Thursday, 13 November 2008

Jadi.. Tadi Malam Itu Siapa???

Di antara bunyi jangkrik dan burung hantu, Dewo mengerutkan kening, berusaha menajamkan pendengarannya. Untuk sejenak pemuda itu menengok kanan-kiri berusaha untuk memastikan arah suara yang baru saja didengarnya.

Setelah beberapa saat berlalu, dan tidak terdengar apapun selain suara satwa malam, Dewo-pun menghela nafas sambil menggelengkan kepala. Ia berbisik pada dirinya sendiri, “Gak mungkinlah Riska keluyuran malam-malam begini!”

Dewo-pun kembali berkonsentrasi pada kegiatan yang sebelumnya sedang ia kerjakan di tengah semak, di balik batu besar ini.. melegakan perutnya setelah makan malam tadi.

Baru saja Dewo bangun dari berjongkok, ia langsung beradu tatap dengan seraut wajah di hadapannya, Riska.

“WAA!! RISKA!! Ngapain sih lo?! Mau bikin gue pingsan?!” Dewo mengomel, antara terkejut dan sedikit jengah karena ia belum sepenuhnya merapikan celana jeansnya. Bergegas ia menarik retsleting dan beranjak keluar dari semak.

Riska hanya terdiam memperhatikan Dewo yang panik dan salah tingkah.

“Ris! Lo ngapain di sini? Mana Echa? Orang kemping, apalagi cewek, gak boleh keluyuran sendirian! Buang air juga harus ada temennya! Lo kan tau itu, Ris!”

Riska menjawab tenang, “Kan elo juga lagi di sini..”

Dewo mengerutkan kening, “Lo gak sakit kan, Ris? Masa’ lo buang air, gue yang nemenin?”

Lagi-lagi Riska menjawab tenang dan datar, “Yang lain lagi pules banget. Kasihan kalo dibangunin.”

Dewo menghela nafas. Penjelasan Riska ada benarnya juga. Dewo-pun mengalah, toh ia bukan cowok iseng, “Ya udah sana! Gue tungguin di sini. Kalo perlu gue, panggil aja!”

Riska mengangguk pelan, “Thanks.”

Dewo memperhatikan Riska yang melangkah memasuki semak. Ada sesuatu yang aneh, tapi Dewo tak mengerti apa tepatnya. Dewo merasa Riska terlihat sangat tenang, jauh berbeda dari keseharian gadis itu yang selalu lincah dan ceriwis, terlebih lagi, Riska tidak terlihat seperti orang yang menahan sakit perut karena ingin buang air.

“Ris.. Riska! Udah belum? Udah ¼ jam.. Lo gak kenapa-kenapa kan?”

“Sebentar.. udah mau selesai..” Kembali suara Riska terdengar tenang menjawab.

Tak sampai 3 detik kemudian, Dewo kembali tersentak mendengar suara Riska, tepat di hadapannya, “Udah, Wo. Ayo balik!”

Dewo memicingkan matanya menatap semak-semak di belakang Riska. Tadi ia bisa melihat dengan jelas Riska melangkah memasuki semak, tapi kenapa ia sama sekali tidak melihat Riska melangkah keluar dari semak dan berjalan ke arahnya? Begitu bertambah gelapnyakah malam, hingga suasana tak lagi tertangkap jelas oleh matanya?

Dewo menggelengkan kepalanya dengan cepat, berusaha mengusir berbagai kelebat teori aneh yang melintas di kepalanya. Ia menatap Riska selintas lalu memberi isyarat pada Riska untuk mulai berjalan menuju area perkemahan.

Tiba di perkemahan, Riska langsung duduk di dekat api unggun.

Dewo sedikit heran melihat Riska, “Gak balik ke tenda? Masih jauh ke pagi, Ris! Mendingan tidur lagi!”

Riska menggeleng, “Pengen duduk di sini.”

Dewo tak sampai hati membiarkan Riska duduk sendirian di luar tenda pada tengah malam seperti ini. Mungkin saja apa pikiran yang mengganggu gadis itu, “Kenapa lo, Ris? Cerita, Ris.. Siapa tau gue bisa bantu.”

Riska tersenyum, “Besok lo balik kan?”

Dewo menggaruk kepalanya yang tidak gatal, “Lo nanya seperti gue doang yang balik! Lo kan juga besok balik, Ris!”

