Butterfly from a River

Sa’diang, a female water gatherer, and their family navigate life around Sungai Mandar during the rainy season, revealing the complexity of the relationship between nature and humans in the quest for clean water and survival.

As a woman and someone born in Mandar, I take great pride in the Mandar region despite my identity crisis—I am not fluent in the Mandar language, unfamiliar with Mandar women’s activities, ignorant of Mandar traditions, unfamiliar with the history of the Sungai Mandar, as well as the Mandar water. During the journey to overcome my loneliness, I passed through hot asphalt roads. The asphalt slightly damaged my motorcycle tires. I nagged about the never-ending road problems. I stopped with emotional feelings right at the Tinambung bridge. From a distance, jerry cans stretched across Sungai Mandar with ropes tied to the shoulders of women.

I walked along the riverbank approaching women washing clothes, and inquiring about those who were swimming in the river. I was then directed to a village on the left side of the Tinambung bridge, but the local residents were not well aware of the women I was asking about. I then made my way to the Alu village, where I saw an old man assembling bamboo into a raft and then joined him for a ride and exploring Alu, part of Sungai Mandar while asking about the women carrying dozens of jerry cans. The man said he often encountered them, saying they lived in the Ga’de village. The next day, I searched on Google about the jerry cans spanning the Sungai Mandar. I found the information of the village of Ga’de and female passauq wai. I immediately headed there to satisfy my curiosity.

Arrived in the Ga’de village, I stopped in front of a small alley because I saw several jerry cans on a white-brown wooden table. Next to the jerry cans, I saw a woman with short hair looking at me curiously; she was Kak Diah (Sa’diang). I approached her and asked about the passauq wai in this village. Kak Diah answered me in Mandar, but I didn’t understand much because it turned out my knowledge of the Mandar language was very rusty, especially since both of my grandmothers passed away. I only heard and spoke Mandar when I was at my grandmothers’ house. Since then, I felt very alienated from my hometown. When she saw me confused, she led me into the alley toward a green-painted house. A woman was lying on the terrace with her toddler. Kak Diah said something to the woman and from what I heard, Kak Diah mentioned that I was inquiring about passauq wai. The woman on the terrace immediately responded, “Oh, don’t bother asking Diah. She’s a bit witless.”

My feelings were suddenly in disarray at that moment. The woman on the terrace said that because Kak Diah’s voice sounded a bit nasal, but that didn’t bother me at all. I felt foolish for not understanding the Mandar language well. I ignored it and continued to satisfy my curiosity about passauq wai. The woman on the terrace was Halijah; she escorted me to the riverbank, where the passauq wai arrived after swimming a long distance. Since then, I wanted to delve deeper into their process, and how they could be so close to a deep river, rumored to be inhabited by many crocodiles. Eventually, I explored various activities of Mandar women, aspiring to create a film about it. After making a film about the activities of Mandar women, I still felt that I didn’t fully understand Mandar. I always remembered someone named Sa’diang.

When making a film about the activities of the women of Mandar, one of them was about the passauq wai (water gatherers). Sa’diang provided me with knowledge about the true nature of Mandar water. From there, Sa’diang introduced me to Mandar through her relationship with the Sungai Mandar. For me, Sa’diang is not a foolish or witless person. When Sa’diang communicates with her mother, it reminds me of the closeness I share with my mom. In other words, up to now, Sa’diang has helped me to understand myself and my hometown better. Through Sa’diang and the Mandar River, I want to make an effort to truly understand Mandar.