Servicing the Kg.Sepit villagers

Thoughts become actions. Well, I suppose that is how this event unfolded because a few months ago I fumbled upon a blog about doctors going to the rural areas  in Sarawak to do community service and I thought to myself. Maybe I should see if I could  get into this program or something. Just maybe.

Here I am now, dead tired but still having the passion to write after 9 hours of completing my first ever rural community service.

It was a rewarding feat. I admit it's not for the faint hearted. You see when you want something, the universe conspires together with you to bring you to it. I had the opportunity to do this service because a colleague of mine, the great Robin Tan (RT) had his visits to a few of the villages in Kuching and having to see his pictures, I was totally excited and was really looking forward for such an opportunity which came on the 16th of October 2010.

I was told by a fellow partner that we would be going to Kg.Sepit, in Borneo Highlands of Sarawak. "You could google it up" he said. I forgo it thinking I'd rather be surprised by it and boy I was. Our journey began by me parking my car at the leader's house, Charlie Chan. Charlie through the Sai Baba Association of Kuching, a NGO body has been doing this service for over 15 years. Gathering doctors, dentists, and gladly now pharmacist taking over the job to dispense drugs which was done by doctors then, barbers and cook ,taking them to the many of the rural villages that is scattered all over Sarawak and providing the locals assisted medical services at no charge.

Our destination was Kg.Sepit, nested deep in the mountains of Borneo Highlands. We hopped on into Charlie's Land Cruiser and travelled the occasional bumpy road for an hour before we stopped and transferred all the belongings needed such as XXL sized cooking utensils,the portable pharmacy, supplies of dry cooking ingredients, bandages and vegetables as we will be cooking for the villagers there. These items were all carried by the local's who own motorcycles. Our adventure was just about to begin.

The necessary supplies to be carried to the village.

Well, the only access to this village is by foot. Which means we had to trek up the steep, uneven mountain road before reaching the village and the sun was at its' glorious, showing us no sign of sympathy. I love the outdoors but thirty five degrees in the air was a tough ordeal. Our team comprised of the dual Charlies, Charlie Lau & Charlie Chan, the social service veterans, two house officers from the Sarawak General Hospital, the handsome Dr.Khai and the spontaneous Dr.Wong, the dispensing pharmacist that would be me and another friend Chun Wei and three other foreign students, Sophie & Lee Fay from London and Jared from Australia.

We began our journey up to the mountains at 10.30am and reached shortly before 1pm. I guess my regular swim workout has done nothing for my stamina as I  was at the terminal end of the line and Charlie Lau at his 50's passing remarks like "Let us know , if you need to rest" -_-
 I remember praying at each steep slope. "God, let this be the last one. But nop they just keep coming. It was a freaking winding mountain.What was I expecting??"

Beginning our journey. On the right.The only boarding school where kids from 7 villages  go to

One of the many suspension bridge that we crossed headed by Charlie Lau

Intermittently there would be bamboo suspension bridges, tied together with wild boar hair which we had to pass. These are granted passage over streams which I had the longing desire to jump into given the hot weather. Occasionally we would pass other locals, most carrying giant baskets on their head. The baskets were made of bamboo and rattan and had a long woven strap attached to it. The strap was placed over the bearers forehead as a means of supporting the weight on their back. The villagers would carry food supplies back to their village. This reminded me a lot of my Mount Kinabalu hike which warrants for another post. A long due post. Sigh. I will have to get to that someday.

The view of Kg.Sepit from the land below

On our way we passed by two other villages which were Kg.Assum & Kg. Parang. Both these villages have been visited by the The Sai Group before. All torturous journey comes to an end. Thank heavens. =) 

We arrived at  Kg.Sepit, which is tucked between two high ridges, lending credit to the kampung’s name, which literally means “ that which is trapped " Sepit is comprised of perhaps 30 homes. Each home is built of bare hardwood and elevated several feet off the ground by stilts. Most homes have large, bamboo decks and tin roofs. Sepit families are largely the Bidayuh clan. Most of them Christians. Breathtaking beauty on its own. The village is situated right smack in the middle of the highlands. The left, right and the view in front of me was the unviolated scenic mountains and up above the unmolested vision of the bright blue sky with its fluffy white clouds. Some things just don't change. Like how mother nature at its purest becomes a silent peaceful companion. 


Real people live here. Like you and I. No tree house. No guys wear loin cloth nor the women walk topless. We felt welcomed and instantly popular. Curious onlookers were aplenty.  You could hear gigles and laughter. The kids would look at us from afar and when we look back, they shy away, hiding behind their elders or a tree. Sometimes they are about a few metres away and when you tried approaching them or try to  snap a picture or two, they scatter away. Then they would peek again, hoping you would snap their pictures. Eventually, every little kid wanted to be photographed and with time they warmed up.