Riska tersenyum, “Setiap kali di sini rame, gue seneng.. Biarpun cuma 1-2 hari, tapi, gue gak ngerasa kesepian.”

Dewo menatap Riska bingung, “Setiap?? Emangnya udah berapa kali lo ke sini, Ris? Perasaan gue, sebelum berangkat kemarin, lo tanya-tanya ke gue arah jalan ke sini! Gue kira ini pertama kalinya lo ke sini.”

Riska hanya terdiam menatap api unggun sambil tersenyum tipis. Wajahnya tampak menerawang.

Dewo ikut menatap api unggun untuk sejenak, lalu menoleh pada Riska, “Ris, lo bener gak sakit kan? Gak demam? Gak kedinginan?”

Riska menggeleng sambil terus menatap api unggun. Kemudian gadis itu mulai bertutur, “Banyak sebenarnya orang yang sering datang ke sini. Tapi, gak semuanya punya niat baik. Kalo lo dan teman-teman lo, sejak pertama kali ke sini selalu rajin ngumpulin sampah, nanam bibit pohon, bikin bazaar amal untuk penduduk sekitar.. tempat ini jadi rapi.. gue senang.”

Dewo menghela nafas, “Ah, lo kebanyakan dengerin omongan anak-anak, Ris! Ini kan pertama kalinya lo ke sini, baru kali ini lo lihat kegiatan kita-kita di sini.. Dulu-dulu suka ada juga yang bandel-bandel kok, tapi mereka langsung kena penalti dari Echa dan Lukman!”

Riska tersenyum, “Kelakuan anak-anak yang dihukum sama Echa dan Lukman itu gak seberapa. Gue bahkan gak terlalu tertarik untuk menghukum mereka. Nebang ranting pohon untuk kayu bakar, ngebendung sungai selama perkemahan biar bisa makan ikan.. itu gak terlalu bikin masalah. Kelompok lain banyak yang bikin masalah lebih besar, tapi bukan Echa dan Lukman yang menghukum mereka!”

Lagi-lagi Dewo menatap Riska dengan kening berkerut. Omongan gadis ini benar-benar aneh, walaupun ia tidak terlihat sakit. Entah siapa yang dimaksud oleh Riska sebagai orang-orang yang membuat masalah besar di tempat ini, dan siapa yang menghukum mereka, Dewo benar-benar tidak mengerti. Dari mana Riska tau tentang semua ini, Dewo lebih tidak mengerti. Pemuda itu tak tau harus menjawab apa pada Riska, atas kata-kata gadis itu tadi, maka ia hanya terdiam saja menatap api unggun.

Dalam keheningan itu, tiba-tiba saja ada yang menepuk bahunya dari belakang. Saat Dewo menoleh untuk melihat, wajahnya langsung berubah pucat pasi, menyadari siapa yang berdiri menatapnya, Riska dan Echa!

Dewo langsung menatap ke arah dimana Riska tadi duduk saat berbincang dengannya sambil menatap api unggun, tidak ada siapa-siapa di situ. Dewo langsung kembali menatap Riska dan Echa dengan mata terbelalak dan hati berdebar kencang yang membuat pemuda itu tak dapat berkata-kata untuk beberapa saat.

Riska dan Echa menatap Dewo keheranan. Riska meringis tipis sambil memegangi perutnya.

“Lo kenapa, Wo? Ngapain lo malam-malam begini duduk di depan api unggun sendirian?” Echa bertanya dengan kening berkerut.

Tergagap Dewo menjawab, “Lo berdua ngapain keluyuran di luar tenda?”

Echa menunjuk Riska yang masih meringis, “Nih, si Riska sakit perut! Untung juga lo belum tidur. Temenin gue nungguin Riska ya, Wo!”

Dewo mengangguk sedikit kaku. Kemudian, pemuda itu berjalan mengikuti langkah Echa dan Riska ke arah semak-semak tak jauh dari situ.

Keesokan paginya, Dewo duduk bersama Echa, Riska dan Lukman saat menyantap sarapan. Echa dan Riska terkekeh setelah Dewo selesa bercerita.

“Jadi, lo semalam diajak kenalan sama cewek asli sini yang wajahnya persis sama Riska?” Echa bertanya di antara tawanya.

Dewo sedikit bergidik mengingat alur kejadian yang dialaminya semalam. Dengan segan ia mengangguk-angguk.

