"Hey Cutie, if visitors come to this traditional village and pass in front of your house, what would you say to them?" I asked curiously at Senyum, a sweet little girl. She said "thank you" then she ran away and played around with her friends. I laughed. How can you immediately say thank you without any small talk beforehand?
July 2019. I was extremely excited. That was the first time I arrived at the traditional village of Koanara, which is one of the tourism supporting villages of Kelimutu Lake in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. For 40 days of KKN program (Community Service) held by my college, my team which consists of 19 students from different faculties dedicated ourselves here to create all the space and creativity, and to share and increase community resources in this village. Because this village is a tourism supporting village, I have intended to help the children of Koanara village to develop their ability in English for tourism and hospitality. Oh yeah, this village has a lot of lodging, guests house and local restaurants which are the needs of Kelimutu Lake tourists. It’s not a surprise, there are also many local tour guides who are the descents of Koanara clan. The distance from Koanara traditional Village to Kelimutu Lake is around 12 km and can be reached in just 15 minutes. Not only Kelimutu lake, but there are also other supporting tourisms such as Koanara traditional house, the traditional market of Moni, Murundao waterfall, Murumbuju waterfall, Lia sembe hot springs, Petu Wee hot springs and Moni rice fields.
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Koanara village temperature is cool. Adapting with the weather was the most difficult thing for me. Every night, me and the new family where I stayed would surround the hearth, warmed up, enjoyed local coffee, joking occasionally, shared stories, had fried bananas and the most exciting was to hear stories from Mr. Lapu about this village. All were so happy. We were being so close since my friends and I put the gadgets away. The next day, I started my program, English tutoring for Koanara children. They were very enthusiastic. 25 children finally joined me. Senyum was one of them. Yes, Senyum, the little girl who told me about "thank you" at the beginning of my arrival. Senyum was only 6. She was very active asking in Lionese (Koanara Local language) and I would translate it into English. After studying, I asked them to play and interact with passing tourists. Sometimes I invited them to study outside the house precisely at the tourist spots to prevent their boredom. There were many funny stories naturally created during the process of learning with them. In one afternoon, I asked them "guys, have you finished the conversation?" Senyum was the first who answered "Dowa do Ms. Rani". Other students laughed at the Senyum’s answer. Yes, because she answered in Lionese which means "I have finished Miss Rani" I noticed how annoying it was when Bili, Senyum’s friends started bullying her by saying "Senyum, demi kau gare dowa do, Ms Rani bebo arti ke, kai ajar kita sawe Bahasa inggris, kau gare no kai Yes I have, atau Yes Ms Ran, dhora kau”. Honestly, even though I was born in a place who has Lionese as its mother tongue, I didn’t understand what the boy was saying because I was raised in Ende, a town that is more crowded and a bit advanced than Koanara village. From the help of grandma Yuli, Mr. Lapu's wife, I understood what Bili said to Senyum. It was "Senyum, you should answer: I'm done Ms. Rani, cause Ms. Ran can't understand Lionese, she taught us English, how could you answer in Lionese, Stupid". That day, Senyum was silent until the end of learning activities.
On August 18th, all of us (19 students participating in the Community Service program) were sent by the Koanara village to take part in the "Pati Ka Du'a Bapu Ata Mata" Festival at Kelimutu Lake area. This festival is a once-a-year traditional ceremony held by the Ende District Government involving traditional leaders (mosalaki) to send prayers and feed the spirits of ancestors who perceived living in the three lakes of Kelimutu. I met many people dressed in Lio traditional outfit namely Lawo Lambu and Luka Lesu at the festival, even foreign tourists also wore it. There were a lot of media recording this festival.
One beautiful afternoon, when I was walking around the village to get clean water, I saw foreign tourists interacted with Senyum. I heard she shouted "finish, mister. Finish". Apparently, Senyum got candies and she didn’t want more. She had no idea how to say “it’s enough, you’re so kind or blablabla”. Just because the word ”finish” is the most familiar one in Senyum’s mind, she just said it. I was amazed by the simple magic Senyum did in handling tourists.
Senyum ran to me, she gave me all those candy and standing next to me "Kakak Rani, coba kaka ka nata ina ro, rasa ke ena wedo" which means "Miss Rani, c’mon eating this betel nut, it’s delicious." I refused because I never eat betel nut before. Fine, let me tell you about the tradition of eating betel nut. Betel or eating Betel is the cultural heritage of the ancestors of Lio clan which is done by chewing betel-like ingredients such as, betel nut, gambier, tobacco, lime, cloves. This habit has been going on for a long time, for more than 3000 years ago or during the Neolithic era. Senyum really loves eating betel nut.
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One day before our KKN activity ended, we made a small farewell party. We have carried out many programs such as Trash Cleaning held twice a week at the waste-prone points, population data collection, garbage wastebasket creation, education of plastic waste recycling, mathematics and science tutoring for elementary students, trash cleaning at tourism sites, providing leadership training for junior high school students, English Tutoring, and participating in the Kelimutu festival as well as Guide and Chef Training held by the East Nusa Tenggara provincial government in Koanara village. Senyum, was one of our students who kept hugging me when we were saying goodbye. She then asked me to take pictures around the rice fields because of the beautiful scenery. There, she protested at me about the bullying case she was facing earlier. While continuing to capture photos, Senyum stated that she didn’t like being laughed at by her friends while speaking Lionese. My heart was so shaking. She raved again that the English tutoring I taught them was very good but Lionese was as cool as English. Lionese is the traditional language of the Koanara village so it also needs to be preserved. I finally understood what Senyum meant. Although English is an international language and a famous lingua franca, the existence of local languages should not be ruled out. This girl began to control my mind. Then we went to Murundao waterfall to swim there. After swimming, Senyum ate betel nut. She kept asking me to try it but I couldn't because I had never eaten betel nut. The sun went down. The farewell with Senyum ended up with a hug, tears, hopes, and prayers.
The last night. I stared at my suitcase and looked back at the photos with the students while sipping bitter coffee. Suddenly Senyum’s question crossed my mind. "Kaka Ran, Bahasa inggrisnya aku cinta Bahasa inggris tapi aku lebih cinta Bahasa lio itu ngere emba?” which means "kaka rani, How do we say I love English, but I love Lionese more in English ?”. After imagining that moment, my roommate and I picked up papers and started drawing something to make a present for Senyum.
September 6th, Time to say goodbye. Standing in the front of the door, Senyum looked at me as I was carrying a suitcase toward the car. Senyum smiled at me. She ran and hugged me and gave me a plastic of betel nut as a gift. I was shocked and began to cry. I opened the papers that I drew and the photos that I had printed. There was one special paper with the words engraved beautifully "I love English, but I Love Lionese more" for Senyum. Then she hugged me tightly.
I would be back home, but here, it was just like I'm home.
NICE!!!