Food for the Kids of Indonesia

Daniel isn't in the photo but the lady holding his grand daughter is Naomi, his wife.

Every penny donated to the K.O.I fund is spent on food for the kids of Indonesia. Nothing goes for salaries, or any other adminis- tration fees.

In most groups, only about 80% or 90% of the donations actually reach the children. But with K.O.I., all expenses are paid for out of the regular fund so that every penny actually donated to the kids can be spent on the kids.

If you want to make sure your donation actually reaches the kids, just write K.O.I on the memo line of your check. Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving to all of you from all of us and the kids of Indonesia.

Colin McKee teaching Bible Class

These are some of our radio and WEI students. Colin (out of the photo) is teaching.

For more photos, click on the following link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/johndudleytu/Colin1109?authkey=Gv1sRgCKDeyaL9jK28Bg#

Beggar and child

Beggar mother sitting on the side of the road with child.

Organizing the carboard for recycling

The life of a child among the poor

Living conditions for the garbage people

Some of the children

Click on the photo for a larger view.

For more photos, go to the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/johndudleytu/Children111509#

Novermber Baptisms in Jakarta

A product of the radio program, this man's name is Yoshua and his age is 36 years. He has been studying with me for a year using WEI materials at my house before we rented the ruko. As we continued to study he attended the worship services. About 5 months ago he brought a young lady names Damilia with him who will become his wife next month. She also studied with me and both decided to be baptised on the 15th of November 2009. We know you also rejoice with the angels of Heaven. Praise God.

Garbage Man's Home 1

For a larger view, click on the photo.

Almost everything you see in the photo is scavenged from the dump. Underneath the floor coverings is dirt. It will be difficult to stay dry inside when the monsoon rains come. The ground will become so saturated that water will come up through the floor covering. The wind will blow rain in through the walls. Even in our tile floored house, there were many mornings during the rainy season when I put my feet on the floor and found, to my surprise, that I was up to my ankles in water. Flooding is a major problem in many sections of Jakarta. I remember spending a large part of one day sitting on the back of a teak wood pew with my feet on the seat of the pew and the water lapping around my feet. This was the highest floor in our house. When I went back to the bedroom, water was up to my chest. Thankfully we had lost our electrical power that day. If this happens in one of the finest neighborhoods of the city, what happens to the poorest of the poor in the least desirable neighborhoods?

We feed children. 50 cents will feed a child one meal. $15 will feed one child one meal a day for 30 days. Would you really miss $15 a month? Please send us a check today. Thanks.

Homes of the Poorest

Click on the photo for a larger image.

Three Things I need to Mention

1. Because of the economic downturn, there are more people searching through the garbage dumps of Jakarta looking for recyclables than in good times, making it harder for the poorest of the poor to feed themselves.

2. Some government assistance is available for these poorest of the poor, but an ID card is necessary in order to apply for it. After buying food for the family, most do not have money left over to apply for an ID card.

3. There is probably some fear in making application, too. Fear of being forced out of the city or into some institution.

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We feed children. Your $15 donation will feed one child one meal a day for 30 days. Will you miss the money? Really?

Living Conditions for the Garbage Man

The first time I met the garbage man’s family, they were stopped at the alley way leading into their little make-shift “village”. One of his children slept in the garbage cart while he repaired one of the wheels. His wife was watching him and also watching the other children playing nearby.

The next morning I met them at their house. The house is very small and measures about 8 by 12 feet in size. They have electricity but only up to 100 Watts maximum usage and it costs them $3 a month. The room has no windows, little sunlight and the smell is awful; nevertheless, two children were sleeping there when I entered.

Their neighborhood consists of about 20 families all living under similar circumstances and all sharing the same communal toilet which isn’t large enough for all of them making it necessary for some to go to the river to relieve themselves and bathe.

All of the houses are small, with dirt floors, and garbage collected from the streets and garbage dumps fills the space between the shacks. A day’s collection of plastic and other recyclable materials will yield, on a good day, between $1 and $2.

Cooking is often done outside and on the ground. The family sleeps on a very smelly kapok mattress on the dirt floor of the shack. When I visited them they borrowed, from their neighbor, a small piece of carpet for us to sit on. There were no chairs.

They usually leave their house with their children about 8 in the morning and sometimes search for recyclable material as far as 10 miles away. While the parents look through the local public dump areas the children will look in the garbage cans of the people living in that section of the city.

Few if any of these garbage family children attend public school which even though “free” can still be expensive in Indonesia. Uniforms have to be purchased along with school supplies and teacher’s salaries have to be subsidized. This man’s 11 year old daughter is now in school, thanks to the generosity of others but his other children are not.

As you can imagine, living in all this garbage can result in health problems. Skin rashes and infections are common. Tuberculosis, worm diseases and other more serious health problems are a constant threat.

