July 29, 2011

TODAY WE SAW POVERTY!

JULY 29, 2011

We have been in Indonesia for over 9 months. We have been to Medan in North Sumatra, Lampung in South Sumatra, Jakarta, Bandung, Bogar, Tangerang, Bekasi, North Jakarta, Solo, Jogja, Manado and all over Mt. Merapi. We have seen people that have lived in what we thought were very poor conditions.

The people lived in homes that never had screens on the windows, needed paint very badly, even had holes in their roofs. Some have had plaster peeling, bad water (everyone that has water, has had bad water since all water in Indonesia that is drunk must come from a bottle). We have seen many people that try to make one or two dollars per day driving taxis for twenty hours a day. What we thought were poor people weren’t really poor.

Today we visited a very large cemetery area that is very near the large housing complex (many stories high) where Thompson’s lived and now the Beamans live. The cemetery is very large (Muslims on one side of a very busy road and Christians on the other side. The graves have markers but no grass only weeds. Brother Lilik, a member of our Indonesia second ward and the father of a truly great Indonesian family, came to see us to see if we could help him with a small humanitarian project. We said sure, we would go with him to have a look. When I got there I was so embarrassed and ashamed that I did not have the heart to take a picture of the conditions or the people.

At the bottom of the cemetery (it slopes downhill slightly until just before the camp) we drove into a large area that is used to dump the burned garbage after it has been picked through in front of the homes in Jakarta and then burned right in place on the streets. The area was very uneven and hard packed clay type dirt. We climbed out of the car, not knowing what we were seeing. The back sides of the homes were what we could see. The walls were many, many pieces of thin boards and cardboard just nailed together anyway they could to cover the hole. All the houses were connected with common walls with their neighbors. The roof was of various materials, tin roofing, plywood, roofing that was rusted a way (no two pieces alike) and again nailed together merely to cover holes. When we went around the complex we found headstones right where the people were living. We were told there is probably 1000 people there, but no one knows for sure. The fronts of the homes were like the backs except not in a straight line. No doors, no windows, only places that weren’t covered. The uneven ground was the floor of the houses.

We met with many wives and mothers and their children. All they want is to build a cover over the children, where they are being taught Lilik, a Muslim lady we met, and other volunteers. The children do not go to public school, because they cannot afford to. They also requested some pencils, paper, books that they could be taught with. We are only working with ages 5 years up to about 12 years as all the others are trying to find way to survive.

I can imagine what the area would be like after one of our manly heavy rain storms. We will try to help this little village right here in this city of 14 million and we know that there are many other areas just like this.. What can we do? All that we can do is be very appreciative of the many things that we do have, but mostly the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our families. These two things are what matters most in life here and here after.

This is not poverty, this is everyday life!

Flight To Solo

(Let's try that Again)

Flight To Solo

Early in the morning of July 7, 2011 we left Jakarta for Solo. Upon arrival we were met by Elder and Sister Grover and Bono. We went directly to Magelang, where we met the Magelang Branch President and his wife. There we also picked up Elder and Sister Kusamarmanto, and their sons. After eating an Indonesian lunch we motored onto Muntilan where we visited the site of a bridge that had been washed out earlier because of the Merapi ash. This was the last money that finished up the Merapi Initiative. Nothing had changed much from the time that we bought materials for them to build the bridge, except they had woven the bridge with some heavy cable that held the bridge in place when the water level of the river rose during a storm. At times it would raise as much as ten feet across the river that was 170 feet wide. They were still charging to use the bridge, and the bridge was still made out of almost 100% Bamboo. The fee was strictly donation, but the gate is manned 24 hours a day to control traffic flow. In over 6 months the government has done absolutely nothing to help repair the bridge. With a high school on one side of the bridge and an elementary school on the other side, it is a very necessary bridge. We left there thinking how wonderful it is to have a government responsive to our needs.

From there we continued around the mountain to Jogjakarta where we stopped and purchased tickets for the Ballet Ramayana that is held in front of the Hindu temple there. We arrived at the Grand Orchid hotel (very Indonesian) that night very tired after a long day.

The next morning we left at 8:00 am for the clean water project at Jenowi with the Grovers and Bono. This water project brings clean water down to 30,000 Indonesians and had over 20 miles of pipeline in it. It is also in the most beautiful part of Indonesia that we have seen. Our project foreman, Sutarno, is doing a marvelous job working with the village people and hiring local members as often as possible.

After an hour and a half hike we arrived at the first water source where we found that Sutarno had done an excellent job roughing in the project so that we might see how the finished project would look. It is going to be an outstanding project when it is finished.

On the way home we stopped at a very nice newly built restaurant that had lots and lots of fish swimming in a pond right where we ate.

Upon arriving back at Solo we went to visit Septa at the orthopedic Hospital there. He is a young man that we are operating on, so that we might be able to put braces on his legs so that he will be able to walk without crawling on his knees. After visiting with him for a while we told him we would be back in the morning with the young Elders to give him a blessing. We returned back to the hotel after another busy, tiring day.

