BA’A ON THE ISLAND OF ROTE

We arrived on the island of Rote on the 3rd of August, after a very quick but very rough sail. Found out later that it was so rough even the ferries weren’t running!! But WE were. After dropping the anchor and making sure we were secure, we were off in the dinghy to the beach. The local tourist bureau have hired boys to carry our dinghy ashore and help us carry our things. We were picked up in a truck/bus and taken to the king’s previous residence for lunch.

KING'S RESIDENCE

The King of Thie was helped to the throne by the Dutch many years ago. The King, who died four years ago, had forty wives and 25 children. His eldest son, crown prince Jersy Weltry Messakh is head of the department of Culture and Tourism for Rote. When his father died the kingdom died with him, Rote is now a precinct of Indonesia. The island is still very much part of the third world, very high unemployment, very low wages, little sanitation, no running water and a lot of places don’t have electricity. The average wage is 500,000 rupiah per month which equates to about $68.00 AUD. 

TYPICAL HOUSE

The whole idea of Sail Indonesia visiting is to attempt to get tourism off the ground. The islands biggest asset is it’s people. They are warm, friendly and always cheerful. As you walk down the street cries of “hallo mister” follow you everywhere. They are generous beyond belief. The minister for tourism, Jersy could not do enough for us. We were taken on tours, fed morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and then back again for dinner.

ROTE DANCER

The second day we were off on a tour up into the mountains to visit a new school that Jakarta had built for the locals. It is a free school for those children whose parents cant afford to send them to school otherwise. There is no electricity, no water, not enough tables and chairs or books and pencils. We were able to present them with some fifty exercise books and pens and pencils. They were very appreciative of the picture books that my mum and her friends had made.

We have got the address of the school, and would like to continue to support them in whatever way we can. Not sure yet how to achieve this, but giving money is not the answer.

PRESENTING BOOKS

There was a Gala dinner with a lot of officials in attendance, some having come in from Jakarta. All the skippers were presented with a Tiilangga or traditional cowboy hat, while the crew (that’s us girls) were presented with the local scarves. They are worn to show respect, and to take part in any of the traditional dances the men must wear their hats and the ladies their scarves. The scarves are worn by everyone at any important or official function. We were also presented with certificates to commemorate our visit, and as Tony was the only Belander (Dutch) present, he was called to accept them on behalf of all the yachties.

A BELANDER AND AN AUSSIE

Because quite a few boats were still here the day after the official end of our visit, Jersy put on a BBQ fish night for us. It got to the stage we weren’t game to say that we would still be here the next day for fear they would feel obliged to organise something.

We leave tomorrow with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and warmth toward the wonderful people of the Island of Rote.