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tv   Doc Film - The Child Jockeys of Sumba  Deutsche Welle  January 5, 2018 2:15am-3:01am CET

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well. the first step i want to go up. there has found there. was. and i was told that. i will follow. what the medal for. him i was. well aware man i guess i will almost think galileo what i did. when i met. this. man that. was.
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a gentle pats on my head now that things will get wild and dangerous later. i don't really see our time it doesn't look like. a. bubble but. sheryl's big dream of becoming a racing jockey will probably never come true the eleven year old has been left paralyzed on one side of his body after a riding accident meanwhile cheryl's twin brother show rule is banking on winning the full. coming wholes race he's risking
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a lot but his family needs the money. was . not like that sad. that he. was. good. was. i. share only cheryl i still lying half asleep under their blankets in the jockey camp . the sun has only just risen their father has been up since early morning. he massages sheryll stiff muscles and joints as he does every morning everything hurts. by.
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cheryl so he can relax and his and pay. it i want cheryl to feel like any other chuckled. a lesser that's why i'm asked him daily. and the body to think that in. since he's serious riding accident cheryl can't use exam properly anymore moment that i may get and. if anyone can now molly that that way yet it back then i. already do know imports are food or some other month. in the me to pilot that. was.
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some bought an island in the far east of indonesia looks like paradise. the father takes his two sons shall roll and cheryl and their horse down to a gorgeous ocean the twins grew up on horseback they love their animals like everyone on some boa it's a big day on the island today the day of the big race. you're in the news. all.
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the you know you could come on. board. with a solo cup here you know that. the jockeys families have pitched their tents around the arena the twains shall roll in sherrill i had too many of the jockeys on hold of them twelve and the youngest to just for the smaller and lighter they are the faster the horses can run and the better the chances of winning every morning share old ties a good luck charm given to him by a shaman around his tummy. and challenging to get. those who are much.
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more thoroughly if. there's been horse racing on some furze long as people can remember. more than five hundred horses will start the race they've come from all over indonesia's network of islands bali numb box some flores it's a carnival of horses cheryl will race a few times today and every time the risk is neck. home i hope cheryl will win i pray. gold if he wins will be happy. if you loses so be it. as
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a share all of the other children where hardly any protective gear just a light helmet and a cloth mask to protect them from the dust and sun. the jockeys carry a crop but otherwise ride barefoot and without a saddle that's another reason why these races are so dangerous and never. came back the next week. the crowd is made up of gamblers they're all hyped up and excited they can earn a lot of money at the races gambling is actually illegal in indonesia as is child labor but on this whole sea island tradition trumps the law. the
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guys. that got it we love betty my son's a jockey to the six. of us he's brought home a lot of money. got a fight i was. sure all of the others wait for the start signal the race last two crazy minutes a long circuit through the dust. that. was . i thought of the. horse racing used to be fun between neighbors but then more and more money came into play it's a tough business on the backs of the horses and the children cheryl doesn't come first this time he missed the chance of a big win. but. the fact that to muster. up the form.
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to do got it don't. joel consoles himself with a helping of coconut ice cream for the other children the races continue without a bright.
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the matter. who. the prize is cheryl and his family had hoped for will go to others today. a cough a television and the keys to
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a moped. sharon sherrill and that father packed their things even before the grand finale cheryl will soon get another chance. in a few days' time the three will head to the next big race on the neighboring island some by that one will be really tough. the twins share all and cheryl has been traveling the country with their father
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since they were four they're inseparable sumbawa is one of indonesia's poorest regions the people can barely live off its fields. the richly no tourists but sheer rule can earn five hundred euros a week from riding that's attempting the large amount of cash. in the tour yeah. similar to. what. meat lord lord. yeah. but it's a hard life. so
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. this is i'm battling. a good cause and i think. the. one and. it's six o'clock in the morning cheryl and showed ill awake from their slumber as their mother has made rice with a bit of age for breakfast. as was the ones in. the family lead a simple life there is no running water. everything happens in the stream next to
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the paddy fields. brushing their teeth washing their hands you can't always be. easy to raise twins but the mother lovingly looks after her two sons. they have. a completely identical when she wants to wear a red shirt chair real well also want to read more on their twins but ceria has this disability sometimes i have to warn cheryl to be more considerate. it's the first day of school after ten days at the racetrack and even before that the two played hooky to race instead of going to school cheryl i'm sure really are looking forward to seeing their friends and having lessons again.
