Contributor: Bunga Sirait

Before 18-year-old Idpal graduated from technical high school in Depok, on the outskirts of Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, he was as eager as his fellow students to finally finish. Beneath that excitement, however, was a typical graduation-day worry: Idpal was unsure of what to do next.

Getting a job in Jakarta's fiercely competitive labor market is a rocky road for recent high school graduates, even skilled workers like Idpal, who earned a certificate in electronics repair. Going to college seems like a logical next step, but unfortunately for Idpal, that wasn't an option. Idpal's father, a day laborer with infrequent work opportunities, is the family of five's sole provider.

Then one day, Idpal saw a vacancy announcement in the Nainul Amani, a center that provides basic needs for orphans and other youth who live in very poor conditions. The announcement said that Alfa Mart, one of Indonesia's largest chain convenience stores, was in need of new employees. That same announcement was placed in 99 other Mercy Corps-supported youth centers and orphanages all over Jakarta.

Funded by USAID, Mercy Corps' Assistance for Institutions Management (AIM) project works to establish connections between youth orphanages and businesses. One of the project's goals is to introduce disadvantaged young people to the professional world and guide them in building productive lives and careers.

When Idpal applied for the job, he had to go through the same process as all other applicants. He remembers how nervous he was the day he went for the interview.

"I was awfully worried. My heart went pitter-patter, non-stop, before, during and after the interview," he says.

About a week later, Idpal got a call indicating that he had won the job.

"I was overjoyed. I couldn't believe my ears," he enthuses.

At the same time, he felt bad when he found out his friend, who also applied for the job, didn't make it. "It was through the phone at his house that I took the call. We don't have our own phone," he says.

It's been five months since Idpal started to work at Alfa Mart. He's there eight hours a day, five days a week, cleaning the store, putting things in order and acting as a cashier if needed.

"I know, ideally, I should get a job that's relevant with my background," he says. He still hopes to get a job in electronics. "But now I have this, I'm grateful. The salary is not bad either. With it, hopefully I can someday continue my studies."

His salary is helping his family improve their lot.

"I gave [my first paycheck] all to my mother. She cooked us special dinner that day," he says. "She also used the money to pay my siblings' tuition fees and other bills. Not a dime saved from my first salary.

"But now it's different. I still give my money to my parents, but only some. I'm saving the rest for my college fund."

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Jakarta, Indonesia - It's been two weeks since the massive flood hit Jakarta. While residents in other parts of the city are getting their feet dry again, communities in the devastated - and devastatingly poor - neighborhood of Pejagalan, North Jakarta are just starting to clean up the mud and debris from their houses.

Located near the river, the neighborhood was one of the worst flood-affected areas. Trash-clogged gutters are slowing down the neighborhood's recuperation. This garbage became a source of diseases as well.

The flood has put victims at risk for respiratory infections, skin diseases and waterborne illnesses. Three city hospitals documented at least 30 cases of Leptospirosis, a bacterial disease transmitted through exposure to water contaminated with rat urine. One patient died, becoming the city's first victim of the disease this year.

Living with limited access to sanitation has forced some residents to trade their health needs to fulfill their other basic needs. Tasmirah, 30, said that since the flood she has been bathing with rain water.

"The public toilet is drenched, same thing with the pumps. So the only choice I have is rain water," she explains. "Look at this if you don't believe me."

Tasmirah pulled up her shorts to show rashes on her thigh. "The water made my skin itch, but what can I do, I have to take a bath somehow."

Tasmirah, the mother of two young children, also said that like other mothers in her impoverished neighborhood, she's been using rain water to cook food for her family.

"My husband would get so angry if he found out," she says. "I've got no choice. The water vendors couldn't get in the neighborhood because of the flood, and the stores that sell bottled water are so far away. With floodwater as high as my neck, how would I be able do that? Meanwhile, I still have to serve food for my family. I can't let my kids starve."

Tasmirah waits in line to get water for her family. Photo: Bunga Sirait/Mercy Corps

Water still adding to woes

Even with the floodwaters subsiding, life hasn't become any easier for families.

"The water vendors have started to come again, but now, they sell the water for a price of 5000 rupiah (50 cents for a can of 20 liters) - up from the usual price of 1000 rupiah (10 cents)," she laments.

Meanwhile, since the flood, her family's already suffocating financial condition has gotten even worse. By working as a cleaning lady in a private house, Tasmirah usually earns 200,000 rupiah ($20) each month, about the same monthly amount her boat mechanic husband brings home. Both of them have to support two children, in addition to Tasmirah's mother and brother.

The flood halted her work for two weeks. With a ruined house, concerns over health and rising costs, Tasmirah was worried what might come next.

Then she heard that Mercy Corps was coming to provide free clean water to the victims.

Refreshing families

Jostling among the crowds, Tasmirah is among those who quickly get in the line to get the clean water organized and conducted by Mercy Corps. Like other residents, Tasmirah brings home two jerry cans of 20 liters each filled with clean water. The total of water distributed in several areas of North Jakarta is 125,000 liters, benefiting 4,500 families.

After she got her jerry cans filled, Tasmirah heads back home.

"Honestly, I so badly desire to use this water for bathing," Tasmirah laughs. "But my priority now is to use it for cooking. I'm happy, because I don't have to think about getting water for a couple of days ahead. At least my husband won't have doubts about me using rainwater for cooking again."

