Pasola - The Fight for Reconcilliation

It was tough doing this documentary. We were late in reserving plane tickets to go to Sumba. We didn't get tickets to go to Tambolaka in West Sumba, so we bought tickets to Waingapu in East Sumba instead. This meant that we had to go from East Sumba to West Sumba as soon as we landed. Another problem was that the guide we hired was a native East Sumba which meant that she had no idea to get to where we needed to go to in West Sumba.

The day we arrived in Waingapu, our guide picked us up in the airport with a rented car. First stop was to buy food supplies and then off to see a relative of our guide who had a friend from West Sumba. We met with the friend and asked him to allow us to stay at his parents house in Kodi, the place where they were going to hold the final Pasola. If we missed this than that would mean no footage to be taken home and the production would be a major failure. Thankfully he agreed and we were off to Kodi that same night. We arrived there around eleven o'clock at night. I went straight to bed, but Konde - the videographer - stayed up late.

The next day, everything went as planned. There was a riot at the end of the Pasola but nothing horrible happened except a couple of bruises and the usual blood gush from the head. We got everything we needed by the third day, so we went to Waikabubak to interview a pastor who was well known to be a cultural conservationist. The idea was to give an objective view regarding the Pasola. By the fifth day we went straight home.