Benefits
to the people living there.
Atabai
School
Mentawai Adventure finances a school, which teaches
young Mentawaians and sikerei the Indonesian language,
arithmetic and English. Three elements that will allow
them to take part in the development of tourism, have
a decent income and be able to cut fair deals with the
merchants of Sumatra.
Forest jobs School
Mentawai Adventure is researching the possibilities
of growing high-income plants that have no negative impact
on the forest ecology. For example, the cultivation and
transformation of aromatic plants used by the perfume
industry is a good combination of sustainable development,
protection of the forest and interesting income.
The Forest jobs School markets these refined products
directly to the European or American purchasing agents;
guarantees prices and quantities bought from the Mentawaians;
educates volunteers in cultivating and refining products;
finances and builds the necessary infrastructures.
Our resort of Siloinak was built and is maintained by
the Mentawaians according to their traditional techniques.
Its construction, using only natural materials taken from
the forest was one of the Forest jobs School’s first
actions.
The goal was to allow the Mentawaians to adapt their traditional
techniques to the demands of modern tourism (electric
and water networks, showers, toilets, septic-tanks, energy
generators…).
Health
The drinking and cooking water are boiled and disinfected;
the dishes regularly disinfected too. The general hygienic
conditions are satisfactory. There are almost no mosquitoes
on Siloinak island and very few in Atabai. There is malaria
however, especially at the port of Muara Siberut and in
Sumatra. You should protect yourself by taking an antimalarial
treatment working on quinine and chloroquine resistant
stem cells. Our tour-leaders have a field medical kit,
however we ask you to bring along a 7-day broad-spectrum
antibiotic treatment. We suggest giving any unused medication
to our health care structure or to the free religious
clinic of Muara Siberut.
