Russell and Eileen's Church Missions: JAKARTA STILL BURNS

As I (Russell) mentioned last week, there have been a large number of fires in Jakarta this summer/dry season. Locals tell me that while the number is high this year there always seem to be more right around Lebaran when many of those living in Jakarta are out of town visiting relatives. Go figure!

This week we revisited two locations. The first was a fire in North Jakarta which left approximately 1,200 homeless. This neighborhood was less well off than the one in Central Jakarta that we first saw three weeks ago. You can tell in part by what was left after the fire. Rather than cement walls and floors remaining, here there were just cement footings and a few walls and floors. Many of the houses must have had dirt floors. When we first visited this site we asked the Red Cross what the people needed most. There were a number of mothers who were listening to our conversation and chose to offer their input. At the top of their list were school supplies and uniforms so their children could resume their activities at school. Next on their list were basic hygiene items. The blankets, sleeping mats and baby supplies that were requested and were delivered at the first fire, were farther down their list. I was impressed by their desire for their children to attend school. They could not have known that they were appealing to someone who adamantly believes that education is the only way out of poverty.

With the help of the bishop and several members of the Jakarta 2nd ward, backpacks filled with school supplies (purchased by our church) were assembled for each school age child. In addition, hygiene kits (also paid for with humanitarian funds) for each family were assembled. When we arrived the next day with the supplies we were a little unsure of exactly how we would distribute the material. The Red Cross had left the site two days prior and chaos can easily takeover in an unstructured environment. Fortunately what we found on site was a tent wherein the local civic leaders were conducting an orderly distribution of goods brought by others. I was impressed to see their lists of names noting each person under their stewardship. After talking to the leaders and a policeman that had been posted there, we felt comfortable giving them the goods/kits and having them conduct the distribution.

We both enjoyed visiting with the people. Eileen particularly enjoyed seeing a one week old baby named Mohammed that she had seen during our first visit shortly after the baby’s birth. While the setting/scene of several women, including Eileen, making a fuss about the newborn in a sweltering tent was different than a baby shower/party would be back home, the mood and conversation were not. It was as if for a brief moment the poverty and fire were forgotten, and the joy of a newborn baby was being experienced.

Three weeks ago when we delivered goods to the Central Jakarta fire (first fire) location, several of our church members from the English speaking Jakarta 3rd Ward came along with us. Afterward they decided that they would conduct their own project to provide other needed goods to the fire victims. We were aware of their project but stayed out of their way. It is nice to see others performing good humanitarian efforts on their own. The only help we offered was on the day of delivery. The Red Cross and other agencies had long since gone but we knew where one man (Yoyoe) lived who had taken us on a tour of the site three weeks earlier. Yoyoe and his family were no longer living where we had last met him but due to neighbors, cell phones and whispers of "the Bules are back", he was found quickly and came to meet us. This was the third time we had met Yoyoe. We felt we could trust him to see that the goods were properly distributed. Afterward, we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. Hopefully we will meet again.

The last fire location we visited was in East Jakarta, not far from where several members of our church live. This fire occurred the day before the fire in North Jakarta. It displaced about 500 people and took out a couple of factories. Although it had been a week there were still large piles of embers still smoldering hot enough to cook over. At this location there were very few dislocated people remaining on site. The local leaders told us that no rebuilding was going to be allowed and that almost all had found new housing with elsewhere. Life here had quickly moved on.