Food for Work: NGO improves sanitation through food aid

Food for Work: NGO improves sanitation through food aid

By Berni K. Moestafa

SURABAYA (JP): The stench is unbelievable, overpowering what
remains of the fresh air that has managed to filter down under
the iron sheeted huts of the Embong Kaliasin slum area in
Surabaya, East Java.

The nose soon detects the gutter, in Jakarta an all too
familiar smell, which is an unidentifiable brew of dark gray that
seems to get thicker by the day.

A look over one's shoulder and the source of this porridge-
like river is apparent: a row of public toilets that share their
rear walls with a goat pen, which in turn shares its with a
kitchen.

Though the above picture is not wholly representative of
Embong Kaliasin's overall look, hygiene has always been a rare
commodity in slum areas. Efforts are needed, therefore, to
reverse this situation.

World Vision, an international nongovernmental organization,
introduced the slums in Surabaya to a program called Food for
Work: an eight-month project aimed at encouraging communities in
slums to revamp their basic sanitary systems in exchange for
three kilograms of rice a day.

Nathanael Kristanto, World Vision's Food for Work program
coordinator said, "We provide the required construction materials
and pay them with rice; all they do is work to improve their own
housing environment."

World Vision started the project last September as part of the
Surabaya Emergency Operational Plan (SEOP), which is a relief
program targeted to ease the affects of rising unemployment
caused by the economic crisis.

"These people can't earn adequate incomes and have slid below
the poverty line," he said.

Nathanael said the Food for Work program was a social safety
net that offered employment while at the same time improved the
community's infrastructure.

Seven villages

The program is currently operating in the seven villages of
Embong Kaliasin, Kapasari, Peneleh, Genteng, Wonorejo, Tegalsari
and Pacar Keling.

In these villages, World Vision targeted increasing food
availability among 6,500 households, in addition to 4,150 female
headed households and vulnerable individuals like the elderly and
the handicapped.

In total, however, 9,141 households are taking part in the
program while 1,717 female headed households and 2,304 vulnerable
individuals are receiving food aid.

Under the Food for Work program, Nathanael said, each
participant received a daily ration of three kilograms of rice
for five hours work.

"They work 22 days a month and in turn receive 66 kilograms,"
he said.

The United Nation's World Food Program (WFP) provided 3,875
metric tons of rice, to be distributed within the program's eight
months, ending in April.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
laid down US$170,580 worth of construction materials.

The Food for Work program targets families with incapacitated
or handicapped parents at a productive age, single mothers with
two or more children below the age of 10, unemployed heads of
households with children of school age and households living
under the poverty line also with children of school age.

Nathanael said that at first it was difficult to convince
these people about the benefit of this program.

"It was partly a matter of pride to them, seeing us offering
help just like that," he said, adding that the antiwestern
sentiment that followed shortly after the East Timor ballot in
late August 1999 further added to this barrier.

According to him, it took about a month to socialize the
importance of this program, during which time World Vision
approached community leaders in search of their support.

However, genuine support came after the community saw that the
people who had joined the program actually received their portion
of rice as promised by World Vision.

"By then they knew that we were serious," he said.

In September, during the first month of the SEOP project, only
1,542 households signed up for the program; in the following
month, the number jumped to 8,732 households.

With the surge in the number of people participating, up until
Jan. 31 the seven villages had constructed 3,439 meters of
drainage systems, 190 meters of sewers covers, 1,856 meters of
cemented village roads, two garbage collection bins and two
public latrines.

Construction is still in process, including the renovation of
four public water tanks, one community health post and three
wells.

In preparation for the constructions, World Vision surveyed
and prepared 439 infrastructure improvement projects, which the
villagers had outlined themselves.

Nathanael said the community developed project proposals at
community meetings, after which the proposals were approved by
village leaders and local organization leaders.

World Vision received the proposals and then evaluated the
cost of them and the communities' priorities before giving the
final go ahead, he said.

Villagers, he said, also targeted spots prone to flooding for
their project proposals.

After five months of work, the results got the attention of
USAID assistant administrator for the Asia and Near East region,
Robert C. Randolph, who surveyed parts of Embong Kaliasin's
slums.

While making his way along a labyrinth of narrow and often
shabby alleys, Randolph had the opportunity to meet people whom
previously he had known only as statistics, and got firsthand
confirmation that the project had benefited the right people.

"I had a chance to talk with these people and they told me the
project is a terrific success," Randolph said, adding that he
wished USAID could have done more.

He said the Food for Work program allowed villagers to learn
"participation skills" when deciding which projects they wanted
to improve their communities.

Randolph explained that, generally, one third of the USAID
budget, which this year for Indonesia stood at US$145 million,
was allocated for social net funding such as this project.

He said for the year 1999/2000 USAID had increased Indonesia's
budget by 33 percent and expected an additional increase next
year, providing the country's political situation continues to
improve.

USAID would also sponsor World Vision's next project, called
Urban Reach, which would be a children's health improvement
program to be implemented in the same slum areas.

World Vision itself is present in almost 100 countries and has
been in Indonesia for 40 years. It first established orphanages
here before expanding its services to the welfare of families and
entire communities.