Andre Graf: a French hot air balloonist turned dedicated well digger on Sumba

By: Jacobus E. Lato

Most stories on the Indonesian island of Sumba tell of local kids proudly riding Sandalwoods, the well-known Sumba bred horses across savannas and steppes of the island. This feature of young people riding sturdy horses, throwing spears at each other in a game called Pasola, sometimes seems the only thing Sumba is known for.

This story is not about horses. It is about a Frenchman by the name of Andre Graf. Andre Graf is currently 54, a former hot air balloonist and instructor with a degree in biology from the leading Strassbourg University. Meanwhile, Sumba, on the other extreme, though it is only about an hour flight from Bali is an outlandish island, part of East Nusa Tenggara, a province characterized by its remote location, lack of development and poor inhabitants suffering from malnutrition and draught.

Since 2005, Andre has been living in Waru Wora, the sub-district of Lamboya, 30 Kms away  from the capital of West Sumba district. Before he settled on Sumba he promised the locals that he would dedicate his life to the local community. He kept his word, as since that time he dug no less than 27 wells on this notoriously dry island.