Today's Vlog was recorded on an island upstream along the Purari river where the men from Poroi 2 village were going to cut down a sago palm to be processed in the new mill.
After arriving at the island, we climbed the muddy banks in the rain and the men cut a path through the overgrown jungle to the location where the sago palm was standing. We're told this one is ready to harvest and so the dedicated chainsaw operator starts the process until the tall tree falls to the ground.
There is no 'timberrrrrr' call that goes out, but all agree that this looks like a good tree with good sago susu in it to be processed.
A team of about a dozen men get straight to work, scraping the outer layer off that is covered in vines and other plant material. Others begin to cut away the palm leaves and place them on the ground creating a pathway to roll pieces of the tree out of the jungle. The stem is cut into 2.4m lengths to make it easier to roll out and float down the river to the mill to be processed. But it is still tough work and takes half the team and lots of sweat and grunting to get the log to the water's edge. But it is a team effort, and they succeed. In fact everything about this sago project is a team effort, and it's great to see the community come together, men, women and various clan leaders, all working towards the one goal - a mechanised sago processing mill. The tree's belong to different families, but everyone chips in. And in due course, each family will get their turn to cut down a sago palm and in return, have the help of their community.
As they say, one team, one dream.
Vlog 2: