Category Archives: Charities

Treating a Growing HIV and AIDS Epidemic in Indonesia

December 16, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

Yayasan Kasih Suwitno at Ruang Carlo Community Centre: Non-discriminatory, friendly and free services for people with HIV and AIDS in Jakarta, Indonesia.

World Aids Day took place on 1 December 2014 and according to UNAIDS, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in Indonesia is one of the fastest growing epidemics in Asia, due to the lack of awareness, lack of education and health services, not to mention the social stigmas attached to having HIV or AIDS. Indonesia’s first case of the HIV virus was reported in 1987 and in 2011, 310,000 were reported to have the virus, with 8,700 annual reported deaths.

Today, the highest concentration areas are Papua, where 2.7% of the population have contracted the virus, followed by Jakarta, East Java, West Java, Bali and Riau. In Wamina, West Papua, 30% of the population have HIV, and nearly 100% have either Chlamydia or Gonorrhea, as these particular STDs are closely linked with the HIV virus.

Steve Wignall, Founder of Yayasan Kasih Suwitno (YKS) in Jakarta and Yayasan Bali Peduli (YBP) in Bali, has been working in Indonesia for 30 years and is an expert in HIV and AIDS. Due to an increase in cases in young people, in 2011 Steve and Dr. Emon Winardi (Director of the clinic) and their friend Johan set up YKS at Ruang Carlo Community Centre to provide services to patients that were friendly, efficient, easy to access and most importantly, free.

The clinic is located in the Saint Carolus Hospital and is a comfortable and discreet area, closed off from the rest of the hospital. Walls are painted a calming cream, service is friendly and knowledgeable, and there are different areas where patients can wait in peace.

“For young people with a chronic sickness, it’s very hard. They don’t have a lot of disposable income; the system often doesn’t respect their time and the cost of transport back and forth,” Steve tells me on my visit to the clinic in the centre of Jakarta.

Today the clinic has six full-time staff and is a wonderful example of a public-private partnership, working with the government who provide the reagents and drugs, and the NGO providing the environment and resources to make it accessible to people.

A common misconception is that HIV is a death sentence, when this is no longer true. If a person is tested early, before their immune system is damaged, medication is free and they will be able to live happy, healthy lives, have families and not infect other people. People are afraid to come for testing because of the stigmas associated with the virus.

Steve Wignall and Dr. Janice of Ruang Carlo Community Centre, Jakarta

Dr. Janice Tandraeliene works at Ruang Carlo Community Centre and believes stigmas are the main reason why people don’t take the test. “Some people are afraid to come, not just here but to all health facilities that test for HIV. There are many reasons, including the stigma, because they’re alone and don’t know what to do. When people come here alone, we try to consult and explain about HIV and make them comfortable so that they want to take the test.” If the result is positive, patients will be guided by therapy and given medication, which they are expected to take for the remainder of their lives.

The medication given to HIV patients is called anti-retroviral therapy and works by suppressing the virus and stopping the progression of the disease. Killing the virus is not possible, but these drugs stop it from developing. HIV is different from other viruses and infections because it becomes one with the DNA, integrating and hiding within it. Patients do not die from HIV; they die from infections, viruses and funguses, which are able to attack the weakened immune system.

“Unfortunately, HIV goes for the dalang (mastermind) of our immune system, the CD4 positive T cells, a type of white blood cell that is vital to fighting off infection. We’re all exposed every day to viruses and funguses but our immune system takes care of that,” Steve explains.

HIV is transmitted in key infected populations: injecting drug users – a problem that is decreasing in Indonesia as people are switching to amphetamine-like substances –, female commercial sex workers – 10-15% of whom are HIV positive -, and men who have sex with men – a rapidly expanding population of over 1 million individuals. In Jakarta in 2003, studies showed that 2% of gay men were found to be HIV positive; in 2007, 8%; and in 2011, 17%. At YKS today, an average of 27% of young men tested, are HIV positive.

