Ice has worked for me for nearly one year now. Her plan when she began working for me was to work for one year and save up money and then go back to school. She still needs to complete her final year of high school. A while ago she got all ready to go and apply to finish high school and she couldn't find her prior years certificates and reports. They'd all been stolen. (Authentic certificates can garner big money on the black market here) Without proper paperwork, she can't finish school. I suggested that she go to the school's she'd attended and ask if they still have records and could maybe make her new paperwork. She said that it is quite difficult to do that and the process makes her head spin. (kind of a literal translation) Needless to say, the poor girl was rather upset about this. But her dad tells her to just take it slow and try to work things out maybe with whomever stole the papers. I know in Java you could do an assessment test and based on the results enter into an appropriate grade. I'm not sure they are set up for that here. We are the end of the line here in Papua. We get the leftovers...
Then I asked Ice if she had saved any money, as that was after all her purpose... No, she hasn't saved anything yet. Every time she gets paid she gives money to her mom and then to her dad (she lives with him so she should give him some money) and then there's just a little bit left for her to buy the things she needs. I told her that I would give her a raise and that she could save that extra money in our house. I will put the money in a bottle and hide it somewhere "safe". This way, if any of her relatives come to her for money (they all know she works for me...) then she can honestly say that she has no money in her house. If she has money, she is obligated to give it. That's just the way it works here.
This morning she came to me and said that a relative of hers, a guy who lives with her and her dad (or so I understood) was wondering if he could borrow 500,000 rupiahs from me and pay me back at the end of the day. I'm not sure why he actually thought I would go for this... He is a taxi driver and had been hit by someone while driving and that person took off. So Ice's relatives boss was angry and told him to fix the car today. I asked Ice how he would get that kind of money by the end of the day. She said that he is paid by the hour. There is no way that he would get that kind of money in one day. I prefer not to lend money to people. Especially not in large amounts like that. I will give money to people who need medicine, but no loans... unless they already work for us.
Then this evening as I was walking home from the pool, I met Pak Nios' wife. (he is still in Wamena and hopes to come home tomorrow) She was carrying their little 7 month old girl. The girl had a fever and green puss coming out of her ear. I was like... hmmm... I think you need to give her antibiotics... but let me find out for sure and what kind. I'm going to guess that right now they have no money in their house as Pak Nios is gone. So going to the doctor was probably not even an option. (They could probably get subsidized health care but it is a long process and they would have no idea of how to go about it) These folks are from the interior and have only lived here for a few years. They have very little education and are just simple, good folk. I really didn't want to get amoxicillan and leave it with them to give to Nelfika three times a day for ten days... So I went to the apotik and asked if they had Zithromax, and amazingly they did! It cost me $14 instead of the $3 amoxicillan would have cost, but now I can go there once a day for five days and give it to her myself. I already went and gave her the first dose. There were about 10 people in that tiny house. And they all live there. Personal space... what's that??? As we sat on their straw floor, I explained that I was going to come and give this medicine to Nelfika for five days. Then I explained when and how much panadol (tylenol) to give to her. They have never before given a syrup medicine to a baby... But there were about 10 of them who heard me explain that this medicine does not make you better, it just makes you feel more comfortable. They also told me that a couple hours earlier, they had all been sleeping the two "bedrooms" when a thief came in a stole a pair of shoes and a knife and some original Nokens (bags that they weave from grass and use to carry things-they put the handle across the forehead and the bag hangs down the back). They said there are lots of drunk people around at night. I feel so bad for them. I'm glad that we can at least give them some employment. I can almost hardly wait for Christmas so that I have a good reason to just give them some stuff...