Contributor: Travis Penn

We are in Padang, Indonesia, a city of about two million people located midway up the west coast of the island of Sumatra. It is an oil port and a surfer's paradise. It is also extremely vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis: a major fault line runs along the country's west coast.

There have already been terrible earthquakes here, including the one that hit 2009. The empty hulks of massive buildings, dark and overgrown with weeds are scattered throughout the city. They serve as constant reminders of the immense power and destruction that these natural disasters can cause.

Yesterday we drove to a small village named Air Manis, which means “sweet water” in the local language. Just to keep English speakers confused, “Air” means ‘Water” around here. The village is located along a flat stretch of land next to a lovely beach, with a steep hill rising directly behind it. Unfortunately, this combination makes it dangerously vulnerable to tsunamis.

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I wasn't quite expecting to see as much of Jakarta as this. Today we met the Mercy Corps staff at their offices for a presentation of the various projects the organization is doing in Indonesia. Then we got into the van to go to North Jakarta to visit a hospital whose community program encourages and supports breastfeeding in its pre- and post-natal health care.

Through programs in hospitals, health clinics and neighborhood support groups, Mercy Corps encourages and empowers women to breastfeed, helping nurture a healthy bond between mother and child. Photo: Travis Penn for Mercy Corps

We got on the highway and then things began to crawl. It look us three hours to get to our destination and, upon arrival, we all just poured out of the van in search of a bathroom. Imagine driving for three hours — all within the same city! (Note: at more than 9.5 million people, Jakarta is the tenth biggest city in the world.)

As soon as we got to the hospital, we talked with the people in charge of the breastfeeding program — an approach that Mercy Corps is championing here, especially in poor neighborhoods — and then went up to the maternity ward to see the new mothers and their babies. It was interesting to visit a hospital in a country such as Indonesia. The nurses in training looked so young and wore white veils. The overall quality of care seemed to be higher than I might have expected. There were six beds to each room, but there was plenty of space. The only problem I saw was that there was only one working elevator in the building.

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Today was an exhausting day. Our little group of Mercy Corps staff and supporters left the hotel early to drive out to West Jakarta where we toured an urban village, for lack of a better description.

It was about a three- or four-square block area crammed with little one- or two-room houses. We were told by Mercy Corps Indonesia staff that between 10,000 and 15,000 people live there, eight to ten people to a room. It was a labyrinth of tight little paths to get into it.

A child in one of Jakarta's poorest neighborhoods takes time to wash his hands at latrine that was built by the community with help from Mercy Corps. Photo: Travis Penn for Mercy Corps

Our objective was to see the latrines that were built in the community so raw sewage no longer flows directly into the canal. Mercy Corps has coordinated with the community so that they have to pay for part of the construction and the maintenance. This keeps the community involved and invested in the on-going success of the project.

Each household pays the equivalent of US$1 a month for the use of the latrines. We walked around and visited three different latrines. They each had three or four stalls with squat toilets hooked up to a biodegradable septic system.

At each latrine, scores of families and little kids came out to greet us. There were homemade posters on the walls of the latrines with drawings of how to use them and the benefits of washing hands frequently. The kids were adorable and excited to show us their hand-washing skills.

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