Homestay di Raub Pahang

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
" Keseronokan dan keunikan merasai pengalaman menginap di homestay sering kali menjadi buah mulut para pelibur khususnya pelancong domestik.

Konsep inap desa itu pasti akan membuatkan sesiapa sahaja yang mendengar berasa teringin dan teruja untuk merasai sendiri tawaran pakej yang banyak disediakan di negara ini.

Oleh itu, jemputan Kementerian Pelancongan Malaysia untuk mengunjungi rumah peserta Inap Desa Kampung Sungai Pasu dan Kampung Gali Hilir di Raub, Pahang tidak dilepaskan oleh Kosmo!.

Inap Desa Sungai Pasu sememangnya tidak asing dalam kalangan pelancong dalam dan luar negara. Cuma kunjungan kali ini turut memperkenalkan tarikan di sebuah lagi inap desa iaitu Kampung Gali Hilir.

Inap Desa Sungai Pasu yang berdaftar dengan Kementerian Pelancongan sejak tahun 2002 merupakan salah satu daripada banyak inap desa yang aktif di negara ini.

Terletak hanya 13 kilometer dari bandar Raub atau 150 kilometer dari Kuala Lumpur, keindahan kampung dengan kedudukan rumah yang tersusun dan masing-masing dihiasi landskap pokok bunga di pekarangannya sudah cukup menyenangkan pengunjung.

Pengalaman desa

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JKKK), Mohd. Zambri Maarof, 45, berkata, sejak memulakan operasi inap desa pada 1992, kini terdapat 22 buah rumah yang terlibat menyediakan pakej inap desa sekali gus memberi pengalaman kehidupan desa sebenar.

Katanya, pelancong akan disajikan dengan gaya hidup kampung tradisional bersama keluarga angkat dalam suasana damai dan udara yang bersih lagi menyegarkan.

Katanya, keistimewaan dan keunikan Inap Desa Sungai Pasu datangnya daripada aktiviti-aktiviti yang disediakan peserta program inap desa yang terlibat.

"Selain mendalami budaya masyarakat Melayu Pahang, antara permainan tradisional yang boleh disertai ialah permainan tradisional seperti bermain gasing, congkak dan batu seremban serta persembahan tarian," katanya.

Selain itu, tambah Mohd. Zambri, pengunjung turut didedahkan dengan aktiviti harian penduduk tempatan yang mencari sumber rezeki melalui aktiviti menoreh getah dan bekerja di ladang kelapa sawit.

Selain daripada itu, pertunjukan masakan hidangan tradisional Pahang dan Jawa juga sentiasa mendapat perhatian tetamu inap desa. Masakan seperti sambal goreng tempe, sambal hitam, ikan masak tempoyak dan pulut turut disediakan para wanita tempatan selain kuih-muih tradisional.

Kampung terbersih

Peserta program inap desa, Norhaila Serahan, 36, berkata, kerana keindahan dan kebersihan di sini, Kampung Sungai Pasu pernah memenangi pertandingan kampung terbersih peringkat negeri selama beberapa tahun.

Katanya, ketibaan pelancong akan disambut dengan majlis penuh tradisi dan berwarna-warni bagi memperkenalkan adat budaya tempatan.

"Setiap pelancong akan dilayan seperti sebahagian daripada keluarga tuan rumah. Mereka akan makan apa yang tuan rumah makan dan bergaul mesra dengan ahli keluarga tuan rumah."

"Tuan rumah akan menyediakan bilik mengikut kehendak dan keperluan pelancong. Mereka akan tinggal sebumbung bersama peserta (tuan rumah) inap desa di sini," katanya.

Majoriti penduduk kampung itu, jelasnya, terdiri daripada orang Melayu berketurunan Jawa yang telah menetap di daerahtersebut sejak lebih 50 tahun lalu.

"Pertembungan budaya antara Jawa dan Melayu sekali gus menghasilkan cara hidup dan adat resam yang unik serta menarik," ujarnya.

