Orang asli at Tras, Pahang

I joined a group of more than 20 from St Andrews Presbyterian Church in KL, 21 August 2010, to visit the orang asli group they help support in Pahang.

The location is at Tras, which is on the Raub to Frasers Hill road, just east of the tiny town of Tras. The place is part of the Semoa project, which is an NGO that serves orang asli communities in Selangor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.

The centre is quite new and is funded with donations from various churches and companies. There are 30 children, aged 5-12, staying in the centre and schooling in Tras. During school holidays they return to their own village which is a 2 hour trek up in the hills.

View from the gate
Kids waiting to meet us -

they are a bit shy, unsure of us

These orang asli are farmers, and have no skills in crafts etc. At the centre, they have dorms which are cleverly made from cargo containers, and each one sleeps 6. Cleverly disguised container -

The central area is used for meetings, and as a place to do homework etc. There is a separate new building which is the library and resource centre,

and upstairs they have brand new computers just connected to the internet. I was quite impressed as the computers are latest models, slimline, with Windows 7.

New washing machines -

A fish pond is currently being built, and will contain patin and tilapia for food.

One of the donors There are also lime / lemon trees. In the future there will be a fruit and vegetable farm. Sample Temuan house -

We timed our visit for the durian season, and after lunch, we pigged out on durians.

And as we drove back to Bentong, I bought some more durians to take home, RM5 a kg.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission