A Story from Jambi

There is one story that I experienced but I have not had time to share on my blog. On 21 - 28 November 2011, I was in the middle of oil palm plantations in Merlung District, Jambi Province. I have to assist a study conducted by one of my on-campus community agencies. Go to the jungle, remote areas, instead of paying the expenses and travel, I get paid! So, the story was originally like this.

About a few weeks ago, I go to my uni to meet with one of my lecturer. Not unexpectedly, she offered me a freelance work, which I accepted. Eight days in the oil palm plantation to conduct a research on education and the mapping of internal and external factors that can support the ongoing education. The interesting thing for me is, I imagine how I could interact with the locals there, which is a very rare thing for people who live in the big cities.

Monday, November 21, 2011, six of us (three alumni, two lecturer, one staff of the institution) set out to Jambi. Arriving at Jambi, two cars double cabin Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi Strada was waiting for us in the Sultan Taha Airport. Apparently, we still have to travel for three hours to get to the location of the study.

During the three hour trip, that's only time I saw so many palm trees. Along the way, the hills and the forest full of palm trees! About three hours later, our car left the asphalt road. Oh no, I already carsick enough, and now we have to pass through the dirt road. It turns out that the dirt road as a sign that we have entered a palm oil plantation owned by one of the palm oil company. Apparently, the distance from asphalt roads to residential areas was also quite far! Evidenced by how I can't receive any cell phone signal. Fabulous!

Long story short, it turns out the technical data collection for this study is very interesting. First, of course, we have make a permission to report to the local village chief with a letter of permission from the pack subdistrict. Usually at the head office of the village there is a map of the village, and then we can mapped where the location of the houses of citizens who will become our respondent candidates. One interesting thing is, almost every village office staff know exactly who the parents of these students and where's their houses. One thing that is very rarely found in big cities, isn't it?

Well, this research method is quite challenging for me. This is not the first time I do an interview for research in a professional, but still it's different every interview. Even for the same questionnaire, because of individual differences that exist on each respondent. On my first experience of doing an interview for a research, the respondents are the children of the street, but this time it is parents who have children at the high school level. Here on my first interview with the parents, i'm sooo nervous! After that I just realized that there are several questions that not filled because I forgot to ask those questions. Argh!

But in two-three days later, I was more flexible in asking any questions. I started to build improvised questions to lead to questions in the questionnaire, particularly to the questions difficult and sensitive enough to be asked; eg monthly expenditure question. In fact it feels a little bit much I've memorized the sequence of questions in the questionnaire as thick as eleven pages. That way, the more I can adapt to any interview situation. Interviews where the respondent was busy working, outdoors, until the respondent mothers who suddenly lactating her son in the middle of the interview!

Of the 27 respondents who had my interview for one week, and from personal observation of the situation and the physical conditions in the villages and houses, I concluded one thing in my mind. Think the results here are purely of my personality, not the official results are being compiled.

Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer in the world. Palm oil can be useful as a raw material cooking oil, margarine, soaps, cosmetics, steel, wire, radio, leather and pharmaceutical industries (source: wikipedia). Overseas demand was quite high, even when Japan hit by the disaster yesterday, demand for oil from that country result was high because their condition is quite difficult to produce palm oil. But what about the welfare conditions of the farmers of this oil? The results of my observations, inversely proportional to the dynamics of large-scale oil palm industry.

Actually, their income was not so small. Velocity of money in the district has reached 8 billion rupiah per month. Most of them was fairly enough to support his family, even to educate their children as high as possible. Wooden houses, tin-roofed, and cement floors, but their monthly income on average sufficient to finance their spending. Although there are some families who still have debts to accumulate. But there is one interesting thing that I find, from 27 families that I interviewed, only 7 of those who have the habit of saving every month. In a sense, paying any expenses and debts with the new income they get, to then create a spending and subsequent debt. I suspect, this is the effect of low educational level of parents. Seen also from the way they talk is less systematic. 

Related to education, there are other interesting things that I find. Although the average parents of students graduate from elementary school, but almost all of the parents have the viewpoint that children should be schooled as high as possible. Similar reason; children should be better than their parents and higher education have a significant effect on employment and earnings. Fabulous!

What makes me annoyed is, why no one acted to improve the quality of roads between the villages. Dirt roads were very dangerous, especially in times of rain. Eight days travelled eight villages in the township, not the least we see trucks breaking down and must be willing to wallow in the street. Muddy roads made motorcycle to be excellent means of transportation there. Coupled with a considerable distance from the city, making the prices of raw materials brought into the villages to be soaring. If in Jakarta, there are people riding motorcycles or bicycles or carts for sale to homes, in the village there used pickups!

Finally, many new experiences that I got from the eight day live in a remote area and quite isolated. Apparently I was still able to live for days without communication with the outside world, only to receive information via the TV screen only. In addition, this experiences broaden my view to catch a glimpse of the lives of villagers, which is the main profession of the villagers is farmer. With my experience in Merlung, slightly open the way toward a new dream for me; see Indonesia through the towns and small villages.