This community and service activity was initiated by the organization known as YCAB, Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa. During the activity, I observed a completely different lifestyle from my own. I learned by observing the way they lived their everyday lives. It was a small area in Pertamburan, but there were lots of people living there. This activity was not only fulfilling a requirement, it was an opportunity to be able to explore the people of a different Jakarta lifestyle.
The activity provided a chance for me to develop some knowledge of the way the people in this area lived, their housing, sanitation, and social conditions. Through this community and service activity, I learned to be patient because of the different environment. Sometimes the smell of the area would overwhelm me but I would need to keep a straight pleasant face so I won’t offend the people within the area. Not only that, sometimes, it was tiring because we’ve been asking the same questions over and over again. To get through these challenges, I had to be patient, and I had to think consider the fact that my goal of participating was to help the community, not only to fulfill a requirement, but also to give my best so that a difference can be made. Conversing with the people of that community gave me an opportunity to understand them, it gave me an opportunity to build a relationship. Even in the short amount of time, I got to meet new people who had different stories and concerns to share.
This community and service activity got me, as an individual, to step outside my own comfort zone and explore the more rural areas of Jakarta. YCAB gave us the opportunity to sneak a peak into the lives of those very different from us. It’s not everyday I get to meet people who have a completely different situation from me. When I first saw the conditions of those living in the Pertamburan area, I was not as surprised as I thought I would be, but I still felt a little different because I had the chance to see these kinds of living conditions. Compared to many of our lifestyles, those living in the Pertamburan Area were very simple and packed. Their houses were probably no bigger than three or four square meters. It was sort of like another wake up call for me to see how different these lives are lived, it was a chance to reminisce over the things that I have been blessed with.
When I started walking around within the community, I entered a world that had very narrow streets and very small houses, some having no more than two rooms each. Some houses that were probably only 10 square meters provided a living space for seven or eight people, and did not have a lot within their houses. Some lived closed to the train tracks and their houses were no bigger than three square meters. When one of the trains passed through, I watched as the little boys, no more than five or six years old stood beside the tracks, just watching. I felt, in that instant, fear for the children, I was worried they’d started running forward and an accident would happen. The daily activities of the children there are completely different and it made me see community through a different perspective.
Visiting this area was a time for me to really consider the lives of those who are not as fortunate as me, it made me realize, truly, how different these standards of living were from ours. I am thankful for the opportunity, but what I am afraid of is the fact that I might forget what I saw today and just go back to living as I did before, I don’t want that to happen, so I pray that I will keep this experience in my heart and do things in the future to assist more of the people living in areas like these ones.