Jakarta's social workers work tirelessly for the handicapped

In observance of National Mental Health Day on Friday and World Mental Health Day on Saturday, The Jakarta Post reporter Ida Indawati Khow talked with several social workers at psychiatric centers in the capital.

JAKARTA (JP): "Thank God we do not turn insane although we have interacted with them and been together with them for years," said social worker Sumarno of Panti Sosial Bina Laras Harapan Sentosa 02 in Cipayung, East Jakarta.

Some of them work at different centers, but Saminem, Sri Astuti, Kirwo and Rustam expressed the same sentiment.

Many workers also reside at the centers. Living round-the- clock with the mentally handicapped, dealing with their sometimes erratic behavior and individual characteristics, is not an easy job, they said. Unsurprisingly, the job has a high turnover.

The workers who stay on take comfort in their ability to function as normal human beings despite the stresses of their work.

Patients can be unpredictable, and sometimes physically threatening.

Kindly workers, perhaps gifted with the hearts of angels, have learned to take the behavior in their stride.

They sit down to dine with restless patients in rooms reeking of pungent odors.

They consider it all part of their job.

"When we open our eyes first thing in the morning, we know that we're dealing with patients who cannot do their daily activities by themselves like normal people," said Sumarno, 27, who has worked at the center for four years.

It's our task to bathe them, to lead them to the toilet. We must look after them. Otherwise, the center will be messy and smelly."

They try their best, but there are still the overbearing odors of urine and feces. Flies cluster around small pools of human waste.

Saminem, who has worked at the center since 1988, recalled his first days on the job as particularly tough.

"It's very hard in the beginning. For the first two weeks, I couldn't have my meals inside the complex."

The head of the Harapan Sentosa 02 center, Mundhori, said workers must have empathy and dedication. They are also required to follow to the letter the social workers' declaration "to treat human beings to become human beings".

Harapan Sentosa 02 has 16 social workers to serve its 267 patients. Unmarried workers live at the center.

Sri Astuti put their tasks into basic terms. "We even help the female patients put on their sanitary napkins during their period."

Rustam of Panti Sosial Bina Laras Harapan Sentosa 03 in Jelambar, West Jakarta, related how the job shows humanity at its most abject.

"We always start our day not with breakfast but facing human feces, urine and other wastes."

At 4:30 a.m., Rustam begins work by bathing the patients, cleaning toilets and tidying up beds and rooms.

"Sometime we have our breakfast quite late if the patients need more attention," he said.

They end their work at 5 p.m. after the patients have eaten dinner.

It is free time for the social workers, but many stay in the center and watch TV with the patients.

It is not uninterrupted viewing -- patients often become fidgety or rowdy.

"It's quite difficult to find fully dedicated workers as most of them refused to continue with the job in the first week after they face the unexpected realities," Mundhori said.

"On another occasion, parents forbade their daughter from working here as they did not have the heart for her to live with the mentally handicapped."

Despite the job stresses, the pay is low. With a daily allowance of Rp 8,000 and a monthly salary of Rp 100,000, the social workers urged the city administration to upgrade their employment status to that of civil servants.

"It's very difficult to get the status as we have to compete with thousands of applicants (from other institutions)," Sri Astuti said.

It may be cold comfort for social workers struggling to survive on low wages but, in the eyes of angels at least, their work is a blessed and unselfish contribution to society.