Di samping itu, jelas Norhaila, kampung itu turut didiami masyarakat Orang Asli suku Che Wong yang mengamalkan cara hidup separa moden.

Para pelancong dapat melihat dan menyaksikan sendiri cara hidup unik masyarakat minoriti itu.

Lazimnya, para tetamu inap desa akan dibawa melawat ke perkampungan Orang Asli untuk menyaksikan demonstrasi menyumpit dan tarian sewang serta budaya hidup suku tersebut.

"Tetamu homestay juga berpeluang menyumpit dan mencuba tarian sewang yang sangat mengasyikkan itu," jelasnya.

Ternakan ikan

Di Kampung Sungai Pasu, keluarga peserta program inap desa itu turut mengujakan tetamu dengan tarikan di kolam ternakan ikan air tawar mereka.

Ternakan ikan tilapia, patin dan tongsan sudah menjadi sebahagian daripada usaha menambah sumber pendapatan mereka. Lebih menarik, para tetamu homestay dibenarkan memancing tanpa bayaran.

Antara aktiviti lain dalam pakej penginapan homestay itu termasuklah lawatan ke Pusat Perlindungan Gajah dan Deerland di Lanchang, Temerloh. Tetamu boleh merasai sendiri pengalaman menunggang dan memandikan gajah.

Bagi yang inginkan lebih elemen lasak, aktiviti sukan air seperti berakit dan berkayak serta terbang keluang (flying fox) turut disediakan di Taman Tasik Sungai Pasu.

Di samping itu, pelancong turut dibawa dalam aktiviti treking di Hutan Simpan Ulu Dong untuk melihat bunga rafflesia yang tumbuh liar.

Sebagai tarikan bonus, inap desa tersebut juga terletak hanya lima kilometer dari pusat rekreasi Lata Jarum dan Pulau Chekas yang terletak dalam kawasan hutan simpan tersebut.

Tangkap itik

Sementara itu, Pengendali Tasik Kampung Sungai Pasu, Salman Wagirun, 43, berkata, inap desa di sini turut menawarkan pelbagai aktiviti rekreasi di Tasik Kampung Sungai Pasu yang telah beroperasi 18 tahun itu.

"Peserta inap desa diberi peluang untuk berkayak mengelilingi tasik dan duduk bersantai sambil memancing ikan dengan hanya menggunakan pancing tradisional."

"Selain itu, aktiviti yang cukup menyeronokkan ialah menangkap itik dan ikan di dalam lumpur, berakit serta bermain gasing," katanya.

Tidak ketinggalan, terdapat juga tapak perkhemahan seluas 1.2 hektar dan dewan serba guna juga turut tersedia di dalam kawasan tasik seluas 3.2 hektar itu.

Tasik pelbagai guna itu sememangnya menjadi tumpuan untuk bersiar-siar dan bersantai, apatah lagi di tengah-tengahnya telah dibina sebuah jambatan.

Dengan keadaan sekeliling tasik yang dipenuhi rimbunan pokok buah-buahan, sesiapa sahaja akan berasa damai dan seronok.

Tambah Salman, kedamaian itu sememangnya sukar diperoleh di bandar.

Keseronokan berkayak, menoreh getah dan melakukan aktiviti-aktiviti kampung sememangnya cukup bermakna terutama bagi yang sudah lama hidup di kota konkrit.

Justeru, bagi yang inginkan kelainan semasa bercuti, merasai kehidupan desa di Inap Desa Kampung Sungai Pasu dan Kampung Gali Hilir, Raub, Pahang adalah pilihan terbaik.

Untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi Mohd. Zambri di talian 019-9906222 atau penyelaras homestay, Sumi Ngah di talian 019-3142558.

Sumber: Kosmo! Online

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The Everyday Entrepreneurs of Kibera

(Post: English)
" Kibera is full of entrepreneurs; so many that it's hard to decide whose story to tell and who best represents life in Kibera. The stories that we hear are often the rare tales of overnight success or the polar opposite - a failure and a 'lesson learned.' "

But there's a whole group in the middle that never make the headlines. Instead, they are making a daily living from a solid business, representing a core group of entrepreneurs who have neither made millions out of cents, nor squandered investments.

