Economic crash forces ICAC to downsize<\/p>\n
By Mehru Jaffer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For nearly a quarter of a century, the gates of
\nJakarta's International Community Activity Center (ICAC) remained
\nopen to everyone in the city.<\/p>\n
Today, the center is being forced to pull down the shutters on
\nmany of its activities as the economic storm huffs and puffs at
\nits doors, threatening to blow the house away.<\/p>\n
With expatriates leaving Indonesia in droves, ICAC watches
\nhelplessly as its membership drops and its volunteers disappear,
\nforcing it to reduce operating costs by almost half last year.<\/p>\n
Being a nonprofit, self-funding organization that earns money
\nthrough membership fees and enrollments to its courses, ICAC
\ngasps for breath with the departure from the city of each dollar-
\nearning expatriate.<\/p>\n
ICAC's chairman, Phil Shah, says "Every effort is being
\nexplored to downsize rather than close down." He added that a
\nplan for short-term survival has been formulated to first and
\nforemost lure in more members, create exciting activities that
\nwill also generate money and to sublease portions of the new ICAC
\nhouse.<\/p>\n
Despite a recent drive to attract new members, the list has
\ndipped to 500 members, compared to 1,200 early last year.<\/p>\n
"No one predicted the economic crash," sighs a board member.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, the premises on Jl. Kemang Raya were bursting
\nat the seams with thousands of members and hundreds of different
\nservices.<\/p>\n
Membership hit an all time high of 3,000, who enjoyed a choice
\nof over 200 different courses, classes and tours. Needy
\nIndonesians also benefited from thousands of dollars worth of
\nstudent scholarships and multiple community and welfare projects.<\/p>\n
ICAC came into being in 1975, when expatriates began pouring
\ninto the country to do business. The two-room center was meant to
\nbe a home away from home, initially offering a meeting place for
\nsmall talk. As people got more familiar with each other,
\ndiscussions graduated to include topics like teenage drug
\nproblems in Jakarta and family and marital counseling.<\/p>\n
ICAC is the only place in Indonesia where an expat can receive
\ncounseling from professional expat therapists. Today, as many as
\nsix counselors help people with adjustment problems, parent-child
\nproblems, substance abuse, marital issues, teen issues and
\nanything else that needs talking through.<\/p>\n
A founding member, Jo Haskin, recalls, "Earlier, an expat
\nliving here had to go to Singapore for similar services."<\/p>\n
When a small group of wives of expats met for coffee and a
\nchat, the idea was to help each other feel comfortable in their
\nnew place of residence as soon as possible. Later, the objective
\nbecame to also facilitate a successful transition from one
\nculture to another, in the hope of a healthy and harmonious
\nrelationship between an expanding international community and its
\nhost country.<\/p>\n
It seemed easy for the men to slip into a familiar routine of
\ngoing to work and coming home for rest and recreation. The
\nchildren, too, eventually settled down at school but the wives
\nfelt that they were somehow left mostly on their own to fend for
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n
A need was felt to keep the morale of this group of often very
\ntalented and professional women going, as they found themselves
\nmiles away from family and friends. As members increased at the
\ncoffee mornings, departments were created and programs started
\nstrictly in response to requests from the international community
\nitself.<\/p>\n
A banker's wife with two children feels Jakarta is a great
\nplace to discover yourself. When she first arrived in the city
\ntwo years ago she was totally lost. But once the children were
\nhappy in school and the house was managed by an army of maids, it
\nleaves enough time for wives and mothers to bond with each other.<\/p>\n
Coming mostly from western countries where domestic help
\nappears only in an occasional dream, many a hardcore professional
\ntoo often chooses to do little more in this tropical paradise
\nthan relax with a weekly massage and a monthly facial.<\/p>\n
Others find themselves flowering into historians, dance and
\nmusic addicts, painters, photographers and nature helpers.<\/p>\n
Some find themselves suddenly so footloose and fancy-free that
\nthey are happy to escape once in a while to far and near corners
\nof this fascinating city, like on a stroll with Angela for an
\nantique and curios tour. They follow Pak Faried to the city's
\nreligious sites, discover Mayestik Market with Ade or return to
\nAngela for an escape tour to Bogor.<\/p>\n
Mike Reagan, the outgoing director, says that during the four
\nyears he spent at ICAC he learned so much. He is leaving Jakarta
\nwith sage-like advice that the only constant in our life is
\nchange. And it is change that is in the air for ICAC as well.<\/p>\n
Mira and Rini, two of 15 Indonesians employees here, say the
\nbest thing about having worked in ICAC's front office for nearly
\ntwo years is to have met so many people from so many different
\nparts of the world.<\/p>\n
Ries is an Indonesian volunteer married to a European. She
\nfeels sad when members of the international community complain
\nthat they have been unable to strike up close friendships with
\nthe locals. She volunteers to act as interpreter to newcomers and
\nto facilitate newly arrived families to get familiar with their
\nsurroundings.<\/p>\n
ICAC offers a four-day intensive program for newcomers to
\nJakarta, and Hello Jakarta is a six-hour crash course. ICAC
\ncourses that begin mid-March to May offer choices that are as
\ndiverse as the participants themselves, including cooking,
\ncomputers and Chinese painting.<\/p>\n
Two activities that are extremely popular concentrate on
\nteaching domestic help the favorite cuisine of their employers
\nand a language course that introduces basic vocabulary covering
\non-the-job topics, while Pak Faried offers higher levels of
\nlearning English.<\/p>\n
Once members begin to feel relatively at home, many also
\nbranch out to help local people. Today, many Indonesians living
\nin poverty face further hardships and are dependent on charity
\nfor their survival.<\/p>\n
Until recently, sembako meant the nine essential foods in an
\nIndonesian diet of rice, sugar, cooking oil, beans, salted fish,
\ninstant noodles, eggs, flour and milk. With the crisis, the nine
\nhave been reduced to five, which ICAC tries to provide to as many
\npeople as possible.<\/p>\n
One of the many feathers in ICAC's cap is its decade-old
\nscholarship program, supporting students from elementary to high
\nschool level.<\/p>\n
Volunteer and community services coordinator Sri Lienau says,
\n"With a large number of Indonesians affected by the economic
\ncrisis, the need for educational scholarships is even greater."<\/p>\n
Sri feels that the country desperately needs people with
\nskills who can train others. The country needs middle and high-
\nlevel managers, professors and an educated population that can
\ninteract with other highly trained people from around the world.<\/p>\n
"We need university graduates and cannot afford even a single
\ndropout, particularly in these times of crisis," is her
\npassionate plea.<\/p>\n
At present, she has received donations totaling US$10,000 for
\nher scholarship program but she could do with a lot more, even if
\nit is still just enough so that handful are lucky enough to be
\nable to improve their lot in life.<\/p>\n
Knock, knock, is anyone listening?<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/economic-crash-forces-icac-to-downsize-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }