Field assistants are also human, sometimes feeling bored with the routine so they need to independently improvise to refresh their spirit and mind. The ways are certainly very diverse, ranging from inviting children to bathe in the river, fishing, looking for fruit behind the oath, following the Suku Anak Dalam (SAD) residents hunting, playing traditional games together, or looking for fruits and tubers typical of SAD local food. Some of these activities are what I, Arif, as Faslap Rombong Juray Pematang Kejumat Sarolangun Regency, often do.

Hari Juari and Duya took me into the forest. They are children from the community that Pundi Sumatra assists. "Let's look for Bana, brother!" Juari chattered to me. Bana is a kind of tuber that can only be found in thickets in the jungle. Stories of old people, before they knew rice; Apart from consuming fruit and meat from game animals, the SAD community consumes bananas as a source of carbohydrates. Searching for Bana according to them does not need to use special tools, just use a machete, as a tool to dig the ground. Because of the location of the bulb, it is usually not buried deep in the ground. SAD residents marked the presence of bana, by paying attention to the type of leaves that spread over the surface. Usually bana grows in loose soil and is in dense thickets of shrubs.

The journey to find Bana that day was quite challenging. Approximately 2 hours we walked to the remaining forest closest to the settlement location. Uniquely it was quite difficult for me to find Bana, but not for Juari and Duya. The children quickly marked the type of plant and immediately dug up the ground for bananas. Not all bananas obtained are large. Usually digging is not continued if the bananas held are small. Sometimes after digging for a long time, the bananas are also often not found. The existence of bana is increasingly rare. Maybe because the forest is also disappearing, being replaced by oil palm plantations which do not allow bananas to thrive under them.

This trip is actually for me not just fulfilling curiosity about bana, or getting rid of the routine on the field. But one day with Juari and Duya grew my admiration for SAD children who are not focused on smartphones or TV at home, but at a young age they are required to help their parents earn a living. These children have a lot of knowledge about wild plants, with local names that I never read and knew before. The way they survive is very interesting. This one trip also made our relationship more intimate, not only being able to chat along the way; but we also laugh and sing to relieve our tiredness.

The trip to look for bana that day was actually not very profitable, because every time we dug, we only found bana tubers, almost all of which were small. ‘If we go back into the dense, pristine forest, there must be a lot of bana there and it's big!’ said Duya.

But one thing is for sure, the journey would require me to prepare for an overnight stay, more equipment, and a longer time. Despite the difficulty, I was satisfied to finally see bana, a legendary local food that is now disappearing and no longer widely consumed by SAD residents.

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