NOKENin Covid 19

Health protocol is of utmost importance. (NOKEN/Anggit Saranta)

Story by A. Ruwidrijarto (NOKEN Connecting Community)

WARNING: health tips and advisory in this article is not approved by WHO or any who’s who. Do this at your own risk.

Nokeners around the world, around 13 in number, have been developing various ways to strengthen the health protocol related to Covid 19. Health protocol is of utmost importance, especially because an aspect of nokening means travelling, visiting, listening and talking (often loudly), even singing, laughing, and living; to from with communities. At all times nokeners have to strictly follow guidances issued by WHO, CDC, BNPB, Ministry of Health, province and district governments, chief of villages, Abah, and Martua. Martua is of particular import because, as they say, the bucks stop with him. So, our task is to stop any virus bugs from getting to us.

Here’s some of the innovative protocols that nokeners have been developing to make sure that they do no harm to themselves or anybody that they noken in:

Always On Fire

This is probably the most important and effective method to keep nokeners from adverse exposure to the virus. It’s to always have intangible and tangible fire. The intangible fire within can be kept on by remembering that joyful love to humanity, mother nature, and wellbeing of all beings. This is what drives and energizes noken in the first place. If ideology is not enough, we can always rely on self-help videos which are plenty in the internet. Try this one: https://youtu.be/xrLw94oC6D0

The tangible fire is actually easier to start and maintain. There are many practical and not so practical how to guide for it, including this one: the many ways of starting a fire: Friction- Based Fire Making (the hand drill, fire plough, bow drill, flint and steel), Lens-Based Methods (traditional lenses, balloons and condoms, fire from ice, coke can and chocolate bar, batteries and steel wood). See https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/9-ways-to-start-a-fire- without-matches/

But the best illustration of the relationship between fire and health is the following picture:

s can be clearly seen, both nokeners are facing and talking to the fire. This way they make sure that they direct anything bad, virus or others, to the fire to be burned up.

Go Where The Wind Blows

Complementary to having fire burning is to always have gatherings and meetings in open area where the wind blows, the stronger the better. That wind will blow away any bad materials into complete oblivion. This part of noken protocol regulates that no meeting should take place in a hotel or conference room or fancy restaurant.

The following picture is a perfect example of protocol #1 and #2:

Please note the effort to make sure that anything that comes out while talking or singing, laughing or screaming, will be burned by the fire. (Additional benefit of having a fire is to grill batatas or chicken or goat or a reprimand letter from your boss if you get any).

Throughout the noken trip, Kulonprogo-Batang-Indramayu-Garut-Karang, the nokeners strived to not actually go into houses or residential area of the community. The venue of activity is always out there in the open, with some distance for isolation. Thus, nokeners meet with the communities in camping grounds, middle of rice field, a clearing in the customary forest, coffee shop by the river in the jungle, or a forested hill owned and managed by local youth groups, a wooden cabin with an outer deck overlooking the Mount of Guntur, and the likes (I hope you get the idea).

Controlled Environment

The other covid 19 protocol during a noken is to put best effort in controlling the way they travel, and the accommodation. This for example is in using personal vehicle or rental cars (maximum 2 persons in a row, if rental car rapid tested driver). In terms of accommodation, this protocol calls that nokenners should always choose to camp out and sleep on tents or hammocks instead of hotel rooms. But if unavoidable (for example: very sleepy and in need of full recovery) to have single occupancy room at hotels with clean reputation and reputation of cleanliness.

On Vitamin etc.

This is an area where there is no consensus between nokeners especially and the general public generally. Views and opinions on this topic are probably as diverse as herb species in an agroforest like in Pagerharjo or Kasepuhan Karang. Basic principle here however is “what works is what you believe”.

This is in terms of:

• Vitamin C to take (1,000 mg/day?)
• White Wood Oil (eucalyphtus, breath in every 3 minute, rub over your body, mix a drop in a glass of water?) note: produced by a partner of Samdhana in Biak, Papua.
• VCO (2 spoons every night?) note: produced by a partner of Samdhana in Tambrauw, West Papua.
• Chicken Egg (2 boiled every morning?)
• Wedang Uwuh (a kind of tea of mixed spices and herbs. No debate here: it’s good). note: produced by a partner of Samdhana in Kulonprogo, Jogja. Vitamin D (unavoidable anyway with all that outdoor activites, walks, farming, foresting, sunshine).
• Coffee (confirmed to be ok as long as no sugar. Only issue is arabica vs. robusta). note: produced by too many partners of Samdhana all over Southeast Asia.

This long list of stuffs to bring also explain why it is essential that a nokener carries a strong woven multifunctional bag, a noken (note: produced by partners of Samdhana in Biak, Jayapura, Namblong, Tambrauw, Sorong, Wamena, Merauke, etc. A similar bag called koja is produced by Indigenous Peoples in western Java, the kasepuhans, Baduy, others).

Official Protocol

All the above innovative protocols are in addition to not substitute of the official protocols of wearing mask, physical distancing, hand washing, toothbrushing, showering, green to green travel zoning. All has to be diligently enforced at all times.

Even with the best precautions, things can go bad at any juncture as this is life, weird. (Also… roadtrip driving. Ask me how I know). Therefore the constant need to strike a balance between the risk of harm and the gracefulness of connectedness of communities and of beings.

That’s a calm one, let’s try to noken gracefully …