Sokola Rimba

INSPIRED BY THE BOOK SOKOLA RIMBA AND THE EXPERIENCE OF BUTET MANURUNG

I never doubted the wealth Indonesia has.

Seventeen thousand islands

and almost 110 million hectares of tropical forest

from Aceh to Papua.

All of them give us life.

For me.

I work for an institution in Bukit Duabelas National Park area.

A National Park covering 65,000 hectares area,

in Jambi,

southern part of Sumatra.

A forest protected by the rules of law.

Ideally, it should be left untouched by the humans.

The law and the work of my institution provide great benefits

for the existence of the forest here.

I've worked for two years in this place.

But I'm still wondering,

what does this mean for the people who were born in it?

The Rimba people.

POST REFORM ERA INDONESIA

Hi.

Do you need our help?

-Yes? -Do you need help with your things?

-It's okay. -Okay.

I just want to rest.

All right, then.

Teacher, these are some green chiretta for you.

Teacher.

You almost died by the river.

A boy from Makekal Downstream came

to tell us about it.

Who's the child who saved me?

If he really came from the downstream,

he must've walked far away to get here.

J.

This is the letter J.

Drag the line down.

Try writing J.

Write J.

Like this.

Let me see.

Gosh, Nengkabau!

Just cut me with a machete if this is how you behave.

Come here!

Twenty.

Twenty.

Minus seven?

-Thirteen. -Yes, thirteen.

Thirteen times two?

Twenty-four.

-Twenty... -Twenty-six.

Twenty-six. Correct. Twenty-six divided by two again?

-Thirteen! -Right.

-Right, forty-two divided by two? -Divided by two.

-Twenty-one. -Twenty-one.

Yes, great. Forty-six--

This is for you, Teacher.

Thank you.

A, B, C, D, E,

F, G, H, I, J.

A, B, C, D, E, F...

Teacher.

Why do sawing machines keep cutting our trees?

Why?

Maybe because they need a lot of wood.

We use machetes so we don't take too much of them.

Teacher, when we get smarter,

we can stop those outsiders from taking our woods.

Of course. Let's just learn mathematics.

Beindah.

One, two, three, four five, six, seven.

What is the answer?

-Seven. -Right.

Ma'am.

I heard someone is giving birth.

Yes, Mrs. Besuling is the one who's giving birth.

I see. Is the place far?

It's nearby.

Really?

You're the boy who helped our teacher?

Which group do you belong to? If you want to learn, just come.

What is your name?

What is your Tumenggung's name?

I'm from Makekal Downstream.

My Tumenggung's name is Belaman Badai.

My name is Nyungsang Bungo.

The downstream disease has come here.

Get it straight, Beindah.

There are ten lines here.

If I take three lines at the end, try to recalculate it.

How many are left if I take three out of ten?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

-Yes, great! -Great.

This is ten minus three, what is the answer?

This is ten minus three, what is the answer?

Six!

King of disease! You can't do it right!

Teacher, this boy can't do it right!

We have ten rubber seeds.

If I take three of them, how many are left?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

-Right! -Yes!

-Great! -Great!

Look here, Beindah.

We've tried counting it together.

-Now try to count it yourself. -Yes.

Ten...

-Ten minus three. -Yes.

Ten... Eight!

My goodness... How lame!

King of disease! This kid sucks!

Bungo visited me for a few times to observe me from a distance.

But now, he doesn't anymore.

He seems to want to get close.

But at the same time, I know that he's being suspicious.

Bungo must have come from a closed group among Rimba people.

Hi, can we talk for a second?

Yes?

Do you remember I've submitted a proposal

to teach in the downstream area of Makekal River once?

Yes, but you've been there before, right?

Yes. But only to help the health team. I haven't got the chance to teach.

-I see. -I will see Gustav immediately

-to take care of... -Wait, Butet.

We still need to maintain our budget.

Just focus on the children in the upstream area for now.

I think there are still a lot of groups to be helped.

Oh, right.

The coverage from two weeks ago has received responses from Jakarta.

All of them are positive feedbacks.

We'll compile it later and make it a part of our progress report here.

We will send everything to the donor.

One more thing. Do you remember Dr. Astrid Hilde?

The woman from Sweden, whom we assisted with her research here.

The one who helped with our reports and you edited the translations.

She is no longer a part of our project.

So don't share any data with her.

Okay?

She won't come back here anymore.

RIMBA PEOPLE AND THE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES

HER NAME IS SAUR MARLINA MANURUNG, A BATAK DESCENT

RIMBA PEOPLE IS NOW A CONCERN

BUTET DEVOTES HERSELF FOR ANAK DALAM TRIBE'S LITERACY

THE TEACHER OF THE JUNGLE

That coverage was exaggerated.

As if we're the ones who know what's best and right.

The news in yesterday's newspaper?

Honestly, I'm still angry with Bahar, Dit.

What's the purpose of showing this to the public?

I can't face the Tumenggung now.

The children had to pretend to study until night for this coverage.

Even though they were really sleepy.

But try seeing it like this.

We're still able to continue because of the funding.

Look.

In order to enter the jungle,

you need to ride a motorbike.

It takes three hours to reach the border.

After that, we have to stay there for at least 15 days.

Who's going to pay for our logistics?

Hey, you wanted to buy medicine, right?

SABIRAN STORE

Dit, isn't that Dr. Astrid?

Over there!

She had an argument with Bahar.

I thought she already went home.

International news.

It is estimated at least 200 miners

were killed by a flood when they were still inside the mine.

In fact, the accident happened two weeks ago,

but we only received the news just now.

I can't hold back my curiosity

about what Bungo really wants.

He had walked the distance

just to see the place where I teach at the upstream.

I have to find a way to meet him.

Yes, now they know. For example, there are two new letters.

They can understand it right away.

Like Nike or Ndrea. They've learned to count.

I've only taught them one to ten so far. Then...

Supposing there are several groups, for example, ten groups.

One group is about 20 persons.

-That's doable. -Or you can check first,

which one is the most effective. We'll talk about it later.

-So we can make small groups? -Yes.

The first ten days, the second ten days, and the third ten days.

Then check it every ten days,

-and make no mistake. -Okay.

When it's finished, report it to me before it's released.

-Understood. -All right.

I'll head to the district office first.

I'll come back this afternoon,

-and we can check it again. -Okay.

Gustav.

Two cups of coffee, please. More.

-Teacher, how are you? -Hey, Berapit, Besiap.

-I'm going there first, okay? -Okay.

All right.

-Beindah, Nengkabau. -We want to join you, Teacher.

Why? Where do you want to go?