146 147 memasak untuk dirinya sendiri dan suaminya,
terpisah dari dapur modern anaknya. Ini sesuatu yang biasa terjadi di Bali. Di desa-desa nenek dan kakek jarang mau berdiam diri bergantung ke anak. Selalu mencari cara agar bisa punya penghasilan sendiri. Atau, setidaknya tetap bisa bermanfaat bagi keluarga.
Ditinggal ibu kandung sejak lahir, Meme dibesarkan oleh ibu tiri, istri ayahnya. Di masa mudanya ia terbiasa bekerja di kebun. Menanam jagung, ketela, pisang, dan kacang-kacangan. Kini, Meme dan suaminya sudah tak lagi bisa berkebun.
Selain karena kendala penglihatan suaminya, tanah milik mereka sudah 15 tahun disewakan kepada orang lain. Awalnya, tanah di tepi pantai itu akan digunakan untuk fasilitas wisata. Tapi, sampai sekarang belum dibangun apapun oleh penyewanya. Malah mulai tergerus abrasi.
Sebagai tambahan penghasilan, selain mengikat rumput laut, Meme menjual canang untuk
sembahyang harian warga. Canang adalah bentuk sesaji umat Hindu Bali yang paling sederhana.
Terbuat dari daun kelapa muda, diisi bunga warna-warni, dupa wangi, dan beberapa syarat lainnya. Di masa ketika Meme masih muda, rata-rata perempuan Bali wajib untuk bisa membuat canang.
Sekarang sudah banyak yang cukup dengan membeli saja. Rp3.000 per buah. Jika ada yang memesan dengan tambahan isi berupa rokok, tembakau, kapur, pinang, daun sirih, juga bisa.
Harganya menjadi Rp5.000. Meme juga melayani pesanan lis untuk acara ngayab (menghaturkan) sajian kepada Dewa Bharata, yang isinya jeruk, pisang, daun dadap ditaburi tepung beras tumbuk, bunga kamboja, kenanga, potongan pandan, dan jajanan Bali dari ketan.
Surat. Meanwhile, the new, big, and modern one is his son’s. Meme and her husband are live in their son’s house, only for sleeping. They keep all their belongings in their own house and cook in their kitchen. This practice is common among Balinese, where parents don’t want to be dependent on their children. They are still active and earn income, or at least contributing to the family in various ways.
Her stepmother raised Meme; she lost her mother since birth. In her youth, Meme used to work on the field, growing corn, yams, bananas, and beans. Now, Meme and her husband are not able to work in the field anymore. Aside from losing eyesight, they already leased their land to some businessperson for 15 years. Initially, the tenant wanted to build various tourism facilities. But nothing happened yet, except the land got eroded by the waves.
Meme also selling canang (daily offering by Balinese Hindus) as additional income. Canang is the simplest form of the Balinese Hindus’ offering, made out from the leaf of the coconut tree, filled with colourful flowers, incense, and other minor ingredients. Back in the days, all adult women need to be able to make their canang. But now, people prefer to buy one instead. The basic price of canang is IDR3K and adding up with further requests, such as extra cigarettes, tobaccos, lime, areca nut, betel leaf; the price is IDR5K. People can also order a Dewa Bharata offering dish from Meme, which covers oranges, bananas, dadap leaf, cananga, pandan, and various Balinese snacks.
Sebenarnya, pada 1989 Meme dan suaminya pernah mengerjakan budidaya rumput laut sendiri.
Ada 6 petak rumput laut yang mereka kelola. Pada 1999, ketika pariwisata sudah ramai, mereka masih tetap mengusahakan beberapa petak. Pada 2004 rumput laut sudah jauh berkurang. Banyak yang mati. Meme mulai membuat canang dan tikar pandan untuk dijual. Kini, daun pandan pun sudah sulit didapat.
Pada 2019, ketika ada yang mulai membuka petak budidaya rumput laut kembali, Meme ikut sebagai buruh pengikat. Meskipun belum se-intens sekarang. Pada tahun tersebut Meme juga sempat membantu Pak Suarbawa di kegiatan pemurnian bibit dalam program GEF-SGP fase 6.
Pak Suarbawa adalah seorang petani rumput laut senior di Lembongan, yang juga staf lapangan lembaga Kalimajari.
Di kejauhan tampak kelompok-kelompok kecil orang bergerombol di laut yang tengah surut.
