10 April 2006
A rescued boat ... and a dream coming true
The barge: "It floats!"
© Greenpeace/van der Mark
“This boat was laying on the bottom of the lake,” says Sep. “Last year, when the water of the lake was really low, I pulled it on land again. I thought it might be useful to transport our timber to Obo, the place where we can sell it."
"So then I spoke to the district administrator and I asked him if the government, who owned this barge, could donate it to us. And we got it! It was just a matter of some paper work. They had already written it off. It must be at least 20 years old.”
The metal barge looks indeed a bit abandoned. It may have been used to transport cars. Well, one car at the time that is. I wonder where they would have used those cars...
We all went to Boboa to help get this thing back on the water ... a little "test drive". The Kuni men got some round poles, which they put on one side of the barge, so it could slide over them. Then on the other side, they used posts under the barge to lift and shift it. It only took 4 or 5 pushes, and there it was, floating in the water.
It doesn’t have an engine anymore, and assorted other paraphernalia, like the steering wheel, is also missing. There are some big holes on the side and it takes in quite a bit of water, but still, it floats! Sep makes an inventory of all the things we need to get the barge up and running again. On the spot where the wheel was (and will be again), he stands still for a moment and looks around, with glittering eyes. Slowly his dream is coming true! A dream of a better life for his people.
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