Rumah Kebun

Rumah kebun (farm house) is a simple forest hut, a shelter for farmers when they work for a few days at their farm. There is already one rumah kebun at Pasir Hitam that is initially belong to Iu and family but it is a bit farther from our tent area and it also needed to be renovated, so we asked Iu to make a new one just beside our tent.

Iu and family are also from Posi-Posi Rao, his parents and Belgis’s parents knows each other. We are happy to have known Iu at Pasir Hitam, a kind person who loves being in the forest. He doesn’t talk much but work efficiently. When we asked him to build the rumah kebun, we only show him the location and tell him that we need a place to cook and another part for sleeping. He said ok but then dissapear and only show up in the afternoon with several poles on his shoulders.

The next day we found him planting the poles and start building the rumah kebun. The roof is made of katu (Sago palm leafs) that we have ordered in advance at a family in the village.

To attach the roof Iu uses “Loleba” sliced bamboo skin that he prepared the evening before. He also made the “Dodika” a kind of table filled with sand where we can put the three stone fire for cooking. The rumah kebun was ready in just two days, made by Iu alone.

It was great to have the rumah kebun ready in a very short time, we used it immediately! First we moved all our kitchen appliances. Then Belgis parents who joined us a week later, sleep here too. We kept the tent for Lena who help us in cooking and her husband Sem who later make the toilet with Lena’s brother, Todo.