Caring for orphans labor of love for one man
Grace Segran, Contributor, Bogor, West Java
At 21 years of age, when most people are completing their studies or are at the threshold of their career, Emmanuel Laumonier is working tirelessly with 26 orphans in Bogor and 100 others throughout Indonesia.
This young man of French and Indonesian parentage is shy, even taciturn. But talk to him about his kids, and he immediately lights up. He speaks enthusiastically about sweet little Tika, whom he nursed while she was very ill with typhoid, Jevrin who loves to draw, Martin who runs for the school and many others.
What started as an International Baccalaureate (IB) social- based project while studying at the Jakarta International School (JIS) became a passion for him.
"Initially, I taught English to kids in the orphanages but by the second year, we had become good friends," Emmanuel said. "I began to go there more frequently, and the kids and I became very close. Soon I was doing everything I could to help them -- from shopping for food and cooking, to washing the dishes, helping them clean the orphanage and giving them what little money I had."
Despite spending so much time with the kids, he finished top of the IB exams in 1997. JIS' vice-principal of academic affairs, Roger Brumby, remembers Emmanuel as "a very talented, very concerned young man, most modest in everything he did".
Emmanuel was a member of the National Honor Society. He was also involved in performing and the visual arts. He plays the guitar and clarinet. As an eighth grader, he illustrated a book called To Your Good Health, Your Majesty written by a JIS history teacher, David Alexander.
In 1997, he tore himself away from his kids to attend Bard College in upstate New York, where he was awarded a full scholarship. He graduated in three years instead of four, a double major in anthropology and biology.
Emmanuel had the world at his feet but he chose a higher calling -- to fill the lives of the forgotten, precious souls with a love and sense of "family" that they would otherwise not have known.
Indeed he has touched and transformed the lives of many of the orphans who were abused and abandoned street children. He cares for them as though they were his own. Through patience and love, many of them are on their way to becoming good citizens.
Looking at Richard Oroh, 7, today, for example, you would not believe that he grew up in the company of motorbike gangs. He stole Rp 150,000 from Emmanuel the first night he came, and hit and kicked the other kids every day. After three months of love and care at the home, Richard became a hardworking and enterprising young lad and rose to become the second in his class.
Other stories like this abound.
What's a typical day like for Emmanuel, or K'Im (Kakak Immanuel) as the kids call him?
He's up at 4:30 a.m. and takes the children to school at 6:30 a.m.
Then he comes home and takes care of administrative tasks -- checking e-mails and writing letters to donors, and looking after maintenance and housekeeping matters.
At 12:30 p.m. they eat lunch together. The afternoon is nap time for the smallest ones. Then it's baths and afternoon snacks, and then homework and study time.
Often he has to attend to tasks such as taking a child who is sick to the doctor or someone who has myopia to the optician, or nursing Deo the orphaned dog.
Dinner is at 6 p.m. and he normally goes to sleep around 11 p.m., after a very long day.
Emmanuel started the orphanage with US$5,000 which he raised by washing dishes and baby-sitting while he was studying in the U.S.
He also organized fund-raisers in New York.
With the modest sum and a lot of faith, he rented a house in a quiet residential area of Bogor and brought in his kids. After paying six months' rent in advance, he had only enough money for one month's maintenance of the home.
To keep the home running, Emmanuel raises funds himself by following leads and doing his best to get aid. The accounts are audited by KPMG International. He gets support from organizations such as JIS, Japfa and Simplot. However, there is still a dire need for funds, especially for schooling, which takes up a large portion of the maintenance costs of the home.
Yayasan Emmanuel officially became a foundation on Aug. 10, nine months after Emmanuel started the home.
It may be a 24-hour, thankless, non-paying job, but Emmanuel counts it all a joy. The joy of seeing his kids turn over a new leaf, move forward by leaps and bounds in school and in their social and emotional lives, possess a desire to learn and to do well in life.
Does he sometimes feel like giving up when the going gets tough? "Yes!" he admits. But when a kid who has been naughty knocks on his door at night to say he's sorry, Emmanuel knows he is here to stay.
Emmanuel Laumonier can be contacted at: yayasan.emmanuel@bogor.indo.net.id or Jl. Bincarung No. 6, Bogor Tanah Sareal 16161, Indonesia.