This Week in Jakarta . . .

So I already wrote about Monday and our visit with Kevin Rudd.  We also have had numerous other adventures and lectures in the past two weeks.  Here goes.

So every day we would have a 4 hour language class which culminated in a much-anticipated but insanely easy test on Friday morning. For us beginners this involved a simple double sided page in which we had to write basic stuff like, my name is, i was born, i'm not married (yet!), etc. So classes finished yesterday and it is now up to me to get my in Bahasa, especially going to Makassar and perhaps Kupang where English is not widely spoken.  But I am up for the challenge!

Last week we had lectures from various experts on religion, the economy, politics, and also inequity and poverty.  We went to the Australian embassy and were briefed on security as well as AusAID's (Australia's international development agency) role here in Indonesia.  All good stuff.  The on Tuesday we had our first field trip.  We were informed we would be visiting a garbage dump but instead we went to a riverside 'slum' where the kids sang us a song and we were welcomed into the inhabitants' one-room dwellings.

Now last year I did a huge, mind-engulfing project on slums, and read a ton of information from UN-HABITAT and other sources, so I knew some basic statistics such as, there are over one billion people living in slums, etc.  However I had never really stepped foot in one.  And you know, it's really not that bad.  Granted, there are 6-8 people sharing a single room, but everyone was happy and smiling and the kids were running around the narrow, bamboo-floored alleys seeming to have a great time.  Most of the rooms had tvs and all had electricity.  Pictures of the kids graduating from kindergarden were hung on the walls.  It didn't even smell, though there was a ton of rubbish everywhere.  And the rooms can get flooded easily.  They are literally built over a river with whatever scraps, metal, and wood that can be found.

Here are some pictures, thanks to Pip Smith, as I didn't have my camera that day.

Always smiling, always surrounded by friends, these kids go to a local school for free, but only until about 12pm.

Just in view of the urban elite!

We took these bajaj into the neighbourhood.  They are noisy, dirty, cheap, and pretty fun! How else can four people snake through traffic?

Here is the view from the tour at the maritime museum, build by the Dutch the in 18th century.

Into the neighbourhood, kampung, on the river which feeds directly into the harbour.

The owners of these boats tried to get us in.  The colours are quite a contrast to the nasty water below.

300 families live in this tiny block, most have 2 or more families per room.  They have to pay about 30-40$ a month rent and many people are unemployed.  The children don't seem to find, though one did say, 'Where is the money mister?'

This is their world, their street.

In this one room 6 people live, eat, and sleep.  All are unemployed.

We were quite the attraction and the kids sang us a song, and loved getting their photo taken.

All in all a good experience, though brief, and it really makes you question your own views of poverty.  Many people lacked employment, but no one goes hungry.  I think the biggest issue facing these people is sanitation, as I assume if they do have any toilet facilities, it just drops down into the river, and there is no access to water within the small neighbourhood.  I also witnessed an old woman taking out the trash, which involved chucking her bag into the river.  The area is also very prone to floods, and then the families go and sleep in the nearby fish market.


Aside from this, we also visited a local NGO called stigma which works with drug users, educating them about the risk and HIV.  We thought we were going to an actual AIDS clinic and after a near 2 hour bus ride arrived at a small, unassuming house and were given a brief presentation about the group's work, which is mostly in education and a needle exchange.  Kind of disappointing as we were only there for like 30 minutes.
Wednesday night about half of our group met up for dinner for a small farewell party for myself and the three others who will be leaving Jakarta this weekend. We drank many pitchers of Bintang and I tried to give a short speech.  Good fun, and I ate chicken alfredo for dinner, satisfying my craving for western food.
On Thursday myself and the two other Oxfam interns went to their Jakarta office, which was quite swank and had a swimming pool!  We were informed on the other two interns' work, which for Jack involves proposal writing, monitoring and visiting current project sites, as well as impact evaluation.  Pip will be working on food justice and security.  There was only one foreigner in the office, the British country director.  He just looked at me as said, 'Well, I don't know what you'll be doing.'  As I fly to Makassar tonight, I still don't have a clue.

Friday, test, a farewell lunch, and then a bus to Bogor, a city about an hour south of Jakarta.  Here is the international headquarters for CIFOR, the Centre for International Forestry Research.  Fittingly situated in the middle of a dense, jungle forest, CIFOR is one of the leading organisations dedicated to research and implementing policy changes, especially surrounded reforestation and prevention of clear cutting.  The compound was huge and had swimming pools, tennis courts, fitness centre, and guest houses, as well as some trails into the jungle.  We were given an amazing presentation on their work, which is embracing the internet and social media in an effort to get there message out.  As forests are linked to climate change, poverty, gender inequity, and a whole range of issues, it was quite an amazing place, full of researchers from around the world that work in the Indonesia/Malaysia region, the Congo basic, and the Amazon.

Here is the video we watched, which was quite informational.

This woman is the Director General for CIFOR addressing members of the UN's FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) conference, explaining their new approach to communication, which is key for any real changes to policy to take place.

As you may or may not now, logging is a serious issue here in Indonesia, especially as rainforests are cleared to make way for palm oil plantations. CIFOR is striving to prevent this and has actually been quite successful in reaching policy makers, especially those at the UN. A former ACICIS intern now is employed there full time, and one of us will be working there for the next month as well.

So all in all, it has been 2 weeks of a ton of information jammed into our heads. Now it is time to put all this newfound knowledge to use. Some of us ACICIS people are working at AUSAid, the UN, the ILO (International Labour Org), The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, some smaller human rights orgs, and the journalists working at various newspapers, magazines, and media outlets. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but tonight at 12:45am I catch a flight to Makassar in South Sulawesi to see what lies for me there. Stay tuned!