Food, ikat etc...

Ok, to make amends for the recent dearth of posts, here's a random collection of bits and pieces prompted by having to delete some photos from my camera as the memory card was getting full...

One of the delights of a living in a tropical country is the variety of fruit available. As well as having eaten more bananas in the last year than in the previous 48 combined, I've also had lots of mango, papaya and nangka (jackfruit). Another fruit available here (as in many other tropical countries) is durian. If you've never come across this one before, this is one hell of a weird fruit. It comes in various sizes, usually about football sized, it is rock hard and covered with extremely sharp spikes. When you open it, it breaks into large segments, in between which can be found large stones. What you eat is only the fleshy pulpy covering of these large stones, so maybe 85% of the fruit is inedible. The durian's main feature is, however, its overpowering smell which I've seen described variously as fragrant (eh, no), pungent (that's a bit more like it) and offensive (now we're getting there). I remember seeing signs in Singapore prohibiting the carrying of durian on public transport due to its "fragrance". Despite its lack of edible parts, the difficulty in getting at them, and the horrendous smell, this fruit is seen as a real delicacy and is much prized.

   

 

 

Ok, moving on....one of the most well known souvenirs from Indonesia in general, and especially this part is ikat or traditional woven fabrics. The normal traditional dress here is a sarong, made from a piece of fabric about 2 metres long and 1 metre wide stitched into a tube or cylinder. Women wear this over one shoulder, while men usually wear it around the waist. Most traditional villages have many women who weave and the patterns vary from one region to another. I've just become the proud owner of my first piece of ikat, given to me as a present in return for helping out a friend who was in hospital recently. This is one long piece at the moment and hasn't been made into a sarong so I might keep it as it is or it could be made into a shirt, a throw or pretty much anything you like. This pattern (mostly black and white) is typical of parts of Sikka District (where I live).

 

And so, back to food. Last week I was in the hospital kitchen and took a few photographs. I can tell you, this is not like a hospital kitchen I have seen at home. Remember that this kitchen is currently producing about 210 meals three times a day. Fried chicken was on the menu when I visited, being cooked on one of the three paraffin stoves.  

 As well as the paraffin stoves, they also use gas for the larger pots (imagine the amount of rice that's required !).  This is pretty grubby to put it mildly...

 

          

Then there's a production line assembling the individual portions for delivery to the wards.

 

 I wonder what the HSE would say..

And finally, still on food : last Tuesday, I came home from work at 2pm to find that some friends had taken it on themselves to provide some fish and corn, had lit a fire beside my house and were just ready to serve lunch as I arrived. Ikan bakar (grilled fish) and jagung bakar (grilled corn) - delicious !

My contribution was a bottle of moke (local arak)....an essential accompaniment to ikan bakar !

 

Selamat makan !

Life in Maumere has been very quiet recently. The hospital is still full to overflowing (211 patients this morning filling 196 beds !) which has meant that the whole system is creaking at the seams and things such as what I do here have been sidelined to a certain extent as everyone tries to cope from day to day.

We haven't had too much rain here either recently which means that it's been getting HOTTER again too....

Tonight (Saturday) sees the fund raising dinner in Bray Sailing Club for the redecoration of Ruang Melati (the children's ward in the hospital). I believe that there's pretty much a full house booked in and that many generous donations have already been received so I'd like to thank everyone involved in advance and wish all you diners "selamat makan !". Remember, if you'd like to help out but can't make it to the dinner, please contact my sister Rosemary at or text her on 087 686 4322.

I hope you have a great dinner- selamat makan everyone !

Thanks again !

Back in action !

Back in action again, thanks to Bambang at Comtel in Maumere. I am now the proud possessor of a brand new multi adaptor laptop charger for the exorbitant cost or RP200.000 (about €15). Phew !

Thanks to all of you who sent good wishes to my laptop !

Hors de combat

My little laptop has suffered a charger failure (again) so I'm kind of incommunicado at the moment until I can get it fixed.... more anon....

and worse....

Today's Bed Occupancy Rate (BOR) is up again to 115% (225 patients in 196 beds). Of this number, 105 are children, 65 of whom have dengue. The children's ward has 37 beds so you can imagine the problems this is causing...

The provincial Department of Health have just declared the situation in Sikka Regency to be a KLB (Kejadian Luar Biasa) - literally an "extraordinary situation", and the Department of Health in Maumere are starting a widespread "fogging" programme to reduce msoquito numbers.

It just gets worse...

Today's BOR (Bed Occupancy Rate) in the hospital is 112% (220 patients for 196 beds). There are now 89 children in the hospital (the children's ward has 37 beds), 53 of whom are suffering from dengue fever. Yesterday morning (Sunday) I was awakened by the sound of wailing and crying which means that a patient has just died - I found out later that it was a four year old child who had died (dengue again).

Still on the subject of sick children, I am delighted to hear that my friends in Bray Sailing Club have offered to support my presence here by having a fund raising dinner to pay for the redecoration of Ruang Melati (the children's ward) in the hospital. Although far from being the worst part of the hospital, it's a pretty grim environment for the children and this money will go a long way towards brightening it up. The event takes place on Saturday 27th February and you are guaranteed to have an excellent meal and lots of fun, all for €30. Bookings to my sister Rosemary or call or SMS her on 087-6864322. Thanks to everyone in advance for your support !

Naturally, donations will be gratefully accepted if you would like to help but can't attend the dinner. Rosemary will accept these also !  

What's for dinner ?

As the rainy season continues (although last week we had hardly any rain at all here), the number of children in the hospital continues to cause great concern. As of this morning, 72 out of a total of 170 patients were children, more than half of them suffering from Dengue fever (see previous posts). The children's ward has 37 beds so you can imagine the difficulties that this is causing. Unfortunately, almost every day also brings more news of childhood deaths in the hospital, and last week two of these also suffered from "gizi buruk" or malnutrition.

Unfortunately, it looks like things are going to get worse instead of better. Recent reports in the Pos Kupang (newspaper for this region) have highlighted price increases in the last few weeks for basic foodstuffs such as corn (increased from RP5.000 for 7 ears to RP5.000 for 5 ears), sugar (increased from RP10.000/kg to RP12.000/kg) and rice and there have been warnings from the Vice-President that the some parts of the country are likely to face food shortages in the coming months. It almost goes without saying that the province in which I live (NTT) will be one of the worst affected. Rice is the staple food for about 230 million people here, many of whom live in an almost cashless environment so increases such as those that have been seen recently cause major difficulties in poor areas. For this reason, the government intervenes in pricing and supply arrangements to make sure that supplies are available at affordable prices to the poorest sections of the community. One of these programmes is called Beras Miskin (given the Indonesian penchant for contractions, more commonly know as RASKIN). However, the programme has lots of problems, as can be seen in this interesting 2005 paper from the World Bank, ranging from poor administration to corruption, which means that much of the help does not reach those in greatest need. The latest available WHO data reports that 20% of under 5s in Indonesia are underweight for their age.

So, the next time you are dithering about what to have for dinner and thinking "Oh, I had that last night", spare a thought for those who struggle on a daily basis to buy just rice for their family and who are worried that they may not even be able to afford that soon.....