This morning I went outside our front door with my school book in my hand to go and see if someone could answer my questions of the day. Ibu Umi from next door, the house with one window and lots of people living in it, waved me over rather enthusiastically. So I went in and sat down. I wondered what was up. Turns out her son needs to buy books for school. There are some books that the students share between a few because you can write your answers in a notebook. But most of the other books you have to buy because you have to write down the answers in them. They needed Rp112,500 in order to buy all the necessary books for the second semester of school. They said that they would repay us by the 10th of the next month as that is when Ibu Nina’s (Ibu Umi’s daughter, the one with the new baby who by the way has been named Mita) husband gets paid and then they can pay us back. Normally it is expected that they show me the books that they bought so that I know they are not lying. But as we live right next to these people and see them work hard every day to eke out a living here, I quite trust them. After we had finished talking about that, I went and got them the funds. Then it was time for the baby to be bathed and Ibu Umi asked me if I wanted to see how they do it. So I went into the back room of their house where they have their “kitchen”. It’s hard to explain what it is like, but I’ll try. There really isn’t a kitchen at all. There is a small counter top in one corner but it doesn’t have a sink. There is no sink at all. Beside that, surrounded by 4 foot high walls, was a squatty potty toilet. There is no door to this “washroom”, only a doorway. None of these walls are painted and are just the colour of the cement they were made with. Then Ibu Nina told me that her brother wanted to “use the water” so I vacated that area of the house quickly. Her brother closed a curtain in the doorway between that area of the house and the rest. That’s as much privacy as you get... Wah duh! It’s no wonder they think our house is sooooo nice. So, while my kitchen is incredibly tiny, at least I have a one with a sink and a tap and a fridge and a double burner gas stove and an oven box. (see photos that I posted in August of our kitchen…) And while our bathrooms aren’t beautiful to look at, they have doors that you can lock and showers that spew out hot water and sinks to wash by…
The Indonesian government has started a program whereby families that are very poor can get a special paper which enables them to visit the state run hospitals and see a doctor and get medicine free of charge. With this paper they can also get rice for a lot cheaper from their local RT guy. However, to qualify for this special letter, you must live in a house that has a dirt floor, is not made out of cement-just weaved bamboo or cardboard, and is not very big. You must also not have a job or own the house yourself. This should give you any idea of the poverty that exists here. People like our neighbours are considered too well off to qualify for that kind of governmental help. Makes us all thankful to live in a country like Canada where good health care is available to all.