What is the reason for this growing statistic? Social medias are providing a new platform for young people to meet and sex is happening at a younger age. Unfortunately, this is not coupled with adequate sexual education in local schools, and not at an early enough age, by teachers who are able and willing to talk openly about sex.

One of the fastest growing groups in Indonesia are housewives infected by their husbands who are visiting sex workers or are having sex with other men. In Bali, one in 200 pregnant women have contracted the virus from their husbands.

Steve believes the focus should shift towards men. “The focus often goes to the women, but it’s really the man that’s the problem. There’s only a sex industry if there’s a market to sell sex; if men didn’t buy it, there would not be women selling it. Getting men who buy sex to use condoms is a challenge and we need to continue to work on that; the best we see is 40-50% condom use.”

Antonio giving a consultation to a patient at Ruang Carlo Community Centre

Antonio is Case Manager at Ruang Carlo Community Centre and is HIV positive. He’s passionate about helping others who are going through what he has. “My life has become more positive, living healthily, and getting support from family and friends. Of course, I want to be a role model for other friends so they do not feel despair and can continue to enjoy their lives by giving and sharing information about the ups and downs of life with HIV, and supporting each other.”

The only way to break the process of infection is for people with high risk behaviours to get tested. “We’re only going to be able to break this chain of infection if people know their status,” reminds Steve. Recently, the team at YKS have been bringing free HIV testing to certain high-risk establishments in Jakarta, resulting in a much higher number of people agreeing to be tested.

—

How to help

YKS would like to provide more mobile testing, and welcome your donations to help them continue to run their operations.

Donations can be made to:

Yayasan Kasih Suwitno

Panin Bank

148 5 017678

Harco Mangga Dua Blok I no. 5 A-B

Swift Code PINBIDJA

First published in Indonesia Expat December 2014

Charities, Photography, Published articles, The Environment

The School on a Landfill

November 23, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

The province of DKI Jakarta (Daerah Khusus Ibukota, not including Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi) has a population of over 9.6 million (2010), each individual of which produces waste. Shockingly for a city of its size, there is no solid waste management plan in place, and recycling is left in the hands of a few non-governmental organizations and the pemulung (rubbish pickers), who work hard to sort through millions of people’s mixed rubbish before it’s taken to a landfill. An estimated 6,000 tonnes of rubbish is produced a day in Jakarta, 2,000 of which is thought to end up in the rivers, causing flooding and diseases.

Rubbish collected in the province of DKI Jakarta all ends up at the largest landfill of Indonesia – Bantar Gebang. This massive 111-hectare rubbish tip is more than meets the eye, as it homes 5,000 inhabitants who live and work here as scavengers, including a pre-school and a primary school, where the children of the scavengers come to get an education.

The first thing you notice when getting close to Bantar Gebang is the smell. It is a stench like no other, and the closer you get to the mountain of rubbish, the stronger it stings your nostrils and the back of your throat. It is a smell I will never forget. Driving into the vicinity, you are met with a shanty town built right on top of and amongst the rubbish and flies number in the thousands.

Arriving at the primary school on Bantar Gebang, Yayasan Dinamika Indonesia, we are greeted by children running around, playing and screaming on their morning break. It’s like arriving at any other school, except this school is surrounded by rubbish, and the odd pemulung rummages through trash left in the shrubs on the school grounds as the kids play. Here we meet Nasrudin, Head of YDI, who explains the story of his school to us, which has been in operation since 1996.

“There are 362 children at this primary school and 52 at the pre-school down the road,” Nasrudin tells us. “We have an open door policy with flexible rules to try and keep children in class. We will even let them sleep if they need to.” Nasrudin has been at YDI since it opened and knows more about the children of Bantar Gebang than anyone else.

Beautiful children at Yayasan Dinamika Indonesia, the school on Bantar Gebang

After visiting the classrooms, it is interesting to see that these children are quite introvert, not like street children, who are oftentimes boisterous. The children of Bantar Gebang are well-behaved and many have dreams of becoming something other than a scavenger. Many of the children I spoke to wanted to be a teacher, a policeman or even a football player. The sad reality is that most end up working on the landfill or in factories nearby.

