Sunday in Tuaran

I know..... but I can't stop taking her

After another busy week of finishing off the annual reviews, three workshops, a very brief visit to my lovely Ranau and attending a headmistress's retirement celebration, I relish a quiet day in Tuaran not doing anything very special. Tuaran is a sleepy sort of town but the wonderful tamu (market) on Sunday transforms it into a busy town where everyone comes and is one of my favourite places. As well as every sort of vegetable, fruit and fish there is just about everything else to buy and of course my favourite place is the second hand clothes stalls of which there are many to pass away the hours. Today I went to the tamu on my newish bicycle with only 10 ringgits (2.50 euro) and unfortunately the ATM wasn't working so I went anyway returning with a bunch of bananas, a delicious pineapple, some tomatoes, a cucumber and a pair of smart esprit trousers, that I wouldn't normally have bought but hey they were my size and I had 5 ringitts left!

  I then went for my usual bike ride which is a shortish circuit in the padi fields and I love watching the progress of the padi as it will very soon be the harvesting and I'm not sure if they will do it all by hand as in the Ranau area. The farmers seemed to have rigged up a network of string and cans which are pulled intermittently by someone sitting in a hut and then there are just rows and rows of plastic bags and cds and shirts blowing in the wind to distract the birds from taking all the padi.

Bajau dancers at school

Dusun and Bajau costumes. Not sure what the the thing on the head is called!

Dusun costume from near Kota Belud

I thought you might enjoy seeing some more photographs of people in traditional costume. These children were performing this week in a small primary school near Kota Belud which is mostly Bajau people but towards the mountain area there are many Dusun people- so quite a mixture. The people of Sabah love dancing and are very proud of their traditional heritage and celebrate their ethnic diversity.

  So this time next week I will be at our lovely Ferme des Vallots with Andrew, Tanya , Anthony, Lisa and Remi and I'm feeling very excited about it now! I fly on Friday night arriving on Saturday morning and then getting a lift with Lisa from Lille. So I may be very busy next week getting everything ready for the wedding but who knows.... I will be sure to let you know all about the wedding of 2015 at La Ferme des Vallots and of course some photos! 

The Book Launch!!!

Yes the event of the year in the little school of SK Tiga Papan (meaning three planks of wood) is over and it was a wonderful morning full of memorable events culminating with a delicious rungus meal at Howard and Lorina's Tampat do Aman longhouse. We had lots of VIPs - the director of our project, Tricia, along with her boss Keith from KL British Council and many Education Officers from around the district and the head of the academic sector for Sabah. When we arrived at the school we were greeted by all the teachers and given sashes especially woven for the occasion and brought in to sit on the VIP cane sofas.

Preschool performance

 The three classrooms had been made into one big room for the event and it was full of parents and children and of course the two illustrators were there too. There were the inevitable speeches and then we had four young people of the village dancing in full rungus costume accompanied by three old people of the village on the gongs. Next there was the performance of the Tasu to the Rescue by the adorable preschool children who were very funny and then a reading of  I am Itut-Itut by two year 4 students in beautiful costumes.

Teachers enjoying the lunch afterwards

 There was a workshop next making stick puppets of the characters of the story and a chance to chat to the artists and then we finished off with a song and headed for the longhouse for  "makan makan". Howard and Lorina have made a small museum to preserve and celebrate the Rungus culture and traditions and we were able to present them with the books to go into the museum and then we all just enjoyed the food and festive atmosphere with everyone in the village. 

The one and only Howard dancing at Tampat do Aman

None of this would have been possible without Anna and Mike , the mentors in Kudat, who have worked tirelessly to make the whole event happen and support and encourage the teachers at Tiga Papan, not to mention all the editing and work involved in producing the books. I would also like to thank Howard and Lorina for their support and enthusiasm for everything in the village. Thank you so much - it was a wonderful day and may this be the start of many more books!

The museum

   We had a full two page spread in a national newspaper today too!!

http://www.star2.com/culture/books/book-news/2015/05/10/sabahs-folktales-in-new-form/