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The Homeless Kandei
Yuni Utami Asih adalah seorang pengajar di Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris FKIP Universitas Mulawarman sejak tahun 2005 yang juga merupakan tempatnya menuntut ilmu pada tingkat sarjana. Masa kecilnya akrab dengan buku cerita anak yang biasa dipinjamkan bapaknya dari perpustakaan keliling. Pada masa SMA dia jatuh cinta dengan novel terjemahan Erma dalam Bahasa Indonesia dari The Count of Monte Cristo (Dunia Pustaka Jaya, 1992). Dia melanjutkan pendidikan jenjang magister dan doktor di Pascasarjana Universitas Negeri Surabaya. Pada tahun 2011 dia berkesempatan untuk melakukan kunjungan ke Universitas Leiden selama 2 bulan untuk pendalaman tugas akhir program doktor dengan biaya dari Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Selain mengajar, dia juga beberapa kali menjadi narasumber dalam pelatihan tentang pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris.
Yuni Utami Asih: kelasyuni@gmail.com
***
The Homeless Kandei
The morning sun peeking through the cracks in the boarded walls of her official residence in the interior of Papua woke Onomi. She threw off the blanket that had covered her all night. She had to rush to the Wamena airport. She was grateful for getting about a month’s holiday after completing her two-year teaching assignment at a junior high school in Tiomneri, Lanny Jaya.
Onomi quickly tied her curly hair with a blue ribbon. Some loose fringe accentuated her beauty. Without having breakfast, she ran down the hill to the house of the principal, who happened to have to go shopping for school supplies in Wamena. Onomi greeted the children playing in front of the honai yard, the traditional house of the Lanny tribe.
She remembered her student proudly telling the story of honai in front of the class. The honai was a windowless 9.8 feet circular wooden plank house. The student had told the class that the round roof and the floor of the house were made of dried grass. The residents made a fireplace in the honai to keep them warm.
“Be careful, ma’am! Don’t run, you’ll fall!” the children exclaimed.
Onomi just smiled broadly. Soon, she arrived in front of the principal’s house.
“Hurry up, Onomi! What took you so long?” the principal reprimanded her.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Onomi said, biting her lower lip ⸺ something she did when she felt nervous and guilty.
***
After fifty minutes of traveling by a rental car, they arrived in front of the Wamena airport. Onomi thanked the principal for giving her a lift.
June was the end of the semester school holiday season and the airport was crowded.
After half an hour of waiting, Onomi boarded the plane. She was grateful to get a window seat which allowed her to enjoy the landscape between Wamena and Jayapura.
The beautiful, bluish green Maoke mountain range with its prominent Trikora peak … the Baliem and Membramo rivers coiled like a pair of giant, sleeping snakes.
After forty minutes of flying, Onomi saw Mount Dobonsolo and the beautiful, clean and calm Lake Sentani with its dozens of islands. Several boats owned by local residents were busily transporting passengers between islands. Her hometown village, Asei Island, seemed more densely populated. Suddenly she burst into tears expressing her deep longing. “A lot has changed since I left two years ago” Onomi muttered. She was excited to visit her mother in Asei, one of the nineteen islands in Lake Sentani, Jayapura.
After the two-propeller plane landed perfectly, Onomi anxiously disembarked. She wanted to get home quickly, but she first had to jostle other passengers who also wanted to leave of the airport.
After managing to escape from the crowd, Onomi immediately ran to the motorcycle taxi stand at the corner of the airport. Feeling hot, she took off her jacket. That day, the temperature in Jayapura reached 82.4° F. After living for two years in Tiomneri she was used to 59° F.
After almost half an hour’s journey by motorbike taxi, Onomi arrived at the Kalkhote Pier, on the shore of Lake Sentani. She was happy seeing her village from the end of the pier, until she saw piles of plastic waste around the pier. Empty water bottles were bobbing wildly on the lake’s surface. Is the lake getting shallower too? she wondered. Through the murky water she could still see sandals, shoes and empty cans lying at the bottom of the lake. Her tears started to flow again and turned into uncontrolled sobbing. She felt like last year when she failed to win the 2021 gold medal in the swimming competition at Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON), the National Sport Week, held in Jayapura. However, this time her crying was also filled with anger at the people who had made Lake Sentani look like a giant dump. “I’ve only been away for two years, and the lake has changed like that,” she cried out amidst her tears, holding her head. The lake in front of her was not as beautiful as it seemed from the air.