These "everyday entrepreneurs" work hard, in clever ways, building their success steadily over time.

They're a critical part of the discourse because they can teach us the most about the everyday challenges of micro-enterprise and offer valuable insights about how to grow the economies of slums at a broad level.

A picture of Kibera is not complete without them. So, let's get to know Dorphine and her family, and their story of how a small idea and a little risk grew into a solid family business.

Dorphine is the oldest of eight kids ranging from age 11 to 26, and her life and livelihood in Kibera are steeped in the family business.

Her parents came to Kibera in 1991 from Kisumu in search of work. Like many migrants, they couldn't find steady jobs, so after a few years they decided to create their own.

They began by selling mandazi (fried dough) on the road in front of their house because startup capital was low - one needs a big wok, oil, flour and a household charcoal stove.

Business was good for Dorphine's family, but there were lots of other people selling mandazi, too. Competition and low profit margins forced them to get creative, so they added fresh skuma (kale) to their offerings.

A few years later, with money they had saved from the mandazi business, they transformed part of their house into a small shop, selling vegetables as well as basic items like soap, soda, tissue, and cooking oil to the community.

The shop prospered but still, with a growing family and school fees, Dorphine's parents had their sight set on bigger business. They began to save again.

After two years of putting away a few shillings a day, they were able to open a small "hotel" (equivalent to a café) in 2007. The hotel was a big hit. Vumilia, the matriarch, has a gift for cooking and quickly established a loyal following.

And then the new road came - right through Vumilia's hotel. Prime Minister Raila Odinga had made a promise to his constituents to build a paved bypass road that reached from one end of Kibera to the other.

In order to build this massive piece of infrastructure within an existing grid of tiny alleyways and pedestrian roads, many buildings would have to be removed, and Dorphine's family's hotel was one of them.

This fate initially caused worry - how could the family earn enough income to support eight children and continue to pay school fees?

Soon, however, it became clear that the road could provide a new opportunity. Everyone within the road's path was given permission to find another spot within Kibera to resettle their home or business.

The road's right-of-way also freed up a new piece of previously unbuildable land adjacent to Vumilia's and along the path of the new cross-Kibera thoroughfare.

According to Dorphine, her family "grabbed the land immediately," and then "grabbed more." They built a new Vumilia's twice the size of the old one, complete with a paved sidewalk out front.

Today, Vumilia's is nearly always full and averages about 100 customers a day. There's still a lot of competition in the area, but Vumilia's has a prime location and, as Dorphine says, people come "because the food is clean and homemade by my mom."

Mom, by the way, still runs the place. All eight kids and Dorphine's dad also work there, rising at 4am so they can sell tea and mandazi to people on their way to work.

The older children have all finished Form 4 (the equivalent of high school senior year in the U.S.), gone on to earn advanced diplomas, and now work at Vumilia's full-time while they search the Nairobi job market for something "better."


The younger ones attend private school – there are no public schools in Kibera - and go straight to work at the hotel after school. After the rush, they do homework, and the family sits down at the table in the corner of the hotel to eat dinner together.

The siblings eventually retire to their house, which is connected to the hotel. The hotel stays open until 10 pm, seven days a week.

Being tied to the business means family members are always at the hotel, so they are always in Kibera. Suppliers come to them and they can sometimes go weeks without setting foot outside of Kibera.

Dorphine's parents were recently relocated to "upgraded" housing (described in my previous post), but this change has been difficult because the new housing is relatively far from their business (almost an hour by foot), and transportation consumes a lot of time and income.

Like many business owners in Kibera, Dorphine's family has made inroads toward financial stability, but challenges remain.

As Dorphine says, "When we sold skuma, we struggled; when we got our small shop we paid school fees but we were still struggling. Then came the first hotel and it was better but still a struggle, and now we have the big hotel and it is better, we're covering our expenses, but it's never enough."

Source: Forbes.com

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