The sacred tool that saved Inarad

Award: Merit Prize for Young Journalists Award 2015

LAST FRONTIER: Kampung Inarad, a village deep in the heart of Sabah, holds a proud agrarian community, writes Olivia Miwil, who visited the village recently with Mercy Malaysia 

Surrounded by great forests, Kampung Inarad is one of the few last frontiers that can be found deep in the heart of Sabah.

  It takes about eight hours to reach the village from Kota Kinabalu, about 350km away, and 

how the Murut people found their way there in the past leaves a lot to the imagination.

But they existed for generations and survived the harsh environment to become a proud agrarian community.

Community leader Mandun Linopas said their forefathers were likely jungle nomads who eventually settled in the village for what it provides.

Development still lags in the area but despite their shortcomings the people toiled and worked hard to continue surviving just as how their ancestors did.

Given the lack of proper records it's hard to pinpoint when they first settled but a mythical legend passed down by word of mouth for generations tells of how the village got its name.

"Inarad refers to a sacred tool 'arad' which is made from the rib bone of a white porcupine," he said and revealed of the story of seven brothers who saved the area from being destroyed by the skies.

"There was once a rock formation that grew upwards until it came close to reaching the skies. 

"Everyone knew this but one day the skies complained and warned seven brothers, by coming into their dreams, of a disaster if they don't demolish the formation.

"They were told to use the arad to crush the rock formation and so they obeyed. It collapsed and crumbled," he said and points to a rocky hill shaped like the back of a camel nearby.

"That's the rock formation now," he said adding without the threat they were able to stay on and live off the area of its wildlife, jungle produce and the plants they grew.

Fast forward to the present day, the community with a population of about 600 now plant oil palm, do subsistence farming and some work for companies in the vicinity. There are also others who had moved on securing jobs elsewhere.

Kampung Inarad also sit between three world renowned conservation areas the Maliau Basin, Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley.

To its south is the Maliau Basin also known as the "Lost World" and Danum Valley.

East of the village is Imbak Canyon, a key water catchments and source of Sungai Kinabatangan, Sabah's longest river.

All three conservation areas are among the most important biodiversity sites in the world and regarded as environmental crown jewels of the state.

But just like the jungles, the community too has preserved their lifestyle and traditions.

A clear indication of this was a signpost in the vicinity of the village that warns motorists do drive carefully and not to run into their dogs. 

"Do that and we will penalize them by way of 'sogit'," Mandun said. The sogit is a fine imposed by native communities to people who bears their laws. 

"We treasure our dogs here so much because they help us hunt for wild animals in the jungle," he explained.

They also maintain their old ways of honoring the deceased by leaving their remains in the open before eventually putting them in porcelain jars. After a while they would exhume the bones from the jars and bury it in certain sacred sites.

"We do embrace change though as we know how education is important to children these days unlike before when parents would rather have their children work on the fields when they are old enough," he said.

  Mandun said however the community is in dire need of health facility because the nearest one available is about 80km away.

  Recently Mercy Malaysia visited the village for the seventh consecutive year and provided free medical service to the community. 

All for a noble cause

Francis Aniu made it look easy as he drove his trusty 20-year-old four wheel drive vehicle along a muddy stretch that leads to Kampung Inarad recently. 

"The vehicle was built for this," he said sheepishly referring to the amount of money he spends to power-up the vehicle for difficult roads across Sabah. "But it's all worth it."

He was part of an 11-vehicle convoy in the UMW-Mercy Malaysia Mobile Clinic Programme that visited Kampung Inarad, a remote village about 300km from Kota Kinabalu recently. 

"This is a noble cause and I don't mind playing a part in it at all," said the assistant medical officer from Keningau.

"It's hard for people from remote areas to visit the hospital and even when they do, they may not be able to do follow up checks once they return because it's too expensive to travel.

"Through this programme we get to reach out to them," said Francis who has joined five Mercy Malaysia missions.

His ability to drive through challenging routes -though he insists it's the vehicle - and his job in the medical field makes him the perfect candidate for such missions. 

Some 20 volunteers took part in the latest mission where they would hand over hygiene kits, do blood tests, eye and dental checks, dispense medicine and even give out spectacles. 

Village Community and Development committee chairman Mandun Linopas said most villagers would not miss suchmissions when it comes their way. 

"Even when we are not sick we would go," he said and pointed out villagers make do with traditional medicines or even expired medication for simple ailments most of the time.

The nearest clinic is about 80km away and not everyone can afford to travel out regularly, he said in explaining why the villagers appreciate such missions.

For emergency cases, the village head would contact Sandakan hospital for helicopter services.

The two-day trip was made possible with about RM300,000 donations from UMW allocated to Mercy Sabah and Sarawak this year.

UMW Investor and Media Relations manager Tengku Nor Azah Tengku Mahmood said she hoped other organisations would follow the footsteps in partnering with Mercy to do the community-health missions. 

"It is also amazing there are more young volunteers in this session coming forward to 

help out.

"This is inspiring and the community definitely will benefit from their volunteerism."