“Onomi! Onomi! Come on, let’s go home.” Onomi heard her mother calling from her canoe near the dock.
Onomi gasped and tried to hide her tears. She jumped into the canoe and hugged her mother hard only to break out again in tears against her mother’s chest who was surprised at her daughter’s unusual behavior.
***
When Onomi arrived home, Martha, her favorite sister hugged her tightly.
“Martha, you’re so tall! Now, you’re taller than me!” Onomi exclaimed as she studied Martha from top to toe.
“Omi,” Martha called Onomi by her favorite nickname. “Let’s eat first, I cooked. “I’m sure you’ll like my cooking,” Martha continued confidently.
Onomi smiled proudly. She was happy that now her little sister could cook well. As a child, Martha often gave their mother headaches. Martha was too lazy to get up early, take a shower in the morning, or do the housework. Now she had grown up and was even able to cook a meal.
They ate together heartily. Martha had prepared taro and sweet potatoes, fried fish in tomato sauce, sauteed kale, papaya flowers, and Onomi’s favorite chili sauce. Finally, Onomi could enjoy the traditional Sentani food. She ate with great gusto. In Tiomneri, she was busy teaching and did not pay too much attention to her meals .
“Why didn’t you cook kandei? Why did you cook lohan and gastor instead?” Onomi asked. She had imagined eating kandei, her favorite fish. Kandei not only tasted delicious, the bones are easily separated from the meat. Onomi used to eat the fish since she was a child. She could not find it anywhere else. The gastor or gabus Toraja and the lohan or “red devil” were predators of the native Sentani fish.
“Now we can’t get kandei easily,” Martha explained. “Yesterday I fished for hours but I only caught lohan and gastor. “Mom said maybe the kandei are in the middle of the lake, but I don’t dare to go fishing there ⸺ I’m afraid of the waves.”
“Mom, let’s go for a walk around the lake tomorrow morning!” Onomi asked suddenly as if she did not pay attention to Martha’s story.
“Aren’t you tired?” her mother asked.
“No, I’m not.” Smiling, Onomi answered.
“I can’t come, I have running practice,” Martha interrupted. “I’m in a race next week in Manokwari.
***
The morning, Onomi had been waiting for, finally arrived. She always liked going around the lake. Her father used to take her on his boat. Onomi’s father and his team often won gold medals at PON events. Before he died, he was Papua’s main rowing coach.
“Onomi, hurry up!” her mother shouted from the boat under their stilt house. Residents on Asei Island usually built stilts houses around the island. They moored their boat under their houses.
“Yes, Mom!” Onomi shouted. She ran and jumped into the boat.
Her mother deftly rowed the boat westward. Like yesterday, Onomi saw plastic waste floating in the lake. She tried to ignore it, but it kept bothering her. The fact that irresponsible people kept littering saddened her.
“Mom, why is there so much rubbish in the lake now?” Onomi broke the silence and continued, “Before I went to Tiomneri the lake was still clean. At least there wasn’t as much trash.” She stared blankly at the waves. Anger and anxiety warred in her mind. Suddenly she punched the surface of the lake. The splash of cold water slightly cooled her anger.
“Onomi, people not only throw trash into the lakes but also on the streets. When it rains, rubbish enters the gutters and river then ends up in the lake. Now the lake has become a dump.” Onomi’s mother took a deep breath before continuing, “The people who live by the lake are the victims. Lake Sentani has become shallow, the water is dirty, the grass is dead. The fish no longer exist near our houses. It’s so difficult for us. If you want to get water to drink, you have to go to the middle of the lake. That’s the only place where the water is clean.”
“When Dad was still alive, he used to be very strict towards people who littered the lake,” Onomi proudly recalled her father. Onomi’s father was a highly respected tribal chief. Onomi still remembered when she was little, her father always reminded her not to throw even the smallest piece of rubbish into the lake. She suddenly recalled him saying, “God will be angry.”
“Mom, Dad used to say that God gets angry if people throw rubbish into the lake, is that true?” Onomi asked the question but she already knew the answer.
“Yes, that’s what the old people used to say.” her mother explained and continued, “If God is angry, he won’t send fish to the lake.”
As a graduate of Cenderawasih University who studied natural and environmental sciences, Onomi smiled. She began to draw her conclusions that what Sentani parents taught their children was their way of protecting nature. The ancestral environmental knowledge had saved the Sentani people from natural disasters and famine.
“Do you know Onomi, the kandei now are rarely found in lakes. Kandei cannot live in dirty waters – they will definitely die.” Her mother explained. She once had said that the kandei, often referred to as lake snapper, was an indigenous fish of Lake Sentani.
“So the fish went to a cleaner place?” Onomi asked.
“Yes. So it’s not because the gods are angry, but because humans cannot keep the environment clean. Fish, such as kandei, that like clean environments are disappearing or moving,” her mother answered.
After more than an hour of rowing, they arrived in the middle of the lake. Onomi was amazed to see several cranes perched in neat rows on floating logs. Undisturbed by their arrival, the birds continued to casually swing on the tree trunks that swayed on the waves of their boat. Some cranes seemed to be playing. If the birds lived in the interior of Asei Island, they would have been the target of children’s slingshots. Onomi thought.
Onomi clearly saw the difference between the conditions at the edge of the lake and its center. Suddenly she was determined to do something to save the lake from rubbish and make again it a safe home for animals and plants. However, she did not know exactly what to do.
***
After a week since her arrival on Asei Island, Onomi woke up to her cell phone ringing. Yakoba, her best friend in college, had invited her to visit the city of Jayapura. After showering and having breakfast, Onomi asked her mother who was busy feeding their pigs. “Mama, can I borrow your boat? I want to go to the pier. Yakoba will take me for a walk in Jayapura”.
“You can use it, I can borrow Martha’s boat if necessary. Remember, to tie the boat so it won’t drift!” her mother smiled.
Onomi knew her mother was teasing. She had often forgotten to tie the boat and it had drifted on the lake. “Okay Mom, I’ll remember,” she answered quickly.
After rowing for about fifteen minutes, Onomi arrived at the dock. She saw Yakoba’s white car under a ketapang, an Indian almond tree. After tying her boat to a tree trunk on the edge of the lake, she ran towards Yakoba’s car.
Yakoba opened the car. She laughed showing rows of white teeth which alleviated her beauty. “Good morning, Mermaid, you look beautiful this morning.”
Onomi laughed happily. It had been a long time since anyone had called her Mermaid, her nickname since 2016, when she started preparing herself to represent Papua at the PON in 2021.
“Cenderawasih, I missed you.” Onomi looked radiant. Her round eyes shone beautifully. Yakoba was nicknamed the Cenderawasih because she was beautiful and paid special attention to the life of the cenderawasih. These birds were starting to become an endangered species in Papua. She was now a researcher at the World Wildlife Fund Jayapura, which was headquartered in Switzerland.
“I missed you too, Mermaid,” Yakoba said. They laughed heartily.
After two years in Tiomneri, Onomi was surprised to notice how polluted the air of Jayapura was. Contrary to the quiet and clean Tiomneri, Jayapura was also crowded with cars and motorbikes. She then missed the atmosphere of Tiomneri.
Onomi looked at the hustle and bustle of the city she had not seen for two years. Suddenly, a plastic bottle flew from the right window of a luxury car in front of them. Then, from the left window flew a second bottle and a large plastic bag that seemed to contain food waste. Surprised, Onomi shouted. She could not believe what she saw.
Familiar with the sight, Yakoba only smiled when she heard Onomi scream.
“Yakoba, let’s follow that car!” Onomi shouted.
“Why do you want to do that?” Yakoba questioned.
“We must stop their bad behavior. The rubbish they throw on the road will end up in the lake. Remember, I live by the lake.” Exasperated, Onomi clasped her head.
“What if we just take a photo of the license plate?”
As if someone had commanded them, they simultaneously took photos of the car in front of them.
“I want to upload the photo on my Facebook. I want to write a story about the luxury car driver littering the road,” Onomi said.
“Maybe that would be wiser. If we chase the car and then scold them, they will definitely get angry with us. I just don’t want to fuss with people.” Yakoba chimed in.
Onomi nodded in agreement.
“I also want to share it on Tiktok,” Yakoba continued.
