kampung Parang via the
only pathway in Kampung Sapit.
But from Kampung Parang to Kuching
city, waste will be transferred by a villager who owns a lorry — a truly
DIY (do-it-yourself) solution — although the villagers still cherish
the hope that one day, waste management services will come in to provide
a permanent solution.
Healthcare
During
the last day of their short stint in the village, the Notties from the
School of Pharmacy held a one-day screening for the kampung folk. Two
medical doctors, one nurse and a dentist from REACH were on hand to
assist.
The health screening included free Body Mass Index (BMI)
measurement, blood pressure and blood glucose check-ups as well as urine
and pregnancy tests.
If the tests returned abnormal results, the
doctors would consult or even prescribe free medication, donated by
private institutions.
“The flying doctor service is not doing enough here,” said Christina Jong who has29 years nursing experience.
“They
fly in here only once a month and sometimes don’t even show up,
depending on the weather. This has resulted in the villagers not having
enough proper medication,” she noted.
Meanwhile, volunteer dental surgeon Dasera Raj observed that the villagers had poor oral health.
“I
didn’t expect it to be this bad in a village just two hours from
Kuching city. I would only expect it in places like Ulu Baram,” he said.
Indeed,
this village, despite its relatively close proximity to the city, is
lacking not only in healthcare but also proper waste management and
connectivity. Small wonder, since it is virtually cut off from the
outside, accessible, as it is, only via a decrepit five-foot wide
motorcycle path.
But at least the villagers can cross out a major
issue from their lingering worries. With 24-hour electricity supply,
they no longer have to live in total darkness at night.
I commend
all the volunteers and people involved for their big-hearted response to
the plight of Kampung Sapit. At long last, dark nights for the kampung
folk are a thing of the past. There is now light … finally.
Little Anthony … getting home can be a challenge on a dark night.
The dam built by the villagers.
