A HOUSE IN TORAJA

I’ve been dreaming to build a house in Batutumonga for the past twenty years, since I was here for the first time. Anyway, in 2004 we found the land. It met my criteria: it is close to my husband’s ancestor home in Batutumonga, but it belongs to us, not part of the clan’s land. And from there I can see the rocks of Bori below. I love rocks, all kinds of rocks.

In the beginning, I thought it would be cheap to build a simple wooden house in the country side. It turned out, that I was wrong. Wood has become very expensive, especially since the government has tried to stop illegal logging, because the cost of bribes has become higher. Additionally, almost all materials have to be shipped from Java: cement, ceramic tiles, steel, glass, etc. They arrive in the harbour of Makassar, about eight hours drive away from Rantepao-the capital of North Toraja. From Rantepao, the materials have to be trucked to Batutumonga, an additional of one hour’s drive. Then from the side of the road, the workers with the help of some horses, carried the materials about one hundred twenty five meters up. In the end, to minimize the building cost, we used a combination of wood, concrete and glass. The result is a modern and expensive looking house! Aaaagh!

I was amused, to know that the Torajanese building contractor hired Sundanese workers from Bandung in West Java. Wow! It would cost us even more! What’s wrong with Torajanese workers? Then I found out. The Sundanese workers would start on time and only stopped working during coffee and lunch breaks. On the other hand, the Torajanese, would start working about half an hour late and would stop about half an hour early. In between, they would incessantly talk on their mobile phones, and would take long smoking, coffee and lunch breaks. My Torajanese husband has to stop himself from exploding with anger. He keeps saying though, that not all Torajanese are like that, especially the ones who work outside Toraja like him…..he…he…

Now about twelve months down the line, our house is finished. Every morning when I wake up and see the sun peeping from behind the fog below…yes, the clouds are below us…..I fall in love all over again with the beauty of Batutumonga. During full moon, when the sky is clear, I can watch moon rise from my floating verandah. Even cloudy and rainy days are beautiful! From the warmth of our living room through the large glass window, in the valley below we can see the clouds and rain mist chasing each other, often capped by a full rainbow. This is the reason why we call our house Banua Sarira or the House of Rainbow.

There are only about fourteen households in the surrounding area of our house (with about thirty children under 10!), but we have noticed several problems already. Like the water management among the neighbours, the passage way for people from up the hill to reach the main road, possibility of landslides, jealousy among neighbours, etc. There are also the classic problems of the rural area in Indonesia: the distance to good quality schools, the health support-especially for mothers and children and lastly, unemployment. I hope, once settled, I will be able to apply some of my experience in community development. Just like what Mama Tiku-one of my neighbours-said about working and living together, we can all strive towards a ‘Satu Hati’ (One Heart) community in beautiful Batutumonga!