“Trus, gue.. eh cewek itu, cerita apa aja sama lo, Wo? Dia tau rahasia gue gak?” Riska bertanya sambil cengar-cengir.

Dewo segera menelan makanan yang sedang berada di mulutnya, “Nggak, Ris.. Nggak! Dia cuma bilang kalo kelompok kita ini gak bikin masalah di sini dan malah bikin area sekitar sini lebih rapi.”

Echa dan Riska mengangguk-angguk, “Oooo... gitu. Kalo begitu, mungkin dia pengen kenalan aja kali, Wo.”

Dewo mengangkat bahu, “Iya, kali..”

Riska bertanya lagi, untuk mengganggu Dewo, “Trus, kalo lain kali dia ngajak lo ngobrol lagi gimana, Wo? Lo kan hobi banget ke sini.”

Dewo menghela nafas panjang, “Kalo di antara lo nemuin gue pingsan di tengah semak, bawa gue balik ke tenda aja deh!”

Lukman terkekeh melihat ekspresi pasrah Dewo, “Dewo.. Dewo! Ada-ada aja lo! Bertahun-tahun naik gunung, kemping.. baru sekarang diajak kenalan sama warga lokal.”

Dewo hanya bisa melengos salah tingkah sambil berjalan ke arah tendanya untuk membereskan barang-barangnya dan bersiap-siap untuk pulang siang hari itu.

Siangnya, setelah seluruh anggota perkemahan dan barang-barang mereka sudah berada di bis, Dewo menebarkan pandangannya ke sekeliling area perkemahan yang sudah kembali bersih dan rapi seperti pada saat mereka tiba di tempat itu tiga hari yang lalu.

Dalam keheningan suasana, Dewo merasakan angin semilir melintas menerpanya dan ia seolah merasakan ada seseorang berdiri di dekatnya, diikuti dengan bulu kuduk Dewo yang sedikit meremang.

Sesaat kemudian, terdengar kembali suara tenang dan datar yang ia dengar semalam, suara gadis yang wajahnya persis dengan Riska, “Terima kasih, Dewo, kamu sudah mau menemani aku tadi malam. Jangan takut kalau lain kali kamu ke sini, kamu ketemu aku lagi. Aku hanya ingin ngobrol dan aku senang ngobrol dengan kamu.”

Dewo tak tau mau menjawab apa, ia hanya dapat memberanikan diri untuk menoleh ke sampingnya, tapi tak ada siapa-siapa di situ. Kemudian ia membalikkan badan dan mulai berjalan ke arah bis.

Sambil berjalan, Dewo menyempatkan menoleh sejenak ke belakang, ke arah pepohonan dan semak-semak yang rimbun berada. Bulu kuduk Dewo kembali meremang saat ia menangkap sesosok gadis seperti bayangan hampir transparan berdiri di antara semak-semak sambil tersenyum menatapnya.

Jantung Dewo seolah berhenti berdetak untuk sedetik, namun ia segera tersadar dan balas tersenyum sambil melambai singkat pada sesosok bayangan transparan itu. Dalam hatinya ia berbisik pada dirinya sendiri, “Dia hanya ingin berkomunikasi dan ini rumahnya. Gue harus sopan.”

Setelah itu, rasa dingin dan merinding di tengkuk Dewo-pun perlahan menghilang dan Dewo-pun masuk ke dalam bis dengan tenang. Hanya tinggal satu pertanyaan tersisa di dalam hatinya yang entah kapan bisa ia dapatkan jawabannya, “Jadi, siapa sebenarnya gadis yang mirip dengan Riska tadi malam itu?”...

-08 Nov 2008-

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

With The Rain

I want to fall from the sky with the rain..

To cleanse the air

To refresh the leaves

To soften the soil

I want to flow on earth with the rain..

To give hope to drying rivers

To renew diminishing forests

To preserve the survivals of the oceans


I want to be strong with the rain..

To balance the dryness of hardships

To withstand the thunders of life

To cool down the heat of the world


I want to be one with the rain..

To accompany fallen tears

To soothe aching wounds

To cast a rainbow to a cloudy hope


-05 November 2008-

Thursday, 23 October 2008

Listen to The Wind

Listen to the wind..
It will tell you what I feel
It will whisper to you my story
The journey of my heart learning to feel

Listen to the wind..
You will hear it brushing the leaves on the trees
You will hear it blowing musical tune around the rocks
A song about all changes in this world that are not in history books

Listen to the wind..
Soft as it touches the gentle leaves
Firm as it creates sea waves
Strong as it throws storms in protest to human for lack of care

Listen to the wind..
It will tell you how it feels
It will whisper to you its story
A lifetime journey of blowing senses into humans' heart and mind

-22 October 2008-

Sunday, 21 September 2008

From Sunset to Sunrise

Pheewww... Can’t believe I made it!! The 6-hour hike to the top of this mountain was a real challenge, especially because I decided to hang out with the guys after work last night, before departing. For a moment back there, I thought I was about to give up and just walk back down.

It was drizzling, at dawn, when I started my walk, which made the ground very, very wet, and in many places, were covered with fresh leaves and small tree branches that fell during the rain.

I kind of wishing that I had postponed this hike, but I knew very well that I had to do it now. Rainy season is already starting, and in a few weeks, rain will fall more often and harder. By then, the sun will surely set and rise behind a veil of cloud and mist, which means, I will lose my chance of recording the sunset and sunrise for my short film project.

My determination was paid off, though, I arrived around lunch time. I’ll quickly set up my tent now and then, start cooking a big meal. I am exhausted. I will eat a big meal now, and have a few hours sleep before sunset. Later in the evening, I can just have some snack or light meal while recording.

Hmmm.. Nice! I’m full and I can feel my eyes are getting heavier. It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon, I can have a few hours sleep before the sun actually sets. Should I get my equipment ready? Yes, I think I should.

Alright.. my recording equipment is ready. My eyes are really, really heavy now.. My tent feels really, really warm and comfy.. It’s really time tooo.. Zzzzz..zzzz...


The big cricket: What is that giant, strange turtle doing here?

The owl: Ow, cricket! That is not a strange turtle. That is a dome-tent. It’s a human’s nest.

The big cricket: It’s a funny-looking nest. Hey! What is the little monkey doing? He just came out of the dome-tent!

The little monkey: The human inside the dome-tent has a thing that can make a moving picture of us. I saw other humans using it before.

The big cricket: Is he planning on making a moving picture of us?

The little monkey: He must be! Humans like to watch monkeys play, owl catching a prey and crickets rubbing their legs to make sounds. They make the moving picture and then they watch it again, and again, and again. I don’t know why they don’t just live here with us, if they like watching us so much??

The big cricket: If he is going to make a moving picture of us, then, why don’t we save him the trouble? Why don’t we just gather here, so that he can watch us all at the same time? Owl, why don’t you call the others! I’m sure all of us want to be in the moving picture!

The owl: Coockeroo.. Coockeroo.. To all night creatures of this forest mountain.. Let us all gather around for this rare opportunity. A human has come to make a moving picture of us.


The frog: Alright, Owl! I’ve come to answer to your call, but where is the human? I don’t want to be away from the water too long..

The snake: Same here.. I want to go back into my hiding as soon as possible, before the Eagle sees me.

The eagle: What is happening? I’m hungry! If the human doesn’t show up soon, I will have to continue hunting before the sun rises. I don’t have much luck hunting in the broad daylight!

The Leopard: Same here! And I’m starving!

The big cricket: Maybe we should try to wake him up? I can try to make louder sounds with my legs..

The owl: I’ll help.. I can sing louder too..

The frog: I’ll help too..

The snake: I can help tickle his feet, but if he sees me and panics, he can hit me and kill me!

The leopard: Same here! If I, as much as, go inside his tent and try to wake him up, he will think I want to eat him! He will turn me into his meal instead!

The little monkey: Human never hits or kills any monkey who comes into their tents. I will go inside again, and see if I can wake him up and get him to take the moving picture..


Hoooaaaahhhmmmm... What a nice sleep.. I feel refreshed now. I should be ready to wait for the sunset tonight. What time is is? Where is my watch? .. Ahh.. here it is.. let me see..

WHAAATTTT????? 7 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING???? I SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT??? HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN???

The little monkey: screeching fast (I tried to tell you all night, you silly thing! I tried to wake you up!)

I don’t know what you are talking about, Little Monkey.. I don’t speak your language! I think I’ll get out of my tent for a second to get fresh air.

Heeeyyy???? What was going on here? What happened last night? Why are there footsteps of a leopard near my tent?