Aspirations of the children at YDI, Bantar Gebang, include policeman, football player and doctor

“Once the children know how to read and write, they often want to leave and start earning money for themselves doing what their parents do,” Nasrudin explains. “90% of the crane drivers on the landfill are YDI alumni and we also have many grandchildren of alumni attending.” This truth becomes evident when looking at how the number of students goes down as the grade number goes up: Grade 1 (69 students), Grade 2 (79 students), Grade 3 (54 students), Grade 4 (59 students), Grade 5 (41 students) and Grade 6 (27 students).

Pemulung who live and work on Bantar Gebang predominantly come from Indramayu in Cirebon, with a minority from Madura and Karawang. The pemulung mostly work directly for the pengepul, someone who acts as a middle man and buys the rubbish from them at a cheap price, selling onto their bosses, who then send the recyclable items on to recycling factories. There is a monopoly system at play here, whereby the pengepul give the pemulung loans in order to keep them under their thumbs, forever indebted to them. On this landfill, the pemulung work five days a week, wading through mountains of mixed waste in search of recyclable items, with two days left to sort through what they’ve collected, earning between Rp.150,000 to Rp.200,000 a week. The children usually help with the cutting up of plastic and sorting of collected rubbish after school hours.

“Many of the children have skin irritations, and they all have cacingan (worms),” Nasrudin tells me. Anemia is also another common illness these children face, although surprisingly, the number of dengue fever cases is very rare and there have been no reported cases of tuberculosis. Living on a landfill is extremely unsanitary and dangerous, and four pemulung lost their lives recently to a landslide of rubbish. When touring the landfill, I was saddened to see men, women and children working in such terrible conditions, completely oblivious to the foul smell or rotting garbage they have become accustomed to.

“The children find it hard to make it into state schools after they leave us,” Nasrudin says. “There is a certain stigma which is attached to children of Bantar Gebang.” It is wonderful to hear from Nasrudin that a few of his students have gone on to working at big companies such as Panasonic after completing a university degree, thanks to Yayasan Dinamika Indonesia. Oman, one of the alumni of YDI, even came back after studying Mathematics at STKIP Kusumanegara, to teach the children at a place which gave him hope for the future.

YDI now receives financial support from the government under Biaya Operasi Sekolah, which helps to pay for their operational costs, however they are currently looking for sponsors to help pay for teacher’s fees, as the funds they receive do not cover this.

If you are interested to sponsor this extraordinary school, or volunteer your time to teach English or Mathematics to the children of the pemulung, please contact Nasrudin at +62 (0)8129848401.

First published in Indonesia Expat, February 2014

Charities, Published articles, The Environment

Rainforests on the BRINCC: Barito River Initiative for Nature Conservation & Communities

November 17, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

Borneo, the largest island in Asia and the third largest in the world, is home to ancient rainforests that are 140 million years old, making them one of the oldest on planet Earth. Shared by Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia, with Indonesia’s territory making up approximately 73% of the southern territory, the island of Borneo is an incredibly rich and diverse place in flora, fauna and culture. Sadly, development has been encroaching on her territory and is quickly destroying her natural beauty.

In the 1950s, the chainsaw and the tractor arrived on the island, causing much destruction to its rainforests. Satellite studies show that 56% of protected lowland rainforests were cut down between 1985 and 2001 to supply global timber demand. Protection laws are in effect, but inadequately monitored and enforced. The global demand for the production of palm oil has been one of the most devastating reasons for the demise of these ancient forests, as Indonesia and Malaysia account for over 90% of the world’s production area of this product, increasing from 600,000 hectares in 1985 to six million hectares in 2007.

With much of the lowland rainforests already destroyed, pressure is being put on the highland regions, like the Barito River watershed in Central Kalimantan. It is here that The Barito River Initiative for Nature Conservation and Communities (BRINCC) was founded whilst working at a research station in the Sebangau National Park’s Natural Laboratory, and where this pioneering organization is working on the forefront of conservation.

