EXTRAORDINARY

Today I had one of the most powerful experiences of my life.  Emilie's school, JIS, is very big on service projects.  In fact, all of the kids are required to participate in a service project outside of school hours.  The school has a division called JIS Peduli (JIS Cares) and they work on ways that JIS students and parents can help in the community.  Today, they partnered with an organization called Gerakan Kepedulian (concern movement), and we went to a couple of communities affected by the recent floods.  We had the opportunity to hand out much needed supplies and tour the communities.  These areas are considered some of the poorest of the poor in Jakarta.  Most of the members are trash pickers - they walk the streets of Jakarta (usually barefoot) with a giant wheelbarrow type of cart.  Trash is collected and traded amongst themselves and then sold to their "boss" for whatever he deems appropriate for what has been collected that day.  The average household income is approximately US$70/month and their rent is US$20-$30/month.  The kids go to local schools and while these are considered free, they are still required to pay for uniforms, books, supplies, and exams.  These expenses range from US$200/year to US$1000/year (depending on the grade level).  The homes are along the rivers and prone to flooding.  Many of the homes are literally under the ground.  One of the communities we visited had flooding about 7 feet high.  They had water rising from the river  - as well as coming in through the leaking roofs from the rain.  They were forced to leave the community and lived in the parking lot of a nearby gas station for several days while waiting for the water to subside.  Now, as they work on cleaning up their homes and salvaging what they can, they are bracing for the next flood which is expected this weekend.   We have been lucky that the last few days have been relatively dry.  That being said, it started raining while we were there and it was amazing to see the already saturated ground become mush in the short time we were there.  There were even areas of the community that we were not able to visit because of the amount of water that accumulated just today.  Gerakan Kepedulian goes into these communities and spends several years working to make their lives better.  They don't just throw money at the problem.  Their philosophy -"Poverty is not a lack of resources, but a lack of caring and sharing." They work with the free clinics to make sure they are providing medical support.  They educate the community members on medical issues and help them become more productive in their community.  They help them build better housing structures.  They help them to feel more empowered, a better sense of community and a greater sense of pride.  The list goes on and on and on...it truly is an inspiring organization.

The people were all gracious and kind. 

This woman took a break from cleaning up after the flood to show us how high the flood water was at her home.

These men were working to remove the mud from the floor of their Community Center.

The members of the group that went today hope to go back after the next round of flooding.  We plan to bring more supplies and much needed food items.  After flooding, the communities lose electricity and are unable to cook.  We will be working on putting together food items that do not require cooking.  We also hope to tour one of Gerakan Kepedulian's completed communities so we can see the amazing results of all of their hard work.