I’m on a boat. A speedboat, heading upstream, splicing through the brown waters of the Katingan River to a place I’ve never visited before. The roar of the boat’s motor deafens my ears, yet somehow I nod off to sleep a few times on the five hour journey. I awake to my new home, at least for the next few months.
My name is Reisky Handika, and I am a Kopernik Fellow in Galinggang, Central Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. Galinggang village was established on the banks of the Katingan River in 1910, with only four initial households. It is one of nine villages located in Kamipang sub-district. Most people in Galinggang are of Dayak Kahayan and Banjar descent, with Banjar and Dayak the main languages spoken. However, almost all people in Galinggang can understand Indonesian. There are also Javanese and Batak people living in the village, working as teachers, a nurse and a midwife.
The main road of the village is particularly unique: two kilometres long and made entirely from planks of wood. This is the only road in Galinggang with houses built on both sides of the road. Constructed in stages, the road was recently extended to connect to a middle school located at one end of the village.
“BEFORE THE ROAD WAS EXTENDED, WE HAD TO WALK ON DIRT,” SAID MR LULUS, ONE OF THE TEACHERS AT SMP NEGERI 2 KAMIPANG, GALINGGANG’S MIDDLE SCHOOL. “WHEN IT RAINED, IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH THE SCHOOL.”
During my first days in Galinggang I am repeatedly surprised by the roaring thunder-like sound produced when someone runs or rides a bicycle on the wooden road.
But as night falls on my first night, the village settles into silence. It is as if all noise has been sucked into the darkness that was blanketing Galinggang. Maybe, I think, people are just tired today. Perhaps darkness and silence have been friends to these people.
Through some windows I see some beams of light, white and clean. Some of them are moving, some of them are steady. The ones that are moving are brought by some villagers walking down the wooden road, and the ones that are steady are hanging in living rooms, providing light for the families living inside. These lights are what have brought me to Central Kalimantan.
So, I say to myself, this is how the night looks in Galinggang. Fascinating. I hope this journey will continue to enthrall for the next three months, as I befriend these people and get to know the Katingan River.