Mereka sedang panen, atau sedang mengikatkan bibit rumput laut di tali-tali panjang. Sebenarnya, jaman keemasan rumput laut Lembongan sudah pernah membuahkan hasil. Dari 1980-an sampai 1990-an banyak sarjana lahir dari hasil booming rumput laut. Karena itu, sebagian orang kini percaya bahwa pandemi ini memang dimaksudkan para dewa untuk menegur manusia. Agar ingat rumput laut lagi. Agar kembali ke alam lagi. Hari ini Meme Wayan Uri dan puluhan orang tua di Lembongan kembali bisa tersenyum. Karena, rumput laut telah kembali.
Meme and her husband run their own seaweed farming in 1989, where they had six plots by that time. In 1999, when the tourism sector flourished, they were still able to maintain a few plots. But, in 2004, finally, almost nobody was working on seaweed anymore. That was the time when Meme started to make canang and pandanus mat for sale. Now, it is tough to get pandan leaves in Nusa Lembongan.
Seaweed farming revived in Nusa Lembongan in 2019. Meme got back to seaweed tying again, even though not as intense as now, not yet. By that time, Meme helped Suarbawa – a pioneer in seaweed farming on the island, which also a field officer of an organization named Kalimanjari. Meme was involved in a seaweed-strain purification program funded by the GEF-SGP Phase VI.
We can see some people on the horizon. They are seaweed workers, either harvesting or installing the seaweed ropes. Nusa Lembongan had a golden era of seaweed before, during the 80s to 90s, many undergrad bachelors born thanks to Nusa Lembongan’s seaweed farming. Based on this history, Nusa Lembongan people believe that the pandemic is God’s way to remind them of the seaweed. Back to nature. Today, Meme and tens of other elders of Lembongan can smile again.
Seaweed is back.
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Petak-petak dan perahu petani rumput laut memenuhi bibir pantai yang surut.
Rumput laut Nusa Lembongan kembali ke masa jayanya.
Patches and boats of seaweed farmers filled the receding shoreline. Nusa Lembongan’s seaweed is back in its prime
[Kiri] Motor sewaan untuk wisatawan dibiarkan berdebu. Sejak terjadi pandemi Covid-19, Nusa Lembongan tak seramai biasanya. Banyak usaha wisata yang mati.
[Left] Rented motorbikes for tourists are left dusty; since the Covid-19 pandemic occurred, Nusa Lembongan is not as busy as usual. Many tourist businesses have died.
[Kanan] Sebelum pandemi Covid-19 menyerang, jalan ini adalah jalan utama di Nusa Lembongan yang selalu di penuhi pelancong luar negeri.
[Right] This is a main street in Nusa Lembongan, before Covid-19 struck this street always bussy and crowded by foreign travelers.
[Atas] Ni Wayan Uri (70), petani rumput laut Nusa Lembongan, Bali.
[Top] Ni Wayan Uri (70), a seaweed farmer in Nusa Lembongan, Bali.
[Kanan] Di bibir perairan dangkal Nusa Ceningan, Bali, Ni Wayan Uri (tengah) bersama rekannya memanen rumput laut.
[Right] On the shallow waters of Nusa Ceningan, Bali, Ni Wayan Uri (centre) and his colleagues harvest seaweed.
[Hal. 154-155] Petani rumput laut menutup rumput laut yang sudah di panen agar terlindung dari hujan dan tetap kering.
[Pg. 154-155] A farmer covered her seaweed from the rain to keep it dry in Nusa Lembongan coast.
[Atas] Pada 1989 Ni Wayan Uri dan sang suami, Wayan Surat (kanan), pernah mengerjakan sendiri 6 petak rumput laut. Namun, di umur 50 sang suami mulai kehilangan penglihatan.
[Top] In 1989, Ni Wayan Uri and her husband, Wayan Surat (right), have worked on 6 seaweed plots. However, at the age of 50, the husband began to lose sight until he ended up in total blindness.
[Kanan] Ni Wayan Uri tak lupa menyiapkan sesajian untuk beribadah di pura keluarga.
Memohon kesehatan dan keselamatan.
[Right] NI Wayan Uri always never forget to prepare offerings for worship at the family temple. Praying for health and safety.
Di halaman rumahnya yang asri dan sejuk, Ni Wayan Uri, yang kerap di panggi Meme, membuat canang untuk dijual. Di masa ketika Meme masih muda rata-rata perempuan Bali wajib untuk bisa membuat canang.
In her beautiful and cool yard, Ni Wayan Uri, often called by Meme, makes canang for sale. In the days when Meme was young, the average Balinese woman had to make canang.
se.mau
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