Australian helps city's orphanage

Australian helps city's orphanage

By Ahmad Junaidi

JAKARTA (JP): There are many bizarre sights in Jakarta but one
day you might spot one stranger than most: a bule (foreigner)
riding a motorbike together with three teenage locals on board.

One boy sits in front of the saddle and the other two are
squashed at the back between the bule and a box.

All of them wear velvet caps and the three boys wear light
blue T-shirts and dark blue trousers.

They are not members of an oriental circus, nor even a family
staging a protest against traffic regulation.

The man is Australian Abang Muhammad Lorand, 48, and the three
youngsters are some of the 80 boys at his orphanage on Jl.
Karbela in Karet Setiabudi district in South Jakarta.

They are on their routine ride looking for funds to pay for
the Nusantara Foundation orphanage.

While stopping at the City Council Thursday, Lorand told The
Jakarta Post that his eight-year old orphanage badly needed
donations to feed the boys, fund their school fees and pay for
other running costs.

During the trips, carried out five times a week, Lorand and
the boys often stop at the council building on Jl. Merdeka
Selatan in Central Jakarta and other state buildings and private
offices in the city.

While making the stops, they hope people will drop money in
the donation box attached to the rear of the bike.

Sometimes, Lorand leaves boxes at the buildings and collects
them after several days.

However the money in a charity box he once put in the lobby of
a private office in Central Jakarta was missing when he collected
it.

"There was initially Rp 18,000 (US$6.70) in the box but all
the money disappeared when I opened the box a month later,"
Lorand said.

He admitted that a number of noted figures, such as former
city council speaker M.H. Ritonga, businessman Hashim
Djojohadikusumo and Marzuki Usman are major donors to his
orphanage.

But it is hard for him to depend on the big donors.

"We prefer to receive small but regular donations rather than
a big one that comes only once," said Lorand.

But scouring the streets for funds is not easy either.

"I have parked my motorcycle here for hours but nobody put
money in the box," he said on the day of interview.

But Lorand and his boys have pledged never to be disappointed
with their fate.

In the meantime, he said, he even had to borrow rice from
traders due to the scarcity of money.

According to Lorand, his orphanage needs around Rp 20 million
per month.

Lorand said 35 orphans were studying at elementary schools, 40
at junior high schools and five others at senior high schools.

The boys went to the regular schools in the morning and
learned extra studies, such as computing, sewing, English and
religion, in the evening at the orphanage, he said.

"The boys mostly come from Jakarta, with a few from other
cities, like Palembang, Cirebon and Sukabumi. They were sent to
my orphanage by their relatives," he said.

Born in Canberra, Lorand said he loves orphans because he was
raised by his mother, a Rumanian-born woman who grew up in
Australia.

Lorand visited 42 countries before he arrived in Indonesia in
1984 in the North Sumatra capital of Medan.

A year later, Lorand moved to Jakarta and married Seminarti, a
woman from Blitar, East Java, in 1986.

A Moslem since 1977, Lorand and his wife performed the
pilgrimage to Mecca last year under the sponsorship of the
diversified Bimantara business group, which is chaired by
President Suharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo.

Lorand and wife founded the orphanage in 1989 with only two
orphans. His wife died last year of a stomach illness.

He hopes that one day he might own a bigger building where he
would be able to accommodate orphan girls.

Those who want to give should contact him on (021) 5202569 or
send the money to Bank Muamalat, account number 301.0018810 or
Bank Central Asia account number 0353009572.