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oh. school is compulsory in indonesia but nobody has a problem with the fact that cheryl i'm sure real absence of much not even the teachers but how much more will the other children already have learned. the school day starts in the same way as always with the roll call shall roll and cheryl have to stand still for a quarter of an hour the brothers find that a struggle.
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they want to be far away from the teacher sure all insurers are in the back row but they actually enjoy school a lot. my come to my mind boy i'm puttin funky. in my. mind get. that jab. cheryl and cheryl are the only ones in their class who have gone through so much of the time they missed two or three months of school play year they can't read or write particularly well they have a lot of catching up to do suddenly them out but i gotta say that the show rulon chair real are quite active sometimes they fight and then one of the most start crying begins the mother what we miss them when they're not here sitting in the mom. was. kind of.
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suck. me my think. even though everyone says cheryl unsure real are so similar cheryl still seems to have more jokes up his sleeve. i. think. i. shall rule and sure really have the energy of well race horses they're not necessarily born from the classroom but the twins love playing volleyball in the school yard and enjoy being outside. their.
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son. but. thank you. muslim love was the first poem was done and now they're coming. to come up the war but for. that than my best not to do did not. know day passes at school without the national anthem.
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shortly after noon sure insurers are on their way back home. their mother is bathing her niece's daughter family is everything on some bar and provide stability and security some neighbors are about to arrive. when you. learn. their father has invited them that's part of the tradition too the boys are on the go for ten days now they'll be a feast as they're all reunited ok. ok. i missed them so much i tend to go to the races but we just have a newborn in the family that means i have to stay back and help i'm overjoyed that challenge ariel are back again i'm. sure all also missed his mother but he
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missed his beloved horse just as much. only for michael dunn no. matter. the boat at the. not a. matter of if i understood. the family to whatever they can afford the mother was killed a chicken meat and bones chicken broth rice vegetables the neighbors of arrived all men it just said a prayer of thanks that everyone has returned healthy from the race and beam. here . my grandfather had horses and my father had horses. now i have horses and so it goes. to
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several ways been a part of our lives we believe we need them to be a complete man you need a good woman a weapon to defend yourself and first and foremost a fast. but wrong decision that sheryl will start in some bush or plea if he's not scared i asked him and he said he'd be brave like this one but i know. now everyone is hungry but the rules are clear on some bar first the men in the hot then the women and children outside under the bamboo owning. to take you live. every now and then sherrill and charles mother takes them to a healer. the shaman once to ease sherrill's pain with massage using an oil made from coconut and onions. cheryl is right arm is paralyzed. his hip was broken and
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hasn't grown back together properly. so that. after the accident i thought chair real would die he really need surgery in our hospital but his parents said they would prefer for him to be treated in the traditional way. the entire side of shrills body hurts. we can't remember how he fell off the horse. he was training on one that was much too big and wild for him. long before. the sound one to do the piece and. now do. this for the mom. many child jockeys could be healed but very few families can afford a doctor as a result many families turn to their village shaman who they trust.
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on. long after five days at home or real move for the first time ever since then it's been improving little by little formal this is more than. some families achieve wealth and fame through horseracing but others are plunged into poverty. some neighbors flags celebrate their latest wins during the races in somebody. but the house next door also displays pictures of a young boy i one was just eight years old when he died. there. the truck was muddy. i once saw slipped in the curb and fell. on his seat that my son fell off and was kicked in the head. holding out one hundred
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and i was. the parents of raised four children all four were jockeys. and did the dordogne my. master knew nothing missing. on one side on a horse for the first time when he was just two he had his first race at four i thought he had his last. breath and yeah i always looked after i won but i met day i wasn't able to help him it's still really hurts and the fact that. i won is buried near the house on the outskirts of the village on the way to the cemetery more and more children all are ones former classmates followed us to see what we were doing he was laid to rest here last spring under the flowers next to his great grandmother.
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riding and death part of our lives. sometimes i dream about taiwan. he writes passed me across the field. and then disappear as. you get. if you think. you can survive a horse race people here say but you can't survive your own death danger always
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rides with you. cheryl and cheryl and back at the racetrack cheryl is training for the next big race on the neighboring island. of her this is often belong to rich a family so they let child jockeys ride them and then claim the winnings. cheryl gets a wage for every race the horses are semi wild and hard to control without a saddle all right. if a horse runs in a straight line it means the boys can control it and that's how long we have to
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train for. we can't go to the race before the ox and definitely not to. this bend is always the hairiest part sheryl's horse nearly hit the fence at full tilt it was so fast even our camera couldn't catch it on the homestretch the horse bolts again cheryl can hardly stay on. a little bit not. ok in a lot of a lot to get the ball to the post that make up that force i am going to say well that will be a lot but. the big day is coming closer the rice on somebody it's their last evening at home with their friends the last chance to be
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a child again before heading back to the rice track. and i'm. going to get. me a good. thing we're going to get. her. wrong or even their mother joins in the football match in the mud she won't see her two sons for two weeks it's hard for her to censure real and show girl to the dangerous racist she loves the two of the more than anything. you're. going. to. get.