“I assume they are well educated and have a good job so they have a luxury car. But in fact, they act like uneducated people.” Onomi said, frustrated.
They were hardly finished with the car problem, when they saw two motorbike riders throw plastic bottles into the ditch on the side of the road. The cycelists who were of Martha’s age did not seem to feel guilty about doing that. It made Onomi and Yakoba angry.
Yakoba floored the gaspedal and chased the motorbike.
After they stopped it, Onomi immediately shouted at the thin young men. “Hey, what did you throw in the gutter? Do you know the consequences of gutters full of rubbish, especially plastic waste!”
“Do you still remember the 2019 flood in Jayapura that caused hundreds of people to die? One of the causes was trash,” Yakoba added.
“Now pick up your trash and take it home!” Onomi scolded them in earnest.
The two young people seemed reluctant. However, after they took in Onomi and Yakoba’s anger and Onomi’s tall and well-built posture, they unwillingly set to the task. There was a lot of plastic rubbish in the gutter and they seemed confused about which was theirs.
“Just pick up all the trash you can!” Onomi snapped.
“Put all the garbage in here!” Yakoba shouted harshly and threw a shopping bag she took from the car at them.
The two skinny young men trembled with fear. They hurriedly picked up the pile of plastic waste and put it in the bag.
“Remember, take the trash home, don’t litter anymore and tell your friends not to do the same thing.” Onomi reminded them, fiercely.
Satisfied, Onomi and Yakoba glanced at each other.
***
Uploads of photos of cars with their license numbers, and stories about car and motorbike drivers who polluted the roads, went viral. Most of the responses condemned the act of littering. Interestingly, users of other online networks shared many kinds of similar stories about teenagers throwing rubbish on roads and in ditches.
Finally, environmentalist mustered the courage to express their concerns about environmental sustainability. They introduced the public to informative articles about pollution. Several community leaders campaigned the importance of maintaining the cleanliness of the environment, especially the lakes which had serious waste problems.
However, Onomi and Yakoba suffered some consequences of their actions. Many people insulted and cursed them on the phone and accused them of using online networks to seek fame.The curses and insults did not deter the two brave girls, but instead made them even more enthust.
“We’ve started it, Mermaid. Now, let’s finish it,” Yakoba said one day.
“Bring it on, you know I always finish what I start.” Onomi responded.
Onomi and Yakoba were once known as brave students. Before becoming a provincial swimming champion, Onomi often failed to meet the time limits set by her coach. She was used to the rigors of training.
Yakoba was used to going in and out of the forest to research the cendrawasih. The hardship she usually had to face in the forest was much more compared to the swearing and insults of people on her online network.
Less than a month after the story went viral and various people’s responses online, the Sentani Traditional School invited Onomi and Yakoba for a meeting. The administrators of the school had gathered dozens of young people who shared their concern about plastic waste.
The head of the school asked Onomi and Yakoba to lead the meeting. Many good ideas emerged. A few days later, signs with messages such as Love Your Environment, Take your trash home, Lakes are not rubbish bins, Only stupid people throw away trash carelessly, and other similar expressions were posted.
Interestingly, the young people volunterily joined and named their group the Young Guardians of the Lake. They agreed to educate people about the importance of a clean environment and warned against littering. They also cleaned the lake and its surroundings.
Onomi and Yakoba were satisfied with the enthusiasm of the community movement. They realized that it was not easy to discipline people who were used to bad habits. Although it took a long time, at the very least the youth movement would make people feel embarrassed to litter.
“Cenderawasih, I imagine the native Sentani fish ⸺ kandei, kayou, kahe, and others will come out of hiding when the lake is clean. I remember that my father used to sing about various kinds of fish in the lake.” Onomi said as she recalled the memory of her late father.
Onomi then sang melodiously:
Igwabun neiboi manende (approaching along the Igwa region)
Ebaeit yo miyae kandei holo ereijae ereyole (a woman from Ebaeit village saw schools of kandei)
Thaibun neiboi manende (approaching along Thai territory)
Hayaere yam miyae kahe holo haleijae haleyole (women from Hayae village saw a school of kahe.)
Yakoba was stunned, she did not expect that Onomi could sing fluently in the Sentani language.
“Yakoba do you know,” Onomi suddenly said, “if the lake is dirty, not only I, even the kandei will be reluctant to come back.”
*****