Nursing homes provide variable service<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Staying with children and grandchildren is what most elderly
\npeople dream of. But, for some, that wish never works out.<\/p>\n
Seventy-year-old Atikah is one of the unlucky ones. As a
\nformer vegetable vendor, she has no relatives and is staying at a
\nnursing home in Kebon Kosong subdistrict in Kemayoran, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I worked hard for years to earn a living. Now I'm too weak. I
\nhave to accept the reality of ending up here,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Chatting to fellow guests at the nursing home is what occupies
\nAtikah for much of the day. Most of them have no relatives in the
\ncapital. Unable to support themselves, they have been forced to
\nseek shelter here.<\/p>\n
Atikah and another 38 elderly people were supposed to stay in
\na nursing home on Jl. Jelambar Selatan in Jelambar subdistrict,
\nWest Jakarta. But the three-week-long floods, which paralyzed
\nparts of Jakarta, including their nursing home since Jan. 28,
\nforced them to move to Kebon Kosong district.<\/p>\n
During her youth, Atikah -- who left her hometown, Sukerejo,
\nCentral Java, in 1955 -- had tried numerous jobs including
\nworking in a cosmetics company. Her final job was a vegetable
\nvendor in a traditional market near her small rented house in
\nRawa Melati subdistrict, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Atikah was married to a police officer for two years, but left
\nhim childless in 1955 after she found out that he had been having
\nan affair with another woman.<\/p>\n
However, Atikah still considers herself fortunate for having a
\ngood neighbor who subsequently took care of her.<\/p>\n
\"I'm lucky to have her. She considers me as her own mother.
\nShe really loves me. She even cried when I had to enter the
\nnursing home. But I can't stay with her and impinge on her own
\nlife,\" she said, referring to a 40-year-old widow who lived next
\ndoor to her rented house.<\/p>\n
Seventy-four-year-old Upi has a different story. She has been
\nstaying in Kebon Kosong for the past five years.<\/p>\n
\"My former employer sent me here after I was not able to carry
\nout my duties as a housemaid anymore,\" she said, adding that she
\nhad worked at the employer's house in Kayu Manis subdistrict,
\nEast Jakarta, for 14 years.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the former employer never visited Upi, whose
\nhusband died about 30 years ago without having children.<\/p>\n
Although conditions at Jelambar nursing home do not meet their
\nexpectations, they consider it better than Kebon Kosong nursing
\nhome.<\/p>\n
Seventy-five-year-old Martiti complained about the treatment
\nshe received in Kebon Kosong. \"The facilities and services here
\nare poor. For example, we have to queue for a long time, just to
\ngo to the toilet. Also, the people in charge here are not very
\nfriendly,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Martiti, who previously stayed in her nephew's house, also
\ncomplained about the menu. She said she was not served milk every
\nmorning, which they used to get in Jelambar.<\/p>\n
\"In Jelamber, the management always gave us an egg every
\nmorning. But here, they give us only a third of an egg. I hope we
\ncan return to Jelambar soon,\" said the former midwife who left
\nher hometown Sukabumi, West Java, in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Her friends echoed her dissatisfaction, saying that they also
\nhad no bed and lacked clean water.<\/p>\n
But Ihwan, a staff member of Kebon Kosong nursing home, denied
\ntheir complaints. He said all government funds had been used to
\nserve the elderly guests \"as good as possible\".<\/p>\n
Jakarta Administration has been providing Rp 7,500 (U.S. cents
\n73.6) for each elderly person per day for their meal, according
\nto the head of Jelambar Selatan nursing home, Muarif.<\/p>\n
Since January, the home has received an additional Rp 1,500
\nper person per day from the flood crisis fund. Kebon Kosong
\nnursing home has also received Rp 900,000 per month for
\nadditional meals from Dharmais Charitable Foundation.<\/p>\n
Ihwan admitted, however, that the nursing home still had
\nproblems providing clean water.<\/p>\n
The nursing home has two 47-square-meter and two 84-square-
\nmeter dormitories. The small dormitories are occupied by 11
\npeople, while the larger ones are enough to house 15 people.<\/p>\n
\"Due to the evacuation of elderly people in Jelambar, our
\nsmall dormitories are now occupied by 15 and the larger ones
\nhouse 17,\" Ihwan said, adding that as there were not enough
\navailable beds, some elderly people were having to sleep on
\nmattresses on the dining room floor.<\/p>",
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