Kagama serves cheap lunch for the needy and students<\/p>\n
By Sri Wahyuni<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Would you expect to have lunch for only Rp
\n500 (about 6 US cents) especially at a time of crisis like this?
\nCome to Yogyakarta and you'll get it. You'll have a portion of
\nrice and vegetable soup, plus either a slice of meat, tempeh, egg
\nor fish, and a glass of water.<\/p>\n
\"But you have to be patient as we serve no less than 400
\nportions a day,\" Oetari Koento Wibisono, Coordinator of Warung
\nMurah Kagama (Kagama Cheap Food Outlet), said.<\/p>\n
The warung was opened on April 30, 1998, by Kagama, an
\nassociation of the Gadjah Mada University alumni, to help the
\npoor, especially students, to have cheap but healthy meals. With
\na starting capital of Rp 2.5 million, it initially served only
\nabout 150 portions a day.<\/p>\n
The response was amazing. Although it was scheduled to open at
\n11:00 a.m., customers, mainly students, becak (three-wheel
\npedicab) drivers and street vendors, were queued in front of the
\nKagama secretariat, where the food outlet was located, even
\nbefore 10:00 a.m. Everything was sold out in less than an hour.<\/p>\n
\"Now, with about 400 portions to serve a day, we're open at
\n10:00 am and close at about 11:15,\" Oetari said.<\/p>\n
The warung is managed by members of Kagama, mostly females,
\nand a number of volunteers consisting of students and housewives.
\nIt employs about 12 part-timers to cook, wash the dishes and
\nclean the room.<\/p>\n
\"It's also relieving that in a time where the unemployment
\nrate is rising, we can create jobs for the needy, with a wage as
\nmuch as we can pay,\" she said.<\/p>\n
It's hard running a place like the warung. With a turnover of
\nonly about Rp 5.2 million a month, it has to spend nearly Rp 10
\nmillion a month for employees' wages and the meals. That means
\nthat it needs a subsidy of nearly Rp 5 million a month.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, aid poured in. Without asking, donors came to
\ntheir aid, and gave mostly food supplies including meat, eggs,
\nvegetables, cooking oil and rice. A local professor, for example,
\ndonated 20 kilograms of raw meat a day for 20 days. There were
\nalso students who donated Rp 10,000 or Rp 20,000 or just a bottle
\nof cooking oil each.<\/p>\n
\"Thank God, we've survived so far,\" chairman of Kagama, Koento
\nWibisono, said two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Yet lately, there is a growing concern about the warung's
\nsurvival especially since both raw materials and the fund
\ndecrease day after day.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have the heart to raise the price,\" Oetari said.<\/p>\n
He said that the management once invited about 25 customers
\nand only a few of them stated they would pay more for the meal.<\/p>\n
The existing fund, according to Oetari, would last only for a
\nfew more months.<\/p>\n
The management has so far made themselves ready for the worst.
\nVarious alternatives have also been prepared to anticipate the
\nworsening condition. For example, what if they can no longer
\nafford to buy rice due to the worsening economic condition? What
\nwill they do about that?<\/p>\n
\"We once tried to serve sawut instead of rice and it was not
\nbad. The customers seemed to enjoy it as well,\" Oetari said.
\nSawut is a traditional meal prepared from rice mixed with gogik,
\na lower quality of dried cassava.<\/p>\n
It's this idea that has made the management change the name of
\nthe food outlet from Warung Nasi Murah Kagama (the Kagama Cheap
\nRice Outlet) to Warung Makan Murah Kagama (the Kagama Cheap
\nOutlet).<\/p>\n
\"It's because we are afraid that someday, if the economic
\ncrisis worsens and rice becomes a luxury, we no longer can serve
\nrice but tiwul or sawut instead,\" Oetari explained. Tiwul is a
\nmeal made of dried cassava.<\/p>\n
Some pedicab drivers who are customers of the restaurants told
\nThe Jakarta Post that they hoped the restaurant would not be
\nclosed down.<\/p>\n
\"We do feel the advantage of the program. It helps, especially
\nin a time when our income has dropped dramatically,\" Warso, one
\nof the pedicab drivers, said.<\/p>\n
Compared to other food outlets, Kagama's is certainly the
\ncheapest. \"If it is closed down, I will have to spend at least Rp
\n1,000 for a meal. And I won't get even a slice of boiled egg for
\nthat amount, just rice and vegetable soup,\" Warso said.<\/p>\n
Student customers also feel the same. The warung makes it
\npossible for them to save at least Rp 25,000 a month as they
\nwould have to spend a minimum of Rp 1,500 for the same meal at
\nanother place. \"It's cheap here, and delicious,\" said a student
\nin the queue.<\/p>",
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