We started the program with a briefing about the survey we were going to do. We were given a set of papers, five sheets per person with a survey for their household, sicknesses, income and their satisfaction with the PUSKESMAS. The survey was going to help the YCAB team find out specifically what the slum area needs.
I thought we were going to go to a slum area similar to the one that I gave food out to but the conditions were much worse. I arrived there, seeing homes made of boards and insects everywhere. I started to interview a woman and I was uncomfortable asking some of the questions because some were quite hard to ask (it was about miscarriage and death).
Jackie and I, along with our field supervisor went around the slum area, surveying women. From what I observed, all of the women had three or more children, and obviously their income would not be enough for them. I noticed a majority of their children just graduated junior school, and some of them commented that their children were unable to finish school because they weren’t capable.
It was really uncomfortable because I was not used to being really deep in the slum areas and going inside their homes. Another thing I noticed was some were spending more than they get, and this one household had a widescreen TV along with speakers and cable service. I find it really eye opening when I found out that I spend more in a week than they do in a month, which makes me more grateful. Seeing them live in one small space, maybe smaller than my bathroom makes me feel that there should be a better system of housing these people, and grateful of what I have.