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Friday, March 30, 2012

Toilets, Fanta, and Carrefour are Luxury Saved for the Haves

Jakarta Globe, by Candice Kitingan, March 29, 2012

In Prumpung, East Jakarta, a boy pumps water from a well for bathing
and cleaning. (Photo courtesy of Candice Kitingan).
  
Toilets! A place we visit frequently each day. A toilet can be a place where we find solitude, escaping from family, friends or work to sit and contemplate deep thoughts. For others, it is a place that we are happy to enter and exit as quickly as possible. For most of us, a toilet is an everyday household item which we cannot live without — but it’s certainly nothing marvelous.
 
I was a little taken aback when I attended my first event with some children from Sahabat Anak Kota Tua at the Mandarin hotel last December. When we arrived, the first thing I was asked is “Miss, miss, where is the toilet?” So I pointed them in the right direction, and a couple of the children happily trotted off together.

They spent an unusual amount of time in the bathroom, and when they re-emerged, their hair and faces were wet. In my mind I could not comprehend what odd things they had been up to. Maybe the toilet integrated bidet had gotten out of control. But wet hair? How did this happen?

Whenever we are on our way to an event my boss always says to me, “Oh, no. I worry about the children playing in the toilet. Don’t you know, this is their most favorite place, the toilet is so clean and modern and they find it fascinating because they don’t know how to use it.”

I must say the toilets at the Mandarin Hotel were lovely, even for me. But for the children at Sahabat Anak these toilets are incredible compared to what they are used to. In most of the communities we work in, families cannot afford to have their own bathroom, simply because they lack running water. Many of Jakarta’s marginalized communities are still using wells as their main water supply for washing and bathing.

Poor communities build communal toilets for everyone, which are make-shift boxes made from scrap pieces of wood and gyp rock built precariously over a drain, canal or river with a hole in the bottom. The children love hanging out in the toilets, be it the immaculate toilets at the Mandarin Hotel or port-a-loos at an event. They see it as an opportunity to play with all the taps and flushes while washing their face and hair. I am amazed that something which is so normal to me could be so fascinating to someone else.

A couple of months ago a team from Youth Expedition Project Singapore were visiting and helping to renovate the Mangga Dua building, while also spending some time with the children. One of the Singaporeans asked “What is your dream?” and one children responded with “My dream is that one day I will have enough money to visit Carrefour.” The volunteer broke down crying. She said to me “Every day I can visit Carrefour, and I think it’s nothing special. And for this little child it is one of their dreams to visit it.”

Another time, a friend was talking with one of the children at Prumpung and asked them, “What is something special you do during the school holidays?” The child answered “My father takes me to Indomaret (a small convenience store) to drink Fanta as a special treat.”

Working at Sahabat Anak and interacting with Jakarta’s marginalized communities has taught me to always be thankful for everything I have. The students at the school do not have a lot, yet they appreciate the things that most of us take for granted, even toilets, Carrefour and Fanta. They do not ask for a lot, just the opportunity to receive an education and reach for their dreams.

I would like to remind you that it doesn’t take much for you to also get involved and help marginalized children — just a couple of hours a week volunteering and teaching kids to read and write.

Through friendship, Sahabat Anak aims to journey with street children, helping them to access education and basic services, and most of all inspiring them to dream big and achieve those dreams.

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