This particular family of five, divides 4 cups of rice between them and eats only once a day. If there is a day when they cannot forage, then they do not eat that day. Such is the life of the poorest of the poor in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Daniel

We feed children. 50 cents will feed one child one meal. $15 will feed one child once a day for a month. Could you send us a check for $15. Thanks.

One Form of Begging in Jakarta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHDKmUg6Pbk&NR=1#watch-main-area

Slum Conditions In Jakarta

Slum dwellers are a growing group of urban poor who have little or no access to affordable healthcare, education or economic opportunities. They usually do informal work, and as a result, they are highly vulnerable to disasters - mostly flooding and fire - that occur regularly.

In contrast with the bright skyscrapers and designer boutiques of central Jakarta, slums are dense neighbourhoods, usually illegal and mostly filled with makeshift shelters. Few know how many slums there are in the city of over 10 million people.

Mercy Corps, an aid agency that has been working with the urban poor since 1999, says fewer than 50 percent of Jakarta's residents have access to tap water, and the poorest urban residents pay more for basic services like clean water, sanitation and solid waste removal.

"Over 200,000 to 300,000 people come to Jakarta every year to look for opportunities," says Charles Ham, country director for Hope Worldwide Indonesia, a non-government organisation (NGO) working in Cilincing since September 2007. "They are unwanted residents of the city."

Most dwellings in the slum are rickety huts. There are a few brick houses and even a couple of two-storey ones, but all that flies high in this slum are flags from political parties jostling for votes in the upcoming election.

Children play barefoot beside drains full of murky-green stagnant water, families cook evening meals on the streets and goats forage on top of massive garbage dumps.

"People only eat twice a day here," Selamat says. And at least 10 percent of children in his neighbourhood are malnourished.

As Indonesia continues to urbanise at a rapid rate, more and more slums like this will emerge. According to the U.N. Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), there were nearly 21 million slum residents in Indonesia in 2001 - 23 percent of the total urban population.

Follow this link for full article: http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/52132/2009/02/11-153106-1.htm

13 Year Old Writes About Unemployment in Jakarta

Unemployment is a serious problem in Jakarta. The conditions are worse than other regions because more and more people are coming to the capital looking for work.

Unfortunately, many of them do not have a good education, and may have only completed their studies in junior and senior high school. Many villagers come to the city for a better life. Unfortunately, they do not find a dream job in the city because many other people are trying out the same thing.

Better education I think is a key. Well educated people not only find jobs easier, but then free up a position for somebody else.

Harsyah Kharisma
13-year old, Jakarta

For full article follow this link: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/05/02/letters-jakartan-teenagers-speak.html

13 Year Old Complains About Corruption

Indonesia ranks fourth in the world in terms of corruption - perhaps this is why so many people suffer from poverty. Maybe those committing corruption are happy they can embezzle state money, and do not think about the impact of their crime. They practice corruption in various ways, such as by receiving bribes or abusing the power of their positions in government and state institutions.

In several instances, certain people have even misused charity funds contributed by other countries for the poor and victims of disasters here.

We have the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), but unfortunately, its power has not extended to cover all government agencies in this country.

Corruption is a serious problem. Therefore, we all - the people and the government - have to fight it. One important aspect is that the court has to give severe punishments to those found guilty of this crime.

Those who commit corruption must return all money earned from their criminal actions. The government should also identify the cause of corruption so that it will be able to carry out preventive action.

Alexandra Claudia
13-year old, Jakarta

For full article click on the following link:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/05/02/letters-jakartan-teenagers-speak.html

Rain-triggered landslides kill 14 in Indonesia. Many more burried alive.

The island of Sulawesi is probably about 1500 miles from Jakarta. To read the complete article please click on the following link.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091109/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_landslides

2 days - no food

Daniel just this morning received notice from the garbage collector's family that they hadn't eaten for 2 days. The government crack down on scavengers and beggars means that they have not been able to find food.

Another Children's Home in Bekasi

These are the children at another orphanage in Bekasi. This one happens to be an all girl facility and the children seem to be older but, nevertheless, still in need.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Clearing the streets of Jakarta

The government of Jakarta has recently been on a campaign to clear the streets of the homeless and the beggars. Some have been placed in social institutions while others were returned to their original villages while still others simply returned to the streets.

Those who give donations to these beggars and homeless people will also be fined by the government if caught in the act. The garbage collector that Daniel recently developed a relationship with was fined the equivalent of 20 dollars US when his son was caught begging.

This government activity has succeeded mainly in making the homeless and the beggars more selective and creative about where and when they do their savaging and begging. All of this also demonstrates the need to help the children find food for today and a future for tomorrow. We cannot help them all but that is no reason not to help those we can.