“Hey, don’t take a picture. Hurry up!” my young brother said. His name is Tutut, the boy in the black jacket, who has Down Syndrome. And there is my mom, who is sitting beside him. It was our trip to Lintang Kapuas -my father’s village- on July 10-12, 2010 to celebrate Gawai Dayak (the gratitude ceremony for the harvest). And, the trip was the sweet memory of my young brother who passed away on September 28, 2010 because of heart disease.

Kapuas River is the longest river in Indonesia. It lays on West Borneo Province, Borneo Island.

Do you want to know what kind of boat that we used on the river? Here I show you…

There are people live on house-boats.

“Look! The sky is so bright, isn’t it?”

“Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream…” (singing)

Do you remember this popular song?

Could you see the land between the river and the sky? It looks like a forest. Yes, people live there.

Upsss, Sorry I couldn’t take the right side better. There are lot of people in the long boat. I couldn’t say “Excuse me, Sir… Let me take a picture for a moment please…”

Finally we arrived at the village. This picture was taken from the “harbor”. Well, it’s not a “harbor” as what you think… Let me show you later…

Could you imagine the “harbor” that I mean? It’s also called “jamban”. Jamban is a place that can be used as a toilet and “bathroom”. Well, it’s not a room exactly. It’s a public area for taking a bath.

And, you see the man with white alb? He is the Monsinyur who came to the village for gratitude ceremony prayer.

I’m sure you can understand about the “harbor”, don’t you? Here, the Monsinyur is closing his right ear. He is surprised because of the sound of the firecracker.

Welcome words for the Monsinyur Agustinus Agus.

There are man and women in Dayak traditional clothes.

Do you think it looks like Indian tradition? May be because of the bird’s feather on their head. Seems similar, but different.

Kendang is one of the Indonesian’s percusi.

Traditional cloth isn’t used in daily life. It’s only use for ceremony or special event.

The girls are using temporary tatoo on their hands. It’s Dayak’s tatoo tribute. Dayak people don’t use permanent traditional tatoo nowadays.

The man is dancing in the Mass (the liturgy of Eucharist). Majority the people in this village are Roman Catholic.

The girls are dancing in Mass.

Some oblations are rice, some fruits, money, and hosti.

After the Mass, people do gathering. This picture was taken in my aunty’s house. Families and neighbors were coming. They’re drinking “tuak”. Tuak is made from fermented rice.

 

The “jamban”

There are my father (in white shirt) and young brother (in black shirt).  We would to go back to our town.

Hey, look! What are people doing on the jamban? They are doing cleaning there;  washing plates, washing clothes, taking a bath.

This is not a storm, ok! This is the sunrise that I took from the boat, but the sunrise wasn’t too clear. We went back early about 6 a.m, so it looks darker…

Trees at the edge of the river.

It’s time to go back home with happiness.

We just need to go straight to the future without no worries, even we’ll lose someone that we love in the next part of your life story. Share your love, affection, and caring to the people that you love before they go from your life away forever.