Brits to walk across Java for charity

Joseph Mangga, Contributor, Jakarta

Most expatriates in Jakarta often talk about wanting to help the underprivileged but unfortunately precious few ever take up the challenge and place any serious time and energy where their mouth is.

Well then, for all you disbelievers, let me introduce Keith Maynard and Jon Elliott, two geo-professionals from ConocoPhillips who have talked the talk, and are now going to walk the walk, to seek donations for a number of worthy children's charities.

And what a walk it is! Coast to coast across Java, from Ancol in the north, to Pelabuhan Ratu in the South. It's more than 100 kilometers, as the crow flies -- but the tortuous traverse these two Brit's have chosen is well over 200 kilometers!

First off-road across the lesser-known kampongs (villages) and rice fields between Jakarta and Bogor (well removed from the Jagorawi tollway, of course); then a dogleg south across the outer-boondocks of the Salak mountain; followed by some truly serious trailblazing along the shadows of the dormant Halimun volcano. And if all goes according to plan, they will hopefully pop-out eight exhausting days later somewhere along the coast, west of Pelabuhan Ratu.

Maynard is a geophysicist while Elliott is a geologist. They both are married with families of three children apiece and have worked in Southeast Asia for most of their careers. Maynard did most of the talking, while Elliott coughed-up some of the better one-liners.

Question: "How did the walk come about?"

Maynard: "You always look at these things, where people canoe down the Amazon. I always wanted to do something like that, without having lots of other people involved, (so) people would go, 'That's quite interesting. Why are they doing it?' The (main) reason is to raise the charity money. The walk is going to be a challenge, but it's not important in the big scheme of things."

Elliott: "And we wanted to be associated with children's charities. We're both family men and obviously have strong feelings towards the kids that we see in Jakarta with nothing. So we wanted to give something back to that."

"What do your wives have to say about the walk?

Maynard: "They've both lived with us for quite a few years so they know we're quite deranged. I actually got an email from a mate in the University that said, 'Glad to know you're still mad as ever. I'll give you 50 pounds.'"

Elliott: "I've actually been given a lot of offers of sponsorship because I'm walking with him. They said, 'if you are going to walk for eight days with Maynard you definitely deserve some money.'"

Maynard: "I've never walked anything like this in my life. Our philosophy is the first 5K are going to be quite tough and the next 195 will hopefully be (easier). The worst thing is if I get severe blisters, or if we can't find accommodations and I have to sleep with Jon."

Elliott: "It was never a pain in the past darling..."

The seven charity programs, coordinated by an expatriate social welfare group, represent a wide range of very good causes, including tuberculosis medication, student sponsorships, a kampong sanitation facility, and milk and vitamins for malnourished children. And the great news is that virtually all the funds go directly towards aid.

Maynard said: "There's so much stuff out there you can give to. We wanted to insure that every project we channel funds into has been vetted, that it's clean. That all the money people give us ends up where it's intended. The group is non-profit, with no costs for administration, so every single rupiah goes right to the heart of things."

The harelip and cleft pallet operation program, one of Maynard and Elliott's favorites, provides a great guideline for what exactly one's donation can buy.

Maynard said: "Australian doctors are brought to Indonesia to train local doctors, and that's why the treatment is so cheap. So someone could say, 'Hold on a minute. For only $300, I can fix somebody's face and completely change a kid's life.'"

Driving the streets of Jakarta, each and every one of us bears witness to various ever-changing scenes of poverty on a daily basis. Besides the occasional hand-out through a narrow window- slit, many of us wish there was something more we could do. A drop of hope that could somehow make a difference in the lives of Jakarta's less fortunate. More often than not, we drive on, smug in the conviction that the problem is probably bigger than what a single person can possibly resolve.

But as the old adage goes, "if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem." So please thank God there are a few assertive expats like them out there to help show us the way.

For information about making a donation, contact Odette at 524- 1977 or email at C.Maynard@conoco.com