Communal kitchen serves food to Acehnese students

Communal kitchen serves food to Acehnese students

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

The Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that decimated Aceh also shook Fajar, 24, who lives miles away from his hometown in Yogyakarta.

As of Friday, he had still not been able to make contact with his parents and relatives back in Aceh. Fajar stands strong though, for he knows that he is not alone and many people have extended help to him and others in the same situation.

The worst day was the end of the month, a time when his funds were close to drying up. He nearly ran out of money -- needed to support his studies, rent and other daily expenses.

Praying for the safety of relatives and friends in their hometowns has become a daily routine for some 1,500 Acehnese students at various universities in Yogyakarta.

Fajar and his fellow Acehnese students' prayers were answered, partly.

Two days after the tsunami, a local resident had the idea of opening a dapur umum (public kitchen) at the Tjoet Njak Dien student dormitory on Jl. Kartini 1A, Sagan. The makeshift kitchen was established to serve food to Acehnese students.

Since then many Acehnese students, including Fajar, are regular visitors to the dormitory. He even moved out of his rented room to the dormitory, offering his services as a volunteer. He also gets free shelter.

"The kitchen really means something to me. I think the others also think the same," Fajar told The Jakarta Post.

According to coordinator of the public kitchen Hendra Riyadi, 27, hundreds of Acehnese students regularly gather in the dormitory, but on Dec. 28, as they were trying exchange information about the earthquake and tsunami, a woman arrived at the dormitory and gave them a set of cooking appliances and other basics.

"And that was the way the public kitchen was established spontaneously here," said Hendra Riyadi, adding that the dormitory had turned into a community gathering spot that served Acehnese students in need.

To their surprise, more and more Yogya residents were also moved to donate either money or food to them.

Dara Amalia, 24, a volunteer at the public kitchen, said that all the food that the kitchen had been serving came from the community and government institutions. The municipal government of Yogyakarta, for example, had recently donated Rp 4 million for the public kitchen.

One man was brought them two plastic bags of grated coconut.

"I bring you grated coconuts because I know Acehnese like to use coconut to cook. And I'm also sure very few people would think about such a small, but meaningful thing," the man, who came to the post with his wife and a five-year old child, said.

At another time, a housewife was seen visiting the dormitory and delivered two plastic sacks each containing 25 kilograms of rice. "Sister, I come bearing gifts and rice.

"Please, give me a hand to take these inside," the woman said as she introduced herself to one of the Acehnese students.

Yanti, the 43-year-old woman, said she was moved to help because she said she could not bear the thought of how these students would continue to survive if they no longer received monthly living allowances from home.

"I was an anak kost (university dorm tenant) myself once. I know how it feels when the living allowance is sent late. And it would be of course even worse if it completely stopped. I just cannot imagine what they would do if nobody gives them a helping hand," she said.

Another volunteer said that the kitchen served meals twice a day. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner is served starting at around 6 p.m.

"We cook for some 200 students a day," said Dara Amalia, 24, a volunteer, adding that the kitchen also served food for volunteers grouped in the Komite Kemanusiaan untuk Aceh (Humanitarian Committee for Aceh) based in the dormitory.

Dozens of volunteers have joined the committee and occupy several posts that the committee has established in three different spots in the city.

One is on the campus of the National Development University (UPN) on Jl. Ring Road Utara, one is near the main post office in Yogyakarta, and the headquarters is on Jl. Kartini.

"There are some 1,500 Acehnese students in Yogyakarta. Some, however, have gone home to look for their parents and families, and the others' whereabouts are not yet known in Yogyakarta," Dara said.

According to Hendra Riyadi, the public kitchen will be run for six months according to the plan, but will be closed if people no longer need it.

"This is an emergency action. If no one needs it, therefore, we will no longer run it," said Hendra, assuring that they would not run out of food to cook because more and more people had come to the kitchen and brought them plenty of food.

"Many have also expressed a commitment to keep helping us with the food supply as long as the public kitchen is still here," Hendra said.

Hendra, however, also expressed concern that the public kitchen was not effective in reaching all the Acehnese students studying in the city.

First, many of them had not yet been identified and it was not yet known where they were living.

Second, many lived so far from the dorm that it was not feasible for them to come each day.

"I think scholarships would be much better to help Acehnese students. Such aid would be much more effective because those who lived far away could save money on transportation costs. They would not need to come to the post just to eat," Hendra said.

Hendra, therefore, strongly suggested people offer as many Acehnese students as possible financial assistance, while at the same time his group was preparing data on Acehnese students in need.