One Day in Cimenyan

One of the places I visited during my trip to Indonesia in 2017 was Cimenyan, a village located high up on the hill in the north of Bandung. I went there on a Sunday afternoon to see the activities organized by Odesa Indonesia, a foundation for agricultural and educational movement founded by Faiz Manshur and his friends.  

In the office of Odesa that afternoon, there was a class of English lesson for the children of Kampung Cisanggarung and Sentak Dulang. I talked to the children, shared my experience as a photographer. I also showed some pictures from my book Kampungku Indonesia and some simple photography demonstration for the children.

“Who wants to be a photographer in the futureee…?” I asked. Those children were silent in confusion. What is a photographer? At first, the children seemed awkward with this “surprise” tutor. It was understandable, since many of them have never met a foreigner before. But the ice was slowly broken and the laughter was in the air.  

As one of the committe, Budhiana Kartawijaya, told me, the purpose of Odesa Indonesia English Course is to open the children’s imagination, to make them see the world. It doesn’t focus on English speaking fluency but more on the effort of character building. That is why the introduction to profession is taught, in order to avoid them to have a limited imagination. I try explain what photographer is in short. After that, the children saw and discussed the pictures in my book that tells the story of Indonesian villages and the people. (See related post here.) 

The lesson ended with the children singing together the song of "Indonesia Raya" (the national anthem of Indonesia).

After the lesson finished, together with the committee of Odesa, I went to visit the nearest villages. We walked on foot to Sentak Dulang, a village perched on the top of the hill. In the village, I saw the condition of life of the people. Their kampung is located in an area which is not so far away from the center of government, but seemed to be left behind and forgotten. 

There were mothers who have to go taking water from hundreds of meter away for cooking and daily necessities, taking care of sheep, ducks, cows. I met a blacksmith working at his home, telling me story of how land and rice fields being sold to rich man from the city, fenced, the residents of the villages cannot enjoy the spring water of the land. I walked through a stony road, dilapidated houses, saw farmers taking a rest in their houses, and children walking home from Sunday lesson at masjid.  

People live in this villages up the hill may have to face difficulties that put them in a cirlce of social problems like child marriage, sanitation, clean water, nutrition, stunting, lack of access to education. It is great to know that they have an organization like Odesa to help the families and children to overcome their limited condition. But, I like it here. I like the atmosphere. The air is fresh. I wish to come back again and stay a little bit longer.