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North Jakarta, Indonesia - It is two o'clock in the afternoon on a rain-soaked day in the Indonesian capital. On a typical day at this hour, 50-year-old Carmidi would be at the market near his house selling his home-made tempeh, a traditional soy bean cake and local staple food.

But today, because of the epic floods that are slogging the streets of his neighborhood and entire portions of Jakarta, he's busy moving rows of unsold tempeh from a high place outside his house to even higher ground, atop his roof. He lofts a long board, atop which more than a dozen tempeh cakes are precariously perched, as he walks back and forth in waist-deep water.

"I'm afraid the floodwater will rise higher," he says.

Carmidi lives in Kapuk Muara, a very poor neighborhood along the river banks of the heavily polluted Angke River in North Jakarta. There are 2,600 people in the neighborhood, nearly half of whom live in endemic poverty.

Like his neighbors, Carmidi is suffering from the epic floods swamping Jakarta: there is a lack of clean water for drinking and bathing, and dry and warm spaces for sleeping are growing scarce as the water rises.

Carmidi's family - and some neighbors - take refuge on the second floor of the house. Photo: Bunga Sirait/Mercy Corps

No place like home

Carmidi told me he and his family tried to stay at the neighborhood's sole emergency shelter last night, but worms kept coming into the tents. After a night fighting off bugs, he decided to return home and sleep as best he could in his soggy house.

There's almost no space left at all in Carmidi's modest two-story house, with his wife, children and a couple of female neighbors with their babies staying over.

"It's better here wet but close to my family than have worms in tents," Carmidi explains.

He is wearing a new t-shirt, provided as part of a hygiene kit that Mercy Corps distributed to area families yesterday.

"This t-shirt is a help, since my clothes are all wet. And the sarong and towel are really useful to keep the kids from cold," he says.

Life on hold

It's been almost a week since his neighborhood has soaked in fetid floodwater, and for that long Carmidi has lost his daily income from selling tempeh. This means that, for the time being, he's without the roughly 200,000 rupiah (about $20) he earns each day to support his wife and his four children.

"It's barely enough, but we make it work somehow," he says.

"This is the tempeh I already made. I don't want them to go to waste, so I will just try to sell them around the neighborhood for whatever I can get," Carmidi says as he moves the last batch to higher ground. As he walks away, he shouts, "hey, thanks again for the t-shirt - and thanks for visiting us."

There is no end in sight to the torrential downpours that are tormenting Jakarta. Today's reports indicate that there are nearly five feet of muddy brown water in the streets and homes of Kapuk Muara.

Until the waters subside, Carmidi and his neighbors are bravely trying to keep their lives above water - and Mercy Corps is helping them.

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"We're running out of soap. My wife is shopping in the market to get some," says Widodo, the chief of Petojo, a neighborhood in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. He's answered our question before we even have the chance to ask about the soap that's supposed to be provided for in the neighborhood hand-washing station. It might seem like a simple thing, but it's actually a huge sign of progress - and commitment - in this poor neighborhood.

A couple of months ago the people of Petojo, working together with Mercy Corps, built a hand-washing station in their neighborhood, and ideally there should always be a bar of soap and a clean towel ready at the station. Since the station's opening, Widodo has been the one supplying soap bars while the residents take turns to washing towels and making sure they're always stocked.

"One bar of soap usually lasts only for a week," Widodo says. "But I don't mind, as long as it's for the kids."

Petojo is one of 11 communities in Jakarta that have partnered with Mercy Corps and Starbucks subsidiary ETHOS Water. The program aims to reduce malnutrition among children under five years old in Jakarta. Building sanitation facilities like the hand-washing station is only a part of the program's holistic approach to support healthy behavior practices, starting with little things like washing hands with soap.

Although it might seem trivial, dirty hands can cause diarrhea - a disease that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), causes the deaths of two million children under five years old every year.

Located in central Jakarta, Petojo is home to approximately 3,000 people. A staggering 20 percent of families live in poverty and 23 percent of young children are malnourished. Like in many urban poor areas in Jakarta, the residents in Petojo don't have proper sanitation access.

But since September 2006, things have improved - thanks in large part due to the collaboration between the community and Mercy Corps. Neighborhood residents now enjoy using the four hand-washing stations built in strategic places where children play. The stations were designed in two different sizes: one for adults, and a lower one for children. There are also pictures drawn at the station to show the correct way to wash your hands - by rubbing your hands together with soap.

Lilis, 23, says she feels lucky to have the station near her home. Lilis, her husband and their 15-month-old baby Fikri share a tiny, cramped home squeezed into a small alley. Just like her neighbors, Lilis' family doesn't have private sanitation access.

She and her family have to go to a public facility to take a shower or go to the toilet - and it's not free. It costs her 1000 rupiah (10 cents) each time she goes to the facility.

"In one day I have to spend more than 8000 rupiah (80 cents) just for using the facility, and that's not including my husband," explains Lilis.

The hand washing station - which is free - has been useful for her and her family.

"I've been told that dirty hands can cause diarrhea, worms and other disease like that. Children my son's age like to put their hands on their mouth after touching things," Lilis says. "So, before eating or after I take him out to play, I wash his hands at the station.

"And the good thing is, since it's free, me and my son don't have to worry about using it as many times as we need to."

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