Indonesia

tradition and culture are much stronger than good economics. Or was it a form of capitalist power exploiting tradition for it's own end?

The cattle were used, fertiliser was spread, the 'miracle' rice was planted and the crop was sprayed with pesticides. The harvest that year became the best they ever had, but I begrudged the one third that had to be paid to the farmer with the cattle.

The first wet had been quite an experience for us all. When we arrived, everything in and around Kupang was bone dry. It had not rained for over six months, not a drop. The ground was bare, and the trees had lost most of their leaves. Only in Tarus near the spring was lush green, everything else looked grey and dusty. When the first drops of rain fell during October, all the children in the neighbourhood, including our children, went almost berserk. They stripped, either to their undies or naked, and danced around in the rain. It was almost like a ritual, the great relief after the oppressive heat of the pre-monsoon season. I would have gladly joined them.

Soon after the first rainfall, the vegetation came to life. Grass and weeds and flowers were sprouting everywhere. It was such a joy to observe the change almost over night. As we lived in Jalan Tugu by the river, we could see the water rising, especially if a north/westerly was blowing. One day the water came right into the back yard, but as we were so close to the open sea, it did not rise any further.

All of us had come down with malaria at one time or another in spite of us taking chloroquin once a week. James had malaria when we were still in Jalan Kartini, quite badly, combined with diarrhoea. He looked so ill and I began to wonder whether we had done the right thing coming with our children to this unhealthy place. Eventually I was struck down with malaria myself. It is a terrible disease, like flu with body aches and pains, but multiplied several times. I could not sleep, yet I was terribly tired and weak. Shivering alternated with high fever in quick succession, and at one point I was feeling so low that I wanted to die. To make things even worse, a cyclone was passing over Kupang. The storm raged for a whole day dumping an enormous quantity of water over the town. Nobody dared to go outside. After it was all over, I felt better, and we went for a drive along the road towards Tenau, the harbour, to look at the devastation the cyclone had brought to one of the suburbs. The homes in the whole neighbourhood had been flattened, including half the wall of a church. We were fortunate that our house was undamaged.

Our court yard had only a fence along the river. Nothing could be left outside over night, as thieves could easily climb over the fence from the river. One day, Filus had been painting a bicycle frame, which we had bought for our Mark. He had left it drying outside over night. Next morning it was gone. To console Mark, he brought from his village one day a baby rhesus monkey. He called him Simpson. He was tied around his waist to a long lead Ñ our boys could not cuddle him enough. They were

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