North Jakarta slum welcomes antipoverty program<\/p>\n
Text by Rita A. Widiadana and photos by Mulkan Salmona<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mak Muning, 57, warmly welcomed her guests in
\nher newly \"renovated\" house in Kamal Muara fishing village in
\nPenjaringan district, North Jakarta, one of the city's most
\npoverty-stricken areas.<\/p>\n
Painted white and blue, the 20-square-meter house looks quite
\nbright compared to the other decaying huts along a crooked
\nalleyway in the village, located some 10 kilometers from the
\nSoekarno-Hatta International Airport.<\/p>\n
Sitting on a bamboo-woven mat, Mak Muning told her visitors,
\nSiti Oemijati Djajanegara and her colleagues from the Demographic
\nInstitute of the University of Indonesia, she was grateful to God
\nthat she is now able to live more comfortably in the humble house
\nshe shares with her husband, two children, two in-laws and a
\nnumber of grandchildren. Her former dwelling could hardly be
\ncalled a house, since it was a dilapidated woven bamboo structure
\nwith a thatched roof.<\/p>\n
Recalling her bleak days, Mak Muning said that one rainy night
\nshe wanted to perform Shalat Isya (night prayer) but she had to
\ncancel it because her house was inundated by a half-meter flood.
\n\"I have been used to hunger and agony since I was a child. But
\nthat night, I felt so sad. I couldn't even perform shalat, my
\nforemost obligation as a Moslem, just because we didn't have a
\nproper place to do so. I prayed in tears hoping for God's help,\"
\nshe reminisced.<\/p>\n
Her prayer was answered. When she woke up the next morning,
\nsome members of the village's Karang Taruna, a government-
\nsponsored youth organization which has branches in every village
\nthroughout the country, visited her and brought a big pack of
\ninstant noodles and other food. \"I was also told that our house
\nwould be repaired. I couldn't do anything except cry. I was so
\ntouched,\" she recalled.<\/p>\n
The Munings are one of the families, categorized as the
\npoorest poor, who are included in an antipoverty program jointly
\nimplemented since l994, by the Jakarta government and the
\nDemographic Institute in an attempt to help local residents,
\nmostly fishermen, alleviate their poverty. Under the program, the
\nMunings and some other families received funds to renovate their
\ndilapidated houses.<\/p>\n
Program coordinator Oemijati said that they try to carry out a
\nspecific program with a different approach. \"Before we executed
\nthis program, we identified various problems faced by Kamal Muara
\nresidents,\" she explained. The program also involves residents,
\nincluding Karang Taruna members and officials of the neighborhood
\noffice.<\/p>\n
Her team also made a stratification of the poorest poor in the
\ncommunity to ensure that they receive first priority under the
\nscheme.<\/p>\n
\"We provided assistance to the Munings after we got a lot of
\ninformation from the people here that they are the poorest family
\nin the neighborhood,\" she explained.<\/p>\n
Poverty line<\/p>\n
Like other fisherfolk, most residents of Kamal Muara live
\nbelow the poverty line. The village has poor sanitation and other
\nbasic services. Garbage is dumped all over the village and
\nsunlight rarely touches their homes.<\/p>\n
Flooding is a constant threat for these people because their
\nvillage faces the Java Sea. The fishermen live in hovels, mostly
\nwithout a bathroom. Santi, a young village woman, said \"It is
\nvery difficult to change the people's unhygienic habits. They let
\ntheir children wash and defecate along the beach or in front of
\ntheir dilapidated huts,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Oemijati added that the second assistance for the villagers
\ncame in the form of public wells, a water installation with pipes
\nconstructed throughout the village in an attempt to provide
\nresidents with a clean water supply.<\/p>\n
\"Clean water is such a luxury here. We buy a gallon of water
\nevery day for drinking and cooking. We wash here in the public
\nwell, its water is salty and smelly,\" said Asikin, another
\nresident.<\/p>\n
Oemijati said the village needs a lot more wells and public
\ntoilets as well as other public facilities. \"We need a lot more
\nfunds to build them,\" she explained.<\/p>\n
Apart from these basic needs, the program also provides funds
\nto help the poor children continue their education. \"We do not
\ngive donations to their parents but give directly to the
\nschools,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Poverty has clearly affected the village's children. To give
\nthese children an adequate education is almost impossible, said
\nSanti, who works as a volunteer. Many children gave up going to
\nschool due to a lack of funds. Only a few children will continue
\ntheir education at secondary schools.<\/p>\n
\"The kids are actually diligent, but their parents are poor
\nand they desperately need their children's help at work. They
\ngive no support for any school activity,\" explained Santi.<\/p>\n
Oemijati said the program needs support from the community,
\nfrom the government and other related agencies to make it work
\nproperly. \"It is certain that we cannot expect these people to
\ninstantly understand the program. It will take quite a long time
\nto prove whether the program benefits these people. Poverty
\nproblems cannot be solved overnight,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/north-jakarta-slum-welcomes-antipoverty-program-1447893297",
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