The little monkey: screeching noisily with arms moving around (We were all here, waiting for you to make the moving picture! Not only the leopard, also the owl, the cricket, the frog, the snake and me.)

Yeah, yeah.. you can finish the biscuits if you like them. I’m packing up to go home. I guess, next time, I shouldn’t hang out with the guys the night before a hike.. Ah well.. I guess I will just have to come back here another day, and in the meantime, I have to find another topic for my project!

-12 December 2007-

Friday, 19 September 2008

Dasa Dharma (Ten Services)

Indonesian Scouts and Guides Society is bound by the 'Ten Services' (Dasa Dharma). Sometimes, these services are only familiar in the ear, but not in the heart. However, if the young people (scouts/guides or not), if they want to seriously learn and try to implement it in every day life, it can actually help nurture the 'good' in our society.
 

Follow God
This is the service offered by the scouts and guides to God, The Owner and Keeper of our universe.

Love Nature and Caring Towards Other Human Beings
Preserving natural environment, promoting 'Save The Earth' viewpoint, and always trying to help other human beings in need with kind and caring approaches.
 

A Polite and Sport Patriot
Carrying the love to the country with a politeness in all actions while being firm in keeping one's stand in guarding the country's honor.
 

Obedient and Love to Discuss Things Through
Always follow the set rules and whenever problems arise, always happy to be involved in discussions to find the best solution.

Willing to Help and Approachable
Always show gestures that one is approachable and ready/knowledgeable to help anyone in need.
 

Diligent, Skillful and Happy
Always learning to improve one self, always try to gain further knowledge that may be used to assist other people and always happy in doing everything one does.
 

Careful in Spending, Careful with Details, and Modest
Always being careful in doing everything associated with money and details in every day life, and does not overdo in one's actions.

Disciplined, Courageous and Loyal
Has a high discipline in living life, which leads to having courage to separate right from wrong to help others in need. Also, has a high loyalty towards the country, the team and the society.
 

Responsible and Trustworthy
Ready to take ownership of one's actions and outcomes, and never break the trust that is placed on one.


Pur
e in Thoughts, Words and Actions
Always keep the mind the mouth and the limbs to think of good things, say good things to motivate and calm other people and do useful things for the betterment of life for everyone around.
 

Maybe one day.. these services aimed by Indonesian Scouts and Guides Society will actually be grasped well by the members and then lead to start of a better 'chain-reaction' in our society.

Go Scouts and Guides!

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

My First Blood Donation

12 August 2008.. My First Trip to The Red Cross Building..

Two days before the anniversary of Indonesia Scout and Guide, I finally arrived at the Jakarta Red Cross Building, after a day earlier I decided to go with a few work colleagues.

This decision was finally reached after I got tired of being teased by my scout and guide friends.. "How can someone who has been instructing the scouts and the guides for years, haven't even once donated blood?"

I have also always remembered how I desperately needed blood donation when my son was hospitalised with a low trombocyte without any known reason (it was not dengue fever or paratyphoa..)

Not too long ago, I read an issue of the Indonesian Red Cross periodicals and I was really surprised to find out that a very low percentage of Indonesians have become blood donors. I cannot confidently quote the figure here, but I'm pretty sure that it was below 40%, while in many developed countries, the percentage of blood donor is usually above 80%!!

No wonder in Indonesia, the Red Cross is almost always out of blood stock for all types and the price of blood for transfusion is expensive (especially the treated/separated blood cells).

Anyway.. that day, I found out that donating blood was really easy, and not scary at all (after doing it myself). I actually felt like being treated like an exceptionally honoured guest!

I went to the Red Cross Building with three other colleagues. First we were shown the admission area, where we had to fill in a pretty straight forward form asking about our health condition, then we had our blood pressure and blood type checked.

If our blood pressure is below normal, we would not be allowed to donate blood for that particular time.

Once we were cleared by the admission staff, we were directed to the doctor, to confirm everything we wrote on the form earlier, and once it was done, we were shown the donor waiting room.

When it was my turn, one of the staff in the donor room asked me to wash my upper arm (the one where the needle would be stick into) and to lay down on one of the beds provided.

Then, she started the process. She stick the needle into my right arm and my blood started filling the bag which was already put on a machine which looked like a small rocking table.

