Jakarta Flood - Feb 2008
Let Us Count Our Blessings.
On the 2nd of Feb 08, Happy Angels had once again brought smiles to the less privileged in Jakarta. It was a day after the terrible flood in Jakarta. Our donation came in time for the affected families. A total of 270 needy families from Railway Mangga Dua and Tanah Abang received a package of daily necessities each during this project. Each family received a bag full of rice, oil, sugar, ketchup, tea, a can of sardines and instant noodles. All the children received a goodie bag which consist of milk and cookies. Besides Happy Angels’ donation of $1228, there were some generous donors who had donated money towards the cause. Children from KDM had voluntarily and whole-heartedly helped out in this project.
Before the distribution, a volunteer from KDM had conducted checks on all the families. A visit and interview by Christine and myself was also conducted week before the project to survey the area, Railway Mangga Dua. Small houses were illegally built along the railway lines, built extremely close to the trains. We interviewed 3 families and visited various homes. The biggest house that we saw was about the size of our typical HBD bedroom. Each house is inhabited by an average of 2 to 6 members, some as many as 8 in the small and confined space. Cooking is done on the street, as these small houses do not have the luxury of space for cooking within. None of these houses has an individual toilet facility. Each visit to the toilet or shower will cost Rp500. It seems quite probable that showering is a luxurious activity to them!
Despite the small area to stay, each household had to pay a rental fee ranging from Rp100,000 to Rp250,000 ($16-$40) per month. Most of the residents are on odd jobs or lowly paid jobs. Some could not even bring home any income for months! Most of them were only able to earn enough to pay off the rental fee. Daily expenses depend on donations from others.
One family that we visited left us with great pangs of heart wrenching sadness!
A small room, which is smaller than our HBD storeroom, housed a generation of four. The sixty one year old grand mother is the sole breadwinner of the family. Her daughter, the thirty-year-old mother not only had to take care of her 13-year-old teenage daughter (who has mentally disorder) and her two years old son but also her one-year-old granddaughter. The old granny works in a recycling company that earns her Rp100,000 ($16) per month, which barely covers their rental fee. Food and daily expenses depends on donation.
After we left, we learnt the tragic story of this family from the volunteers. The only "man" of this family had ran away from home! While his wife was pregnant with his son, he raped his teenage daughter and impregnated her! This inhuman act had caused his teenager daughter (who was only twelve years old then) to go insane after given birth. Now, she could not recall anything and became very reserved and scared of strangers. Many believe the thirty-year-old mother was mentally unsound too, after the incident. That explains why the old granny is the sole bread winner of this family.
This is just one of the many cases that we have encountered. Behind every household, there is an untold story. Some may be happy and contented, but most are sad and unbearable. Life still goes on for these people. When a bag of goodies was given to them, we could see the appreciation and the smile on their faces as their way of saying, "Thank You!”
If there are moments in your life that you have felt miserable or that life is unfair to you, think about the poor family and the tragic experiences that they had to go through and you will begin to appreciate what life has to offer.
Happy Angels would like to thank the following donors for their kind contributions.
Mr. and Mrs. Edison Husin – Rp. 1,000,000
Mr. and Mrs. Erwin Hartono – Rp. 1,000,000
Mr. Albert Kow - S$200
Mr. Chew Ann Hao – S$100
Mr. and Mrs. Oi Joo May – S$100
Text by Irene Oi