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a helmet a jersey and whip that's what jockeys pack when they travel. they're best friends have all come to say goodbye to their mother can't go with them she has to look after her nieces baby again. and let the little boy. i pray to god that sharia shall rule and my husband come back healthy. but you know. that they have a good race and bring back some money for our family. back in the lonely. us most people on some are devout muslims and sherrill and charles father says a prayer even though cheryl's the only one who can still write the twins have
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a common goal to return home as winners. they have a twelve hour trip ahead of them taking the ferry to somebody. who's only been to some but once. his brothers never been. everyone's excited. second. dog from. all of them all. along the.
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front. office on. the floor here from the war. you know the three reached the coast at dawn. summers an island like no other long white sand beaches clear water gentle mountain slopes many people here are animists believing in nature and local gods and spirits their customs and habits haven't changed in one hundred years.
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but you can develop. the race has its rules to the horses a weight in the size and age recorded the jockeys are supposed to have equal chances during the races do i now. know what they thought of an ecologist up and we're going to weigh the horse measure it and look at its teeth you can tell the age of the horse that way that is it two four or maybe six years old but then we have three age categories us young adolescent and adult negrete a lot in a scholarly book. if you're. going to a book and everyone and some beloved soul sues and we have a motto daiwa the soul of the horse is also part of your own soul if. the horse races here take place once
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a year they're quite unique unlike anything anywhere else to do the job once to win has to put up with a lot so while this may be some of of out. oh but then i don't like the weather and by sunset all the horses have been registered and the starting scene is paid the big day can come a little bit later. if i do know about it. and in the morning the dry red dust is hanging in the air on the sun is scorching. sherrill and cheryl can hardly wait there among the first to arrive at the racetrack today. with.
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the family set up camp in the shade of the trees. so what. you. think about the food. we don't have. that long if someone did. question. everyone here on somebody has been waiting for this day. the.
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horse is only raced on this huge track twice a year. it's a different world tougher and more unforgiving the racetrack is twice as long and the horse is a much bigger sheryl's father is worried. that . the fences in very high yield very stable the whole system can easily break free they are much stronger than i was back home and that would go out in. an owner from somebody has booked cheryl for two races today at the moment the starting box still resembles an adventure playground but soon it'll become part of a messiness racing machine showroom dreams
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a victory. lap of the sun for. now i'm sad that that. was. the race on somebody is also a new experience for cheryl it's fast rough and dangerous. but cheryl fulton is watched by the gamble as some of whom have been a lot of money on him winning he manages to regain control just in time but then falls off just before the finish.
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but cheryl is ok he just needs a good shake to realign his joints. that's how fools and don't we here in the red dust of samoa was an. annex to all schools in the jockey is lucky to get away with a great show. oh i. hear it and. that everything heads but at least he's still in one piece that. i was handed if they're going to. die. every. day there's always a little bit of the blood but nobody's been killed yet the kids ride they fall off
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and we house. was.
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sure i'm sure ilk move competition food stalls watering holes ruffles gangs the horse race on summer is also a big fair at least here cheryl and cheryl can win some prizes. but you can't what have you done. on a monday you can't. get to look at the. monitor.
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that now clearly cannot. help but. think that. this is for. sure old prepares for the next rice. after just one round it's clear he won't be among the winners this time either yet he comes forth.
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it's. time now. for all of that i know that you. are not part of that old. song from the summer. the races will last for the whole week and sure rule will compete a few more times but this year he won't be taking home much money. horse race is a like a temptation that sucks in people until they all forget all the risks and dangers.
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just one thing matters winning a moped a car wants of cash how long will cheryl continue risking his neck for this. you're. going to give yourself. let her. think. you're. up for. that. in fact no more than two years because then he'll be too heavy and too big for racing that's when the twins will start a new life the dream is to go to school every day like their friends a normal childhood but it won't be easy will they actually make it that far.
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please. he he. lead trauma strong emotional embrace.
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