After a short nap on the cool wooden floor, we took our exploration another step further- trekking deeper into the jungle towards a waterfall. The Kalimantan border of Indonesia is only an hour away we were told but we were too exhausted and the weather threaten to rain so we decided to settle just for the waterfall .Yuyah, headman of the village became our guide. We slipped a few times as the trails were not marked but the fall was rewarding. The sound of water crashing on the rocks from a distance kept us going.We took a dip and massaged our back with the falling water.  None of us except Sophie and Li Fay had our bathing suit on but what the heck. When nature calls you just can't resist.

Nature's own reward

The real service only began after we trekked back to the headman's house. We started preparing and cooking for the villagers there. I learnt that this what the Sai Association do all the time. Cooking for the entire village. We all took turns to cut the long beans, washing the XXXL sized wok and also handling the oar which does require some skills.

The village kids helping us to prepare food

Sophie having a go with the cooking oar

The bamboo decks that is common for all the houses there. From here you could view the greens or watch the sun go down

The boy who says Ho Ho Ho all the time

Around dusk, the generator was fired to provide electricity to the house. You might think this is weird but I've always felt like I've had a certain form of connection with it. The smell. The sound. It reminds me of old times. As the gas used for firing is rather expensive and difficult to transport, electricity was generally only used during the night for a few hours.  

Shortly after dinner, the patients started coming in to the headman's house to visit the doctors. Generally , each patient has a card which is common for their visit in the local district clinic. Charlie Lau would register their names and then they proceed to see the doctors. The doctors here treat a variety of illnesses from a normal fever to even detecting the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFM) and giving them referral to bigger hospitals although most of the times they never go to town to visit the doctors. I fear their fate. Some of the illness were serious. They are ignorant but I wouldn't blame them entirely anyway. A trip to town would cost Rm60- Rm80 one way and would take almost three quarter of the day. For a family whose household income is probably not even RM500, that sum of money is inarguably a pinch. 

Dr.Khai attending to a patient

Chun Wei & me preparing medication for a patient

The portable pharmacy =)

They then proceed to me to get their medicines dispensed. The portable pharmacy that is maintained by the association was indeed complete. I remember clearly a fragile old man who could barely walk and had blue ring around his iris extending out his hand after I dispensed his medicines to him. It didn't occur to me that he wanted to thank me and again he touched the back of my hand and that was when I understood his gesture. That genuine warmth touched my heart =) 

The clinic ended around 10pm and we were told to get ready for bed as the generator would be shut off. That night all the girls had the privilege to sleep on a mattress in a private room in the second floor of the house. A sign that communicates respect for the guest. Poor people never lack perfect hospitality. 

The next morning I rose early. Unable to sleep any longer. Birds chirping happily, rooster crowing at a distance and kids shrieking all over the place. I guess no matter which part of the world you are, some things just don't change- kids running around at early hours of the morning. Forget about bathing but since we had our refreshing shower under the waterfall, I didn't mind one bit. Well, I guess I could  divulge a little information on the sanitation facilities available. Suffice to say that, you have to turn off your large bowel emptying habit for 2 days. You could take a leak and wash your face but  you wouldn't want to spend any time longer in the shack built by them. They didn't seem to mind at all. So a shack. No biggie.We started preparing breakfast. Again for everyone. It's a wonderful feeling. Serving and feeding so many people in a short span of time.

Dr.Wong & Dr.Khai taking turn to cook overlooked by curious little kids

Jared & Li Fay 

 After breakfast, clinic continued till late morning. Soon it was time for us to bid farewell. We packed all our belongings and send all the supplies via motorcycle while we make our way down by foot under the blazing sun yet again. The walk down was hard on our thighs but was way much easier than the climb up the slope.

The hike down was made a little more bearable with my mp3 plugged in but I couldn't help to think that amidst all that poverty and hardship, all the families were perfectly alive and living decidedly in the moment; happy to be living the only life they know. This is where they were born, where they lived and where they would die eventually.  Whether this was their choice or an unjust twist of fate,it  didn't matter. No one questions  such things. Only sheer acceptance that made me realise life here is at its simplest.

Making our way down

The kids followed us down for about one or two kilometer or so.

Beautiful ain't it?

I reached home totally exhausted around 2pm. Took a long shower and remember thanking God for the clean water and a comfortable place to empty my bowel. What a luxury compared to the life that I visited.

The rest of the day and two more days that followed, I just spent any free time I had sleeping away. The service drained me physically but not without giving me a little soul satisfaction. I would make a return trip elsewhere. Soon.