Dusun IV (“forth villages” if you translate it to English) is a name for the last village that we can find before we can climb the Dempo mountain (3159 Meters). This is just little village in +/- 1700 meters up the sea level which generally all people who lived in it working as tea farmer for PTPN, a Indonesian Government Factory for tea manufacturing.
Well, I suggest you to take a rest for while in this village before or after you climb Dempo mountain. The people here are really warm and there’s just one little shop in this village that can provide you warm foods, called “Warung Kopi Noffal (Noffal’s Coffee Shop)”. They only just sell fried rice, Soto (one of Indonesian foods, like soup with slice chicken and vegetables), noodles and Fresh Fried Chicken (but not like the fast-food). You can also ask for Indonesian coffee, local tea, Milk or fresh water (and the water is really fresh…just came from the mountain). But personally, I never eat that. I am a spicy food lover, more cabbage is better. So, in my last visit, after climbing the Dempo mountain, I ask for omelet eggs and Sayur Lodeh (one of Indonesian vegetables food) plus special Sambal Goreng (Indonesian Sauce made by crushing fried cabbages in a mortar) and that Sambal was really great…No lies!
But, behind the warm peoples of Dusun IV, there are a lot of things that really keep me amazed. It’s more like someone knocking your heart constantly, you can feel it and it’s annoying you. Well, there’s no electrician here, which for sure, must be provide by the government. But they didn’t. And the bad thing is Dusun IV is the only village which can’t get electrician facilities among the other village around PTPN area. Then they buy an electrician generator for their own years ago and divide the cost for fuel among themselves. They make some rules among them, that electrician only turning on just in 4.00 am until 7.00 am and 5.00 pm until 10.00 pm. So, this is just dead village after 10.00 pm. I was asking them, do they annoy with the problem in electrician? Well, yes they annoy about that. But they can handle it and the electrician problem is not the biggest problem for them. Road is the biggest problem…
Well yeah, beside this village is the highest village around PTPN, this village is the far village from PTPN factory. Badly, this thing was worst by bad road infrastructure. Trust me, friends. The road, the only road into this village is really bad, it can destroy your motorcycle slowly or fast if you ride your motorcycle into this village. And again, Dusun IV is the only village which can’t provide good road infrastructure. Well, if you go to Dusun IV, you will find two intersections, to the left with bad condition road and heading Dusun IV and turn right with smooth and good road heading Dusun II. What a fair! Peoples in Dusun IV hates about the road, because it’s disturbing they daily mobile activities, like evacuate the sick people, buy something in the city down there or taking their salaries in PTPN down there too.
The other problem to me is school. There’s only 1 kindergarten and 1 elementary school for 1st grade until 4th grade here. So, for the 5th until 6th grade of elementary school, junior high school and senior high school, they should go down the hill to the schools near PTPN and taking +/- 45 minutes crossing the bad road using the only transportation, the truck…and it’s always happen to them every day. Maybe it can be hours to cross down the hill from Dusun IV into PTPN by foot. So, the only transportation for students is truck. The trucks always pick the student every day in the morning and give back them to their village after school is over. I was thinking, what if I being one of them, the student I mean, and after school I have date with my girl or I have great discussion with someone and it’s taking my time. Well, the consequence is I must climb the hill for hours. That’s not good for their mental; it’s limiting their own development.
But, being here and walking around this village is awesome thing to me. Beautiful nature landscape is always in your eyes. Beauty dawn with Bukit Barisan (horde of a lot of high hills and mountains stretch along Sumatra Island, one of Indonesian island) back on it, a lot of fog on the far side and the beautiful Dempo. You can always seeing that. Only in Dusun IV.
Nov 27th 2009
Great & Honor
Deorc Regnboga