“Progress is inevitable,” Michal Zrust, BRINCC’s Director of Conservation tells me, “however, through science-based mitigation measures, we can help lessen the destructive impact on this fragile environment.” Michal graduated with a degree in Economics and ultimately ended up working in conservation via a number of research projects. He also works with large multinational palm oil companies to push for better production standards for the Zoological Society of London.

BRINCC’s work is separated into capacity building, biodiversity surveys and working with local communities. Their most impressive work is mapping one of the most understudied regions of Borneo, the Murung Raya Region. This map provides new data on species distributions, densities and population numbers, which are essential for making informed conservation decisions. BRINCC’s latest expedition extended the known ranges of many bird species, found numerous endangered tree species and tried to find the boundary of a known gibbon hybrid. This information will provide a deep understanding of the ecology of the region, essential in the policy decision process of the future.

BRINCC use standardized methodology for biodiversity mapping, such as the use of remotely activated camera traps to survey nocturnal animals. They also actively engage in the use of cutting-edge technology to provide researchers with an opportunity to field test and perfect methods. “On our current expedition, one of our visiting researchers is looking at the feasibility of using genetic analysis of blood extracted from leeches to survey rare mammals. If the leeches have sucked blood from, for example, a clouded leopard, we will know it is there, even if we never actually photograph it,” Michal explains.

BRINCC is very proud of the fact that their expeditions are majority Indonesian, employing local staff, including government officials and villagers. They take promising undergraduate and postgraduate students in Indonesia, fund them and bring them on their rainforest expeditions to gain invaluable knowledge.There have been two expeditions so far; the first expedition took place in 2011 and the latest, this year, is still ongoing. Team members are dedicated and extremely passionate individuals from varied backgrounds. BRINCC’s directors consists of: Andrea Höing (Germany), Director of Social-Ecological Research; Dominic Rowland (UK), Director of Expeditions; Director of Wildlife Ecology, Peter R. Houlihan (USA); Director of Mammal Research, Dr. Susan Cheyne (UK); and their leader, Michal Zrust (Czech Republic), Director of Conservation.

Working in the jungle environment for months at a time, and living in very basic conditions, can be very challenging. The team have suffered inevitable illnesses and nutritional deficiencies, not to mention the general lack of home comforts. But their passion for this region’s welfare has helped them through each expedition, bringing them back to this magical area which most of them have dreamt of coming to for years.

In order for their work to bring about a positive change, BRINCC believe that other stakeholders need to be engaged in the process, most importantly the companies themselves.

“The industries working in the area need to acknowledge the fragility of the environment in which they are working and as a group work to ensure mitigation of impacts on the landscape level. We are working to engage the industry players before extraction begins,” says Michal.

The government is a fundamental player in ensuring that such extraction is done within the confines of the law and is the ultimate judge on where it is done and that it avoids negative impacts as far as possible.

Michal urges Indonesia’s economists to think of this natural habitat as having true monetary and intrinsic value if left intact. “Indonesia’s natural heritage is of fundamental value to its society, not just in terms of the magnificent biodiversity it holds, but also in terms of the services that it provides to its citizens and those of the world. The results of deforestation can be seen in the recent haze and this is underlined by loss of clean water provision, loss of fish in rivers, loss of micro-nutrients for local communities, as well as the incredible costs to human health from chest infections (amongst others).”

Deforestation in Borneo (courtesy of BRINCC)

Michal’s words on how mankind must evolve to live side by side with nature are poignant. “It is only when we begin to value the services we receive from nature, rather than perceiving it as a free, exploitable good, that we will begin to make more sensible and sustainable development decisions.”BRINCC provides field data to inform and support policy development and implementation and are always open to collaboration, whether it is with the government, local or international civil society. They believe that with these partnerships, their work can have a much greater impact.