While feeling the tiny tingling feeling in my arm, I kept looking at the big fridge where the donated blood was stored. Right there and then I felt sad.. The shelves were big but only a few bags of blood were sitting on them. Then I thought about people who were injured and desperately needed blood transfusion..

I had only been lying down for about 10 minutes, when the staff came again to take the needle off my arm and put the bag full of my blood into the blood fridge. Shen then let me lay down longer since I felt a little dizzy.

Once I felt better, she directed me to a table behind the donor room, where I could get my blood donor schedule card and lunch! WOW!

We were served rice with soup, a glass of milk and vitamin... and the staff who served the food did not stop smiling while moving from table to table delivering the food and urging everyone to eat.

After finishing our lunch.. we finally had to leave the building, carrying our schedule card. I was hoping that I will never miss any appointment in the future...

Saturday, 15 March 2008

America's Scouts Magazine

Hi Guys..

Today, I came across a magazine that is published in the US. It was the magazine about US Scouting.

You might want to have a look and see what scouting in another country is like. The website is..
http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/

I hope you can learn from the site.

Go Teens!

Monday, 25 February 2008

Wednesday, 27 Feb 2008

Hi Guys!!

I know that all of you want to do something different for your training.. so.. I suggested to K' Indra to do something different next Wednesday (if you think it's OK..)

We're organising a trip to have a look at several community projects in Cipete Utara area. The projects are:
1. Family Medicine Garden (taman obat keluarga)
2. Family Health Centre (posyandu) and,
3. Rubbish Separation Program (pemisahan dan pengolahan sampah rumah tangga).

All of these programs are run and managed by the local family welfare social group (PKK).

Don't worry about lunch and snack, because we will have it ready for you when you arrive. Just remember to come on time, so that the food will be warm when you have them.

We can also do some camping techniques if the weather permits. You don't need to bring any equipment. We will use K' Indra's and mine.

For your information (and your parents), here is the address of the site:

Lapangan Villa Sawo
Jl. Sawo, Cipete Utara
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan

Your parents/drivers will be able to come and park the cars conveniently if they would like to come to see you or pick you up.

Should your parents need to contact me, here are my address and phone numbers that they can contact me at:

Indria Ekawati Hutapea (Indri)
Jl. Damai 2 no. 4, Cipete Utara
Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan

Telp. 021-724 6580
or 021-6857 6553 (flexi)
or 0818 48 7712 (pro-xl)

K' Indra and myself really hope that this can be a very good opportunity for you to have a good feel of doing activities in real social environment and experience a great teamwork, although for a really short period of time.

So... I guess, I'll see you all on Wednesday.. :-)

My First Hike & The Fear of Height

People say that when we do outdoor activities, we can learn more about ourselves and people around us. To certain extent, I believe it is true, as some of my experience proved it.

When we do outdoor activities, we often come across situations that are different from situations we face in our normal day-to-day routines at home or workplace. During these different situations, we will most likely react according to our natural instict, since we are not trained to react towards them. This is how we can learn further about ourselves and others around us.

I joined the scouts & guides when I was 6 years old as a brownie. As a brownie, I was taught survival skills one thing at a time. I went on short-term camps and other things, until I was 12.

I went on my first hike when I was 13. The whole group consisted of 10 patrols (5 boy patrols and 5 girl patrols), each patrol consisted of 6-10 members. We camped in a real mountainside for three days. On the second day, we were scheduled to do a 4-hour hike. My patrol was the second girl patrol to leave the camp site (the order was girls-boys-girls-boys, and so on). There were 6 of us in my patrol and I was second-in-command so I walked last.

Since we left the camp, I was shaking the whole way. I felt that everything around me spinned around every time I had to walk a down-sloping land or rock. The boy patrol behind us finally went passed us and so did the girl patrol behind them.

Every time we reached a post, where we had to do a skill test, I always felt very happy because I could breathe freely. We successfully completed the tests in the first and second posts, which were first aid and ties and knots.

When we left the second post, we tried to move faster in order to catch up with our overall time. At the same time, the path that we walked on was getting smaller and smaller, until at a certain spot, we had to place our feet one after another because there was no space for them to be side by side at all..

At first, the focus on the speed got me occupied and I managed to get over most of my fear, although I still wasn’t walking as fast as my friends. However, after seeing the down-sloping cliff underneath my feet for a while, I started to shake again and this time it was really bad because the pathway was slippery from the mud and wet grass.

