A Village at the Foot of Mount Bromo

In the middle of 2022, I was again given the opportunity to participate in community service activities in a very interesting village. Besides having beautiful scenery, this village is also used as a tourist spot, the people are also known to be very friendly. This village is located at the foot of Mount Bromo, precisely in Sapikerep Village, Sukapura District, Probolinggo Regency. Sapikerep village is located approximately 15 km from Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. This village is generally inhabited by the Tengger tribe. Even so, not all people in Sapikerep village are Hinduism. Based on my observations, it can be said that 50% of Sapikerep villagers are Hindu and 50% Muslim. But this does not make the lack of tolerance among the villagers. Sapikerep Village was also proclaimed as a Pancasila village where the community is expected to be able to apply the values contained in Pancasila in accordance with the characteristics of the Tengger tribe which prioritizes family values, mutual cooperation, and mutual respect between religious adherents.

As a person that has never lived in an environment that adheres to different beliefs, I was confused the first time I was there, about how I should greet the people there. I'm afraid wrong when greeting, although maybe it's not a big problem. At the moment, the headman told us that the Tenggerese people have a unique greeting that can be said by all people regardless of their religion. The greeting reads "Hong Ulun Basuki Langgeng" which is an expression of welcome, and we can answer it by saying "Langgeng Basuki". Besides greetings, the villagers also have traditions and culture. This tradition is actually not only carried out by the Sapikerep villagers but by most of the Tengger tribal society. One of these traditions is the Karo feast. In the village of Sapikerep, the Karo feast is usually held for approximately one week with several activities such as village clean-ups and deliberation.

For livelihood, the people of Sapikerep village generally work as farmers and serve tourists in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Many people also use the land in Sapikerep village to build tourist attractions, cafes, restaurants, and lodging. Of course, this is can provide its own benefits for the Sapikerep village community, especially in the economic field. While there, my friends and I also received a lot of help from the people there. They often offered to drive us, even offered to visit their house. Several times, we were also given a harvest from the garden. It was an extraordinary experience for me to get to know the people in this village.