GK Sports Day - 2014

To say the last month has been crazy at the kids' school would be quite an understatement. So, to spend Saturday with some amazingly awesome kids was a a very welcome break.

I've mentioned the work of two great organizations, GK and XS, here, and here, and here, and here, and here (can you tell I love these organizations!). The JIS Middle and High Schools each have GK Clubs dedicated to working with GK and the children from these communities. The students in these clubs (Emilie is a member of the GK Middle School Club) worked together to organize the 2nd Annual GK Sports Day. They invited over 180 kids from the GK and XS communities to participate in a fun filled day of sports and activities.

The morning began with breakfast. The kids were separated by age group. Then they all headed out to the field for a variety of activities. The JIS students planned everything from parachute play, capture the flag, frisbees, hula hoops, and more. Each age group took turns rotating through the stations.After a little break to cool off and get souvenir photos taken in the "Photo Booth," it was time for water games!  The JIS students organized a ton of water activities - slip and slide, water guns, sponges, and tug o'war.  The smiles were contagious (at one point I even complained to Emilie that my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!).

The day ended with a rousing rendition of the "Unity Dance" followed by lunch.

Emilie and I had a terrific day and what a great reminder of the wonderful relationship JIS has been able to establish between the JIS students and the Jakarta Community. I feel honored to have been  included in such an amazing day!

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

You may have read the post about my first venture out into "real" Jakarta shortly after the major floods last year - EXTRAORDINARY. At that time, I had the opportunity to meet some people devastated by the floods and offer a little bit of flood relief.

A few month later, I was able to help build new housing for some of these same families. (You can find that story here - GK Mustikasari Build.)

Last fall, I was able to return to the newly built community to check out the finished product. It was amazing to see such a difference between the living conditions of the community we delivered flood relief to in January and the new life they have been able to make for themselves with the help of GK.

Last January, this community was under water.  Even after several dry days, the children were still wading through the water to get home from school.










In March, GK was able to secure some  land out of flood range. The community members worked together to build new homes for 30 families.











Thirty families have now moved in to their brand new homes.

"JIS Learning Studio"

The "JIS Learning Studio" is a covered ramada within the community.Community members use this area as a gathering space for community meetings or extra classroom time for the kids. GK has also been able to secure work for community members. A greeting card company has employed these community members to assemble and stuff packages of greeting cards. Anyone from the community can do this work during their spare time. Other members of the community have found additional work doing things like sewing uniforms for local schools. 

Each home has running water and electricity! (But no A/C)

The Community bathrooms have a rotating schedule putting different community members in charge of keeping them clean.

The community also has an area for washing and hanging clothes to dry.

I love the bright colors GK uses when painting the new communities. I also like the added planters making the community so bright and cheerful.

The smile on this woman's face says it all! Since moving into the new community, she has been able to set-up her own little warung and sell goods to fellow community members. She has been given a new opportunity to make some money while staying home.

These kids were getting a little math tutoring while we were visiting. We interrupted their tutoring session to do a language lesson exchange - we helped them with their English and they helped us with our Bahasa Indonesia. 

I really enjoyed having the opportunity to visit the completed community that we helped build. The happiness throughout the community was contagious! What an honor it has been to meet the members of this community.

GK Mustikasari Build

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to add a little of my own blood, sweat and tears to the building of a new community in Jakarta. GK is currently working on moving 30+ families from a community heavily effected by flooding.  This is one of the communities I had the chance to visit following the devastating floods in January.  (Read more about that visit here) 

Members of this community come to the new site to help with the build on a rotating basis.  There are  community members on site everyday of the week and it shows...the progress is astounding.  Below is a picture of the community pavilion that has been donated by Emilie's school, JIS. 

Many of the materials and supplies have been generously donated, but GK has been feverishly fundraising to help make up the difference.  GK also covers the cost to rent the land, but the families must work together to pay for other costs, such as electricity and upkeep.  

There will be housing units for approximately 40 families.  Below is a picture of the "living room" in one of the units.  Each unit has three rooms of this size (a living room, a bedroom, and a kitchen).  There is no air conditioning (Keep in mind, the weather year round is approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit with, no less than, 60% humidity).  The are 4-5 units per building and the corner units are the coveted ones since they have more windows and ventilation. 

Below are photos of the various stages the build was in on the day we were there...

And check out the view!!!

The parent volunteers with JIS Peduli took turns moving bricks, mixing cement, carrying buckets of cement, and plastering walls. As I was mixing cement, the sweat was literally rolling off my nose and into the cement mixture - a little part of me will always be a part of these homes!

It was a great day for us as volunteers. It felt great pitching in and getting our hands dirty, not to mention knowing that we were helping to get more than 30 families out of flood waters.  Below is a link to a great video documenting the build!

GK Mustikasari Build Video