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View all search resultsMaluku villagers risk lives on makeshift river crossing
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T
he flow of the Nalbesi River was getting stronger as the rain flushed Buru Selatan regency in Maluku on a Thursday morning, but villagers still flocked to the river bank.
Crossing the river is the only way for residents of the two villages, Neath and Liang, to reach the district center, Leksula, even if it means risking their lives and those of their loved ones.
Among the residents crossing the river that morning was Nori Hukunala, who had just bought monthly supplies in Leksula with her 8-month-old baby.
Leksula is about 3 to 4 kilometers from the Nalbesi River. In the rainy season, residents are forced to travel on foot, as did Nori with her baby that day.
With the bad weather and swift water, Nori ventured to cross the river while carrying her child with a sarong to return to her home in Neath.
Three men volunteered to help Nori and other residents cross the river. They stretched strands of nylon rope across the river and tied them to tree trunks on both sides of the river.
They wrapped other strands of nylon rope around the stretch, knotted them and tied them to a wooden branch that served as a seat. Residents would sit on the wooden branch to swing across the river.