I could feel my steps were not grasping the ground very well and I slipped a few times. My friends would wait for me everytime they could find a spot where they could stand comfortably but, it wasn’t something that was easy to do in such ground.

Then, it happened when we almost reached the 3rd post..

We were pacing ourselves to the post when we could hear others talking and we knew that the post was near. Right then, I was trying to focus on the speed and staying steady. I could hear the next boy patrol approaching behind me and I didn’t want them to go pass us because I couldn’t find anywhere to stand while they walk pass me. For a while, I managed to keep my pace and walk steady enough to stay with my patrol but suddenly, I realised that I was sliding down the cliff!

Instantly, I reached for the small tree that grew on the edge of the pathway, but the tree was actually farther than I thought. Then, I reached the closest thing I could see, the wild weeds. The action was useless though.. the weeds were pulled by my weight and went with me..

Right there and then I thought, that would be the end of me!

Then, all in a sudden I heard a voice, “Quick! Throw your sticks!”

After that I heard another voice, “Reach! Quick! Right above you!”

I don’t remember whether my eyes saw it first or my hands caught it first. The boy patrol behind me caught up with me at the perfect second. They crossed their bamboo walking stick right above me, and I caught the sticks right where they made the cross.

Then the boys pulled me up to the pathway. There I saw that the exact spot where I slipped was a piece of broken path, where it was impossible to position my feet well and I didn’t see it.

At that time, I also realised that the boy patrol who rescued me was the senior patrol (grade 8) and some of them were my friends’ brothers, whom I knew quite well. They decided to walk with me to the 3rd post, and talked to the teachers and rangers supervising the post.

My friends had informed the teachers and rangers in 1st and 2nd posts that I wasn’t feeling very well, but as the hike was the first time for all of us, we really wanted to do it as a team. Despite my condition, I kept saying to myself and my friends in my patrol that I would keep going with them as long as they would have me.

After receiving the report from the grade 8 boy patrol, the teachers and rangers suggested me to stay behind and go back to the campsite with them. This time, I decided to take the wise suggestion. I imagine that the path could get worst as we move up the mountain and things could be worse if we were in trouble and nobody was nearby. I didn’t want to get hurt and I certainly didn’t want any of my friends to get hurt trying to help me.

I stayed with my patrol at the post to take the skill test, which was a treasure hunt, and then waved goodbye as they left to finish the hike.

After that, I followed the rangers on a different route heading back to the campsite. Along the way, the rangers taught me hiking skills, so that I could handle various kinds of grounds with safety.

Finally, I reached the campsite. Another member of my patrol, Diah, greeted me. She didn’t go with us on the hike because she got her parents’ permission for the camp but not the hike. Not long after, some of the patrols arrived too. Then, we waited and waited for the rest of our patrol to arrive, but there was still no sign of them.

My patrol arrived last and quite a while after the one arriving before them. They looked exhausted and shaken. At that time, we had boiled some water to prepare hot drink and instant noodles.

I asked them what happened and they were in tears..

Ditta told the story in shaky voice, “We were walking at a rough spot, where we couldn’t really stay close to each other much. Suddenly, Lulu fell off like you did. I saw her falling and ran to her to reach her while calling the others at the same time. I did reach Lulu, but since she is bigger than me, instead of halting her fall, I ended up falling with her. After that, Farah tried to pull us up, but she could barely hold us both by herself, and almost fell too. At last, Ade arrived at the spot and managed to pull all of us back up to the path.”

They showed me their arms that were full of scratches. Their clothes were also very dirty with mud. We quickly brought them the drink and noodles which they accepted gladly.

After a while we finally could talk normallyagain. We agreed that all of us wished that in everything that happened we were together as we planned before we went on the camp.

On the other hand, we felt that we had made a wise decision to let the friends that weren’t in the best condition to head back early. By making the decision, apart from avoiding worse scenario, we were glad that the two of us at the campsite managed to prepare dinner and clean up the tent for the rest of us that night.

That hike made me aware that I was afraid of height. It also made me learn that it is human’s instict to save others, whether we know how or not.

Our every day routines might make us competitive against other human beings in studies or at work. It is the life we know and are trained to live as our ‘default’. However, when we are away from all of it, we can see that there is another side of human being that doesn’t come out often because it is often not needed in our ‘default’ lives. It is the need to be together and help each other. I really believe it, and I believe that many others do too.

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