Japanese farmers give orphans rice

JAKARTA (JP): Jakenchu, the association of Japanese farmers, gave on Friday a donation of 220 tons of rice and another 150 kilograms of instant rice packages to 227 orphanages to assist them through the crisis.

The donation was handed over by a representative of Jakenchu, Hiromi Katsumata, to Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) secretary-general Soesanto Mangoen Sadjito in a ceremony at PMI's headquarters on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

The handover ceremony was witnessed by Herman Henk Bergsma, the Indonesian representative for the International Red Cross Federation.

The donation was intended to assist 13,099 orphans at the 227 orphanages, located in 27 cities in West Java. Each orphan will get 16.8 kilograms of rice over two months, Soesanto said.

The distribution of rice will be conducted by PMI branches throughout West Java next week, he said.

Soesanto said after the ceremony that he warmly welcomed the donation, which was urgently needed by the orphans.

"In the current economic hardship, such a donation will be very helpful in assisting the daily needs of the children," he said.

"Indonesia is a very big country, but most of its people are facing hardship during the crisis," he said, adding that millions of Indonesian people are now living below the poverty line.

Jakenchu, established more than 100 years ago in Japan, supervises agricultural cooperatives. It has nine million members, of whom four million are farmers.

"We distribute rice not only to Indonesia, but also to other parts of the world under the food aid package program," Hiromi said. (01)