Besiap, Empowering Children of the Rimba People

KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

Besiap (16), jungle teacher in the Terab River area, Bukit Duabelas National Park, Batanghari Regency, Jambi, 17 July 2020

For the 16 years of his life, Besiap had never experienced studying in a classroom, as he could never afford formal education. However, he followed his fervent desire to learn and realized his dream to become a teacher.

Unlike most teachers, Besiap teaches every day in a forest sertting. His “classroom” is located beneath shady trees and its floor is the forest floor. The makeshift chalkboard is made of wooden planks or cardboard and paper. The learning materials are the many varieties of roots, tree limbs and wood in the forest.

His students wear loincloths or sarongs and are barefooted.

“Piado masalah, sokola bisa di mono bae (No problem, we can study anywhere),” he said.

In the last two years, Besiap has taught dozens of children of the Orang Rimba – the indigenous forest people of southeast Sumatra – in the Sungai Terab zone of Bukit Duabelas National Park in Batanghari regency, Jambi. A number of his students are already able to read and write and do basic arithmetic.

No problem, we can study anywhere.

Four of his students hoped to continue their education at formal schools this year, but this remains a dream because their families are not in the civil registry.

As the children have never experienced formal schooling, they learn at anytime and anywhere in the forest. Their learning activities have been adjusted to match the seminomadic culture of the Rimba people.

Under normal conditions, the Rimba people temporarily settle in one location. Whenever a death occurs, the tribe leaves its old settlement behind and roams the forest in search of a new place to call home.

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KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

Besiap (back) with his students.

The Rimba people’s seminomadic culture has often prevented their recognition as inhabitants of a particular region for enrolling in the local school. Nonetheless, the establishment of the forest school, with its teacher hailing from the tribe, means that the school can move with the people. Besiap is able to set up a learning space anywhere. The school hours are not set, so they are practically unlimited.

Becoming a teacher has been Besiap’s grand dream since he was a child. It started when he noticed a volunteer from a conservation organization who was visiting his tribe for some time. He was amazed when this guest taught him many things. This fateful meeting made him even more determined to realize his dream of becoming a teacher.

When it became time for the guest to leave the tribe, Besiap still wanted to continue learning from him. As he saw the guest making his departure, Besiap and two of his friends chased after the man. Luckily, they caught up with the guest, who took them with him back to the city of Jambi to continue learning at the rooming house where he lived.

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Besiap’s introduction to science fueled his passion for learning. One day, the conservation group sent a new volunteer to Sungai Terab to teach the Rimba children. After only three days of teaching, however, tragedy struck, and the tribe had to pick up and start roaming again, according to their tradition.

As a result, they had to leave the volunteer behind. When Besiap realized that the volunteer was staying in the tribe’s former settlement, he broke with tradition, sneaking back to join the volunteer.

Racing with time

Of the around 3,600 Rimba people who reside in the area of Bukit Duabelas, only 25 percent have literacy and math skills, whether from formal or informal schooling. Of these, 315 went to elementary school and 20 to junior high, while only eight people have gone to senior high school.

Besiap had never attended a formal school because his parents forbid it. In the past, the local tradition considered schooling as a taboo. Schools were seen to belong to an outside culture. The tribal elders feared that if children became smarter than their parents, they would become inclined to start eroding or even opposing the tribe’s customs and traditions.

The customary rules have been relaxed over the last 10 to 15 years, after the literacy movement entered the inland region. Besiap began to dedicate himself to learning after his father died. From then on, he frequently expressed his aspiration to become a teacher. Besiap wanted to empower the people in his tribe so they would not be seen as less than the people outside his culture.

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KOMPAS/IRMA TAMBUNAN

Besiap teaches his students

Recognizing his strong determination, the conservation group started training him as a teacher. It didn’t take him long before he became skilled in teaching children, covering reading, writing, arithmetic and storytelling. Today, he continues to strive to gain formal education for the forest tribe. On the other hand, he acknowledges that it will take a long time before parents will accept formal education into the tribe.

Several challenges and restriction still remain. For instance, girls who reach puberty, which is symbolized by wearing chest wraps, are forbidden from teaching or learning. The customary rules that apply to female members of the Rimba tribe is like the saying, “tak lapuk di hujan, tak lekang di panai“(not rotted by the rain, nor cracked by the heat).

The customary rules are rigidly imposed, especially for girls and women. The Rimba people believe that those who violate the rules will be punished by nature.

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“They will stumble [in the forest]. Bees will sting [them] in the air. Crocodiles will catch [them] in the river. Tigers will hunt [them] on land,” said Besiap, implying that those who violate the rules will be doomed.

Besiap realizes that he must always uphold the traditional customs and rules wherever he goes, not opposed. He is thus in a race between the past and the future.

He continues to endeavor to teach the children as well as he can, before the girls must start wearing chest wraps. At the very least, he can get them to the point where they can read and write, and do arithmetic. Besiap still has a long journey ahead.

Besiap

Mother: Betandingmas

Siblings: Merimbun, Merumbah, Menggiling, Melangsim