The longer we live here, the better we get to know our neighbours. I've heard some rather interesting stories as of late concerning some of our neighbours. Ibu Umi, the one that sells gado-gado, had been borrowing the cart she was using from Ibu Haji. Haji is a term of respect given to those who have gone to Mecca with their own money. No one calls my pembantu Ibu Haji because she went with her boss and didn't use her own money. Anyways, suddenly Ibu Haji decides that she wants to sell this cart and she wants 750,000 for it. Ibu Umi offered her 500,000 but in payments, not a lump sum. Ibu Haji, even though an old friend, wouldn't take the offer, she wants the cash up front. Hugo and I figure that this is because Muslims are actually not allowed to charge interest to eachother. So Ibu Umi uses an old desk that she already had and had a display case made for the top. It cost her 300,000 but she can pay a little bit at a time whenever she has the money. But the guy who made it for her painted it white, but really badly. It looked terrible, I felt so sorry for her because she is just doing what she can to survive, so I went out and bought her some nice blue paint. The other night her son and daughter painted the whole thing and boy does it look better now. Anyways, I wondered why in the world Ibu Haji suddenly wanted to sell this cart. Turns out, three years ago her husband had a girlfriend. Muslims are allowed to take a second wife if the first wife can no longer have children or never could, or isn't able to fulfill her sexual obligations to her husband. Of course everyone knew about it, but Ibu Haji didn't want to believe it. Even when her nine brothers and sisters came to her and told her about it. Finally, her husband came to his senses and dumped the other girl, but somehow or another, this cart was from that girl. I didn't get how or why, but Ibu Haji wants it gone because it reminds her of this bad time in her life.
Ibu Umi, I just love this woman. She works so hard so that her family can eat. Remember that her daughter had her purse stolen with 40 million rups in it and they have to pay that all back? So Ibu Nina's husbands salary is cut 1 million a month and the bulk of the rest of his money goes towards paying for his transportation and then there's a bit left over. So they rely rather heavily on Ibu Umi's sales. Every few days she cuts up a big pile of shallots and thinly slices them and then fries them up to sprinkle on her dishes that she sells. This takes an enormous amount of time and they always end up crying. There is a hand crank tool that will slice them for you, but it costs 15,000 (about 2$ cad) that will do it a lot faster and won't make you cry but she just can't afford to spend that much on a tool. Guess what I'll be getting on my next trip to the store? It just pains me to see how much time and effort it takes them to get everything ready for sale and how little they earn from it. Time is just not valued here in the same way that it is back home. If they priced their wares accordingly, no one would buy them so they have no choice. I have the utmost respect for Ibu Umi, because she knows that I can afford to buy her this tool, but she will never, ever ask me for it.
I would just love for this family to come to know our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.