BRINCC’s work runs solely on donations and sponsorships. They welcome anyone who wishes to collaborate or support them in other ways to visit http://www.brinccborneo.org or email info@brinccborneo.org.

First published in Indonesia Expat, August 2014

Charities, Published articles

Straight from the Heart

November 4, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

I think a lot of us, although we may not like to admit it, take things for granted, most importantly the love and support we have from our parents. Every child deserves to be loved unconditionally, even if not by their birth parents, and down a little alleyway in Cipete, South Jakarta, some very lucky babies who had this birthright taken away from them, are being loved again.

Founded on a dream by Ingrid Van der Mark, a part-time school-teacher, Lestari Sayang Anak Orphanage’s vision is for each of its adopted children to experience individual love and care like they would in a real family environment. Unlike larger orphanages, Lestari Sayang Anak aims to recognise each of the children’s strengths and weaknesses and develop individual bonds with them all, and this is achieved by keeping the capacity of orphans to a low number.Although petite, this orphanage has enough love inside its walls to heal the world. Ingrid, who herself has two gorgeous adopted girls, Lisa and Emily, knew she would one day open an orphanage after visiting one in Romania that was in terrible condition.

After settling in Indonesia she eventually started her own orphanage with the assistance of her sister-in-law, Ibu Rita, who helped enormously with obtaining licenses and deeds. Unfortunately, with Ingrid being a Dutch national, rules and regulations made it that much harder for her to set up her charity, something I’m sure many of us have had experience with in some way or another.

The family, which is exactly what they are, is made up of Ibu Rita and three nurses, Ibu Ipah, Ibu Wydia and Ibu Asih, who all cook, clean and care for their three orphans. They have such a close bond with the children and the time spent together is filled with joy and laughter. The story of how each of these boys came into Ingrid’s care is one of the opposite, however.

First there was Jimmy. This bouncing baby turned one last April and has been at the orphanage since he was only two days old. His birth mother had one previous son, but sadly she was being abused by her husband and had to make the difficult decision not to keep her second born. The mother heard of Lestari Sayang Anak through brochures which Ingrid distributes in midwife clinics in the poorer parts of town, and when Ingrid received the call, she went directly to the hospital where Jimmy was born to bring him to his new home. The birth mother never met Jimmy and stayed in a separate room when he was being collected.

Six months later came Benny who was originally in an orphanage in Bogor. At two months of age, his parents could no longer support him. They tried to contact several other orphanages, but they were all at full capacity. Luckily they found Ingrid. After speaking over the phone, Benny was brought to Lestari Sayang Anak on a motorcycle wrapped up in a blanket. He was malnutritioned and had a rash all over his body. His daily diet consisted of only two bottles of milk a day as well as rice porridge, which a baby of two months cannot digest. Ingrid told me although the mother was expressionless when she handed Benny over, she could feel her pain. Giving up your child due to poverty must be the hardest thing a parent can ever do.

Third, but not least came Roby, who was a Christmas baby, born on December 24th last year. His birth parents were only sixteen years old when Robbie was born – this goes to show how much sex education is needed here in Indonesia. Two days after his birth, he was brought to Lestari Sayang Anak and as Ingrid tells me the story, little Roby is smiling and kicking away in Ibu Widya’s lap.

With three happy and healthy babies at the orphanage, Lestari Sayang Anak has space for five more blessed little ones. Their vision for the future is to have another house, not far away, for the follow up ages of five and onwards until they are independent. Everything is donated, from the toys to the cribs and luckily Ingrid was savvy enough to get sponsorship from Huggies and Frisian Flag, but even with these, the costs for running an orphanage are still high – rent, food shopping, drinking water and utilities all add up. But even when times get tough, the family at Lestari Sayang stay positive and find a way to pull through – just like families do. “Everything we do here comes from the heart” Ingrid says.

“Every child has the right to a happy and healthy life…”

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HOW TO HELP

Yayasan Lestari Sayang Anak

Always shelter, always a home.

Any kind of help is welcome. You can make a one time donation or become a regular sponsor. In return you will receive a monthly update of the development of your sponsored child and you are always welcome to visit and play with your sponsor child.