Saturday morning we met Elder Hartonto and Elder Sessions and went back to the orthopedic hospital and gave Septa a Priesthood Blessing. After we left the hospital we called the sister missionaries, Sister Peters and Sister Sari and met them at KFC for lunch. That evening we drove to just outside of Jogjakarta to the ballet and dinner with a beautiful backdrop of the temple.

Coming home the Elders were stopped along the side of the road, the pickup that they were in had broken down and they needed a way home. We hooked up the tow cable on the truck to the back of Grover’s car and towed them back to Solo with no lights, only Elder Grover and the two Elders in the back with a small flash light and their cell phones to light the way so other motorists would not hit them or an unlikely motorcyclist would try to cut in-between the car and truck and hit the cable. The Lord was certainly with us as we were able to travel the whole way in safety and deliver everyone home after midnight!

The next morning we walked the mile and a half to church and attended two branch sacrament meetings. Sister Grover spoke in one and Sister Peters spoke in the other one. At 11:15 we headed for the airport where the plane was two hours late (what else did we expect) and we flew home to Jakarta. Another Solo trip in the life of Elder and Sister Meredith!!

Flight to Solo

Count Your Blessings

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS-A DAY WITH THE LIMBLESS (July 6, 2011)

We spent the day at the Lestari Hospital in South Tangerang with Dr. Ny. Hariarti Pramulyo (titi). She is the owner and manager of the hospital and is Semi-retired. We get along extremely well with her and she is very kind and generous. She invited all of the limbless in her area to come to the hospital and Peduli Tuna Daksa (our limbless NGO) was there to measure and fit them for new arms and legs. There were several people there that were very amazing. One lady had been born about 50 years ago with absolutely no legs at all.

As she came in to be measured we had to explain to her that there was nothing we could do to help her as far as legs go. As tears were running down her face, through an interrupter, I was able to explain to her why we couldn’t fit her. We then promised her one of our new rough-rider wheel chairs that she will be able use and become more mobile. Until now, she has either been carried everywhere or pulled herself along with her hands on the floor. She was such a beautiful lady; it broke my heart to see her cry.

Others that we helped were a young man with no arms, (burned with electrical burns) many people with legs amputated through accidents or illness. (Diabetes) One lady had lost a leg due to leprosy fifteen years ago. We were signed up for 20 people and 28 showed up for the fitting, none were turned away. Two of the men were walking on homemade artificial legs they had made themselves out of steel and extremely heavy to walk with. We will be fitting the new legs and arms three weeks from today, July 27, 2011. Attached are a few pictures of today’s project.

It makes me proud to be member of a Church that is so willing to give unconditionally. These people are extremely poor and yet came with the best they had to be measured. What an emotional day!!! We are so happy to be able to work with Dr. TeTe and our limbless NGO and our Wheelchair NGO. The most interesting thing of the whole day was Christians, Muslims and Hindu all working for the same common cause.

Melvin & homemade leg guy.

Below: 3^rd lady from left Dr. Titi, 5^th lady needs a leg, 6^th lady

Needs an arm, others are support for limbless.

This leg weighed about 20 pounds, and was built about Five years ago. Where the leg went in the leg was very Sore looking!

Entertaining An Apostle's Wife (by Muriel)

This outing was during Elder Bednar’s visit to Indonesia. Sister Grover and I were assigned by Sister Groberg to help entertain the wives while he and Elder Pratt were calling the new Stake Presidency.

Our trip to the Tanah Abang mall and the Istiqlal Mosque was very enjoyable. We found out Sister Pratt is a quilter and that Sister Bednar, not so much. The Tanah Abang Mall is nothing like I've ever seen before int the United States. Rows and rows of little booths that are packed clear full, as close as they could be packed in of material, all different kinds including every batik imaginable. The closest thing that even begins to describe what it is like is the little boutiques that people that do handicrafts hold close

Tanah Abang Mall

to holidays, like mother’s day and Christmas! Now imagine all these little booths packed in as tightly as possible on ten or twelve stories of a building, so crowded you can’t even begin to breathe. That is about as close as I can describe what it’s like, this is very Indonesian and very mind boggling.

We did a lot of looking and a little buying, but we all managed to buy a scarf to wear to the Mosque. I failed to mentioned that Elder Grover, Elder Meredith and Elder Howarth (missionary couple from Singapore) also followed us around (in another car) as body guards. The body guard for Elder Bednar seemed to be satisfied that the three Elders could protect us. Yes, things have been a bit unstable here in Indonesia, lately.

The Istiglal Mosque is the largest and most famous Mosque in Indonesia. It is huge and a beautiful big building. The most interesting fact is that the architect that designed the Mosque was actually a Christian. Go figure! His design was more in line with what the Muslims had in mind for the design of the building.

We had a great time together and after we went back to Senopati to have lunch. Sister Bertha Surano and her good friend and her friends daughter were our guides. After lunch we went to the Church and met with some of the District presidencies who came to meet Sister Bednar and Sister Pratt.