The New Year is often seen as a new beginning or a new phase in our lives. That’s why people often make noble and life-changing resolutions at the beginning of the year.
So did Indonesian kebaya designer, Kanaya Tabitha. At the beginning of 2014, the 41-year-old designer made an idealistic resolution.
“I wanted to do 1,000 acts of kindness for 1,000 people that I don’t personally know,” she says. “But honestly, I didn’t know where to start.”
An opportunity came when she was watching TV with her teenage son on a lazy Saturday afternoon. On TV, they saw the hardship faced by families forced to flee their homes after the eruption of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra.
“The refugees were living in awful conditions,” Kanaya says. “The help from the government was doing very little to ease their suffering.”
There were constant reports of shortages of food, medicine, clean water and clothes. Those who suffered the most were the more vulnerable members of the community: children, the elderly, and women.
It was then that Kanaya’s son reminded her of her resolution, suggesting that she go out there and help. Kanaya was dumbfounded, but then it struck her: “Then and there, I felt my calling.”
The following day, a Sunday, as if by divine chance, she received yet another sign, when the pastor at her church pointed into the congregation and said: “You, who are thinking of go to Sinabung, set your heart to go.”
“The pastor wasn’t talking about Sinabung in the sermon, nor did he know me personally, so when he suddenly said that from the pulpit I knew it must have been God’s calling for me,” Kanaya says.
Four days later, she was among the refugees in Karo district, North Sumatra.
The shelters
Kanaya brought with her food and medicines when she first came to Sinabung in January 2014. Touched by their condition, she stayed for a couple of weeks.
When Mount Sinabung erupted in September 2013, thousands of men, women and children were forced from their homes on the slopes of the volcano and had to move into temporary shelters provided by the government.
The volcano continues to smolder even today, albeit the volcanic activity has subsided considerably. But many of the displaced residents have not been allowed to go home, and are awaiting relocation by the government to new homes. As the months drag on, their supplies of food, water, medicine and clothes diminishes.
But what’s sapping their spirit more than anything is the lack of meaningful activities in their daily lives, Kanaya says.
“All they can do every day is eat, sleep and go to the toilet,” she says, adding that with few positive daily activities to keep them occupied, they grow depressed.
“There was a man I used to see, sitting there by himself day after day, staring into the distance,” Kanaya recalls. “He fell ill after a while, and died a few weeks later.”
The children are particularly prone to behavioral changes as a result of the conditions. Some became very silent and withdrawn, while others grow very loud and aggressive. Many have nightmares and cry in their sleep.
This touched Kanaya’s heart, and with her good friends Aline Adita and Nadya Mulya, both models and television presenters, she raised funds to rent a house near the shelter, which is now used as a trauma healing center for the kids and a vocational training center for adults.
“We call it Rumah Pandai Terang Indonesia [House of Education and Light for Indonesia],” she says. “It’s a place that gives the refugees hope for the future.”
Kanaya hired a number of project officers, psychologists and experts to work at the center to help the kids overcome their trauma and train the adults in practical skills to improve their livelihoods.
“[The project officers and I] tell stories to the kids and sing and dance with them,” Kanaya says. “We encourage them to open up and deal with their traumas.”
The project officers also teach the men to breed catfish.
“Catfish breed very easily,” Kanaya says. “You can harvest them within only 45 days.”
The women are taught how to process the catfish for sale. “We also teach them how to package and sell their products at the market without the need for any middlemen,” Kanaya says.
The residents have embraced the chance to learn and be productive.
“They come to the center every day asking to learn some more. I guess learning helps to keep their minds off their suffering and give them hope for the future.”
With a successful catfish farm, a resident can make Rp 800,000 to Rp 1.2 million ($68 to $102) a month in profit.
“It’s definitely a good amount of money,” Kanaya says. “They can buy more food and clothes with that money.”
There are currently three Rumah Pandai centers for the refugees in Karo.
Sahabat Rumah Pandai
But there’s even more to the story. Inspired by Kanaya’s wholehearted dedication to the refugees, many of her friends became interested in helping.
“I admired her courage,” says Vera, one of Kanaya’s friends who supports the cause. “She went there by herself and stayed among the refugees for weeks. Her work has made a big difference to the lives of the people there. I wanted to take part in what she’s doing.”
The circle of supporters for the cause has kept growing. Kanaya, Aline and Nadya see a lot of areas in Indonesia where they can come in and help, replicating the model from Sinabung.
“We couldn’t do it by ourselves,” Aline says. “To grow, we need the support of other people.”
So Kanaya, Aline and Nadya set up the Rumah Pandai Terang Indonesia Foundation on Kartini Day, April 21, 2014.
“It’s a tribute to Kartini and the founders, who are all women,” Aline says, referring to the national heroine.
They also established the Sahabat Rumah Pandai (Friends of the House of Education) Community, which consists of loyal patrons of the foundation.
The community now has more than 100 members, each of whom pays a minimum of Rp 1.2 million a year to support Rumah Pandai’s work.
“We also give something back to our members,” Aline says.
Every two months, the community organizes talk shows and workshops on interesting topics, such as doing positive work and trauma-healing.
“So it’s not a community that gathers just for fun or to eat and take pictures,” Aline says. “We actually learn something from these workshops.”
One of the members is Riri Mestica, a popular DJ, who calls Rumah Pandai different from other social organizations.
“They really think about what they’re doing and help the refugees from the beginning to the end. So it’s not like a one-time charity event,” he says.
Riri joined the community with his wife, Olla Harika. Another supporter os actress and model Aimee Juliet.
“What they’re doing is real,” she says. “It’s not all theories and concepts, which anybody can do. But they actually go and stay there to do their program.”
Sahabat Rumah Pandai also organizes charity concerts and art auctions to raise funds for their programs.
They recently held a charity concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in South Jakarta, where they got American RNB singer Keith Martin, who is also a member of the Sahabat Rumah Pandai community, to perform a couple of songs.
“It’s a good cause,” Martin says. “And I’m glad to be part of something positive and helping people.”
Future plans
Later this month the foundation will open a Rumah Pandai in Rokatenda, East Nusa Tenggara, where nearly 750 people are still living in shelters following the eruption of Mount Rokatenda in August last year.
“[The condition] is even worse than Sinabung,” Kanaya says. “These refugees eat only once a day.”
Kanaya and some of her friends plan to visit their shelters next week and bring along rabbits.
“We’ll teach them to breed rabbits, as they multiply very easily and their meat is high in protein,” she says.
There’s also a plan for a Rumah Pandai in Babelan, Bekasi, soon.
“That area always gets flooded when it rains,” Kanaya says. “The people are very poor and the crime rate is very high. They need something to inspire and empower them to reach for a better future.”
The foundation aims to expand its programs to other disaster-hit and poverty-stricken areas in Indonesia.
“For me, this is my calling,” Kanaya says. “God has given me my life and work as a designer so that I can help other people.”
By Sylviana Hamdani on 12:47 pm Jun 13, 2014
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