Donations can be made to:

Yayasan Lestari Sayang Anak

ANZ Panin Bank, Account number: 413765 01 00001

Swift code: ANZBIDJX

http://www.lestarisayanganak.org

021 7500 328 / 081 791 89727 / ingrid5_09@yahoo.com

http://www.facebook.com/lestarisayanganak

First published in Indonesia Expat 17 January 2012

Charities, Published articles

Run, Scott, Run!

November 4, 2014 Angela Jelita Leave a comment

1,250 kilometres in 25 days, from Bali to Jakarta, running through the sweltering 32 degree Equatorial heat and 75% humidity, dodging trans-Java buses, trucks and breathing in masses of carbon monoxide – does this sound like your worst nightmare? Just in case it didn’t compute the first time, that’s an average of 50 km a day, every day for 25 days, which is the equivalent of 30 back-to-back marathons. Are your legs starting to feel like jelly yet? Surely only a super human could accomplish such a feat.

Enter Scott Thompson. A blue-eyed Scotsman with a huge mission to accomplish this New Year. “I was looking for something extreme, larger than anything I’d ever done before,” Scott tells me. “I did the Sahara Ultra Marathon which was 250 km through the Sahara desert and thought about maybe trying the Yukon Arctic Ultra Marathon. I called several hotels in Jakarta to ask if they have freezers with available space to put a treadmill inside, but the response wasn’t so great…” Then the hundred dollar bet for a Bali to Jakarta run was presented to Scott in the office and from there his mind has been set.

Some may call him fool-hearted, but I say courageous. This run hasn’t been done before and when Scott crosses the finish line, he will be in the Guinness Book of World Records with the fastest run time between Bali and Jakarta. This mammoth run will start at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai airport on March 8th, 2012 and take him north for three days to catch the Bali Straits ferry at Gilimanuk for the crossing to Banyuwangi-Ketapang. On the ferry, he won’t be enjoying the sights and sounds like the other passengers. He’ll be running, either on the spot or around the ferry deck, ultimately taking the attention away from the sights and sounds for the passengers on the ferry! From Banyuwangi he will follow the road north and turn west across four Javanese Provinces; East Java, Central Java, West Java and Jakarta.

The motive for this race will make you weak at the knees. Raising funds for underprivileged children in Indonesia is Scott’s driving force and all funds raised will go to Mary’s Cancer Kiddies and Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa. “I’m trying to raise awareness for these great charities which, although small, do incredible work for children who need help the most.”

This is a physically challenging and dangerous mission, but Scott will have only the best support team behind him for the entirety of this journey. Medic One have sponsored a medic with supplies, G4S are providing the escort car, Adidas are on board for the running shoes, Aqua and Mizone for the hydration and more sponsors are set to join in. So far, a running total of Rp.351,000,000 has already been raised for the charities and as this is a huge run, let’s make the donation huge, too. Scott and his supporters will ask that you join in supporting this fantastic cause and pledge as little or as much as you can to help the children.

As a Brit, Scott admits he doesn’t want to blow his own trumpet and come across as cocky or over confident. “I don’t mean this in a nasty way, but that’s the kind of thing North Americans are good at doing.”

A fair bit of self-belief has to be involved to accomplish this journey. Is it even physically possible? Dangers include heat exhaustion, dehydration, severe blistering of the feet, chafing, pulling or straining of muscles as he’ll be running on uneven terrain, avoiding potholes and automobiles. When Scott ran the Sahara Ultra Marathon, he lost 5 kg and this was over 4 days only. It’s hard to imagine how much he will lose over 25 days in the tropics!

“I know there will be a point where I ask myself ‘Why am I doing this?’ But once it’s done, I’ll relax, have a burger and a beer, and remember only the good things about the experience.”

For more info on the run and how to donate, please visit: http://www.runningbalitojakarta.com

First published in Indonesia Expat January 12, 2012

Angela Jelita Richardson