West Jakarta mall reaches out to orphans
West Jakarta mall reaches out to orphans
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The 20 male orphans staying at the Al Muharram orphanage on Jl.
Cipinang Cempedak II in East Jakarta, will no longer sleep in
damp rooms with a leaky roof, thanks to assistance offered by the
management of Taman Anggrek Mall.
Visiting the orphanage on Saturday, Taman Anggrek Public
Relations and Communications Coordinator Dessy Tanumihardjo said
that her office would finance renovation work at the orphanage.
"We will help fix the leaks, refurbish the bathrooms and
kitchen and also give them several new sets of lockers and beds,"
Dessy said.
Kaka, one of the orphans, said that he and four others were
sleeping in the backyard of the orphanage.
"The room often gets flooded when it rains," said Kaka, an
elementary school student at a nearby Islamic school.
The Al Muharram orphanage is one of 15 orphanages in the
capital that receive assistance from Taman Anggrek. Each
orphanage receives different types of assistance, depending on
their needs, but they are mostly in the form of renovation,
training and equipment supplies, such as personal and household
care, school accessories, computer sets, lockers and fumigation
sets.
Orphanages that get assistance from Taman Anggrek include
Mekar Sari in Tangerang; Vincentius Putra in Central Jakarta;
Dwituna Rawinala in East Jakarta; Seda Putra and An Najah in
South Jakarta; Kasih Immanuel Foundation in North Jakarta and
Asuhan Adinda in West Jakarta.
"This is part of Taman Anggrek Mall's social responsibility
after nine years in operation. Our reason to give in the form of
physical assistance is because we want to give something that
beneficiaries will remember us by," said Dessy.
She said that the 15 orphanages receiving the assistance were
selected randomly and had been thoroughly screened.
"We usually just ask them what they really need and check the
condition of the place. We brought along a team comprising Taman
Anggrek's contractor and other staff, to calculate the costs,"
said Dessy.
"Every orphanage gets different forms of assistance. For the
Al Muharram orphanage, we've given several sets of lockers and a
few single and bunk beds," she said.
Mochammad Syarif, 76, founder of Al Muharram, said that the
orphanage had 20 boys and 25 girls. The girls, however, live with
relatives and receive food allowances and tuition from the
orphanage.
"The boys come from nearby areas including Cawang and Kebon
Nanas in East Jakarta, and they have lost both of their parents.
As for the girls, they are living with their relatives and most
of them still have a mother," explained Syarif.