Food Packages for Mrs Cicih and Lilik

Cicih Sukarsih, one of Kapuk resident who received the food package from Tzu Chi is opening the parcel consist of 5 kilograms of rice, 2 litres of oil, 1 kilograms of sugar, and 6 packs of DAAI noodles.

Tzu Chi Indonesia volunteers distributed 100 of food aid to the residents living in Kapuk (RT17/RW12), Cengkareng, West Jakarta who are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The aid distribution was done on Friday, 8 May 2020.

The food aid was directly distributed by Cengkareng Police Head, Police Commander H. Khoiri and district military commander (Danramil) 04/Ckr Capt. Inf. Sudarsono together with Tzu Chi volunteers. Prior to distributing the food aid directly to each house, a symbolic handover ceremony from TNI-Indonesia Police and Tzu Chi volunteers and delegation of Nahdlatul Ulama's (NU) youth wing GP Ansor from Cengkareng.

Tzu Chi volunteer, Hok Cun handed the food package to Lo Lilik. Lo Lilik who used to sell noodles and nasi uduk has stopped her old business since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Danramil 04/Ckr Capt. Inf. Sudarsono said the aid was intended for underprivileged people who have not received any help from either local or national government. “I am thankful for this aid, the work together between TNI-Police and Buddhist Foundation Tzu Chi, for the valuable assistance, especially in Kapuk area. In Kapuk district alone, according to the database there are about 6,767 underprivileged families.  From this data, we, TNI and the Police tried to distribute this aid. Most of them work as scavengers and daily labor,” said Sudarsono.

According to Sudarsono, those who have not received assistance, from either the Jakarta regional government and the central government was due to their official identity cards, wherein they are registered at their hometown and not as Jakarta residents.

Danramil 04/Ckr Capt. Inf. Sudarsono handed the food packages to residents of RT 17/RW 12, Kapuk, Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

In distributing the aid, the TNI, Indonesian Police, and Tzu Chi volunteers always educate the resident who received the food package to follow the government's advice of wearing a mask when doing activities in public, avoiding the crowds and any kinds of gathering, diligently washing hands, and not going home for Eid.

According to Edi Sheen, Tzu Chi volunteer who was in charge of coordinating the event, distributing food package in this area is the right decision. “I think distributing aid here is a good decision, since we see here, the residents are coming from a very poor background. We can see from their housings, they are very underprivileged. For Koramil (Subdistrict Military Command) to pick this area, its because they have all been heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Edi Sheen.

Nahdatul Ulama’s youth wing GP Ansor from Cengkareng delivered the food package for Cicih Sukarsih, a resident affected socially and financially by the COvid-19 pandemic.

As experienced by Cicih Sukarsih (37), a housewife with 3 children who relies on a husband who works as an online motorcycle taxi driver. Cicih was very grateful to receive this food aid. According to Cicih, the business of online transportation is currently facing difficult times. "Now it's so difficult to Grab (work), sometimes one day he can't even get a single order, I am baffled, I was only given thirty thousand rupiahs, so I thank God today for the food aid," said Cicih softly in a trembling voice.

Cicih hoped that there would be more attention from the government towards residents like her. "People like me," said Cicih, holding her 7-months-old toddler. Cicih's family only relied on the income from her husband's work as online driver, there was no other sources of income.

Cengkareng Police Head, Police Commander H. Khoiri handed over the food package to residents of RT 17/RW 12, Kapuk, Cengkareng. Police commander H. Khoiri reminded people to not go home for Eid this year and to always use a face mask and maintain self-hygiene.

Cicih has been trying her best in the past two months, “It is often he only came home with 50,000 rupiahs, we can barely pay the rent,” said Cicih. Cicih had to manage her finance to pay for rent that cost 800,000 rupiahs per month, her son’s school fee of which half were covered by the government through Jakarta Smart Card (KJP). Cicih is hoping her son’s graduation fee can be deferred until the Covid-19 pandemic ends. “I am hoping for graduation fee to be pending, not now,” hoped Cicih.

Other stories coming from Lo Lilik (42) who have been selling nasi uduk and dumpling noodles in front of her house for the last three years. Now, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, her business had to stop since two months ago. “Since people are talking about corona, my business went downhill, I could only sell three bowls a day. Fasting month helps a bit, I started to sell kolak for break fasting,” said Lilik.

Danramil 04/Ckr Capt. Inf. Sudarsono is very thankful for Tzu Chi volunteers who have helped the residents in Kapuk. There were a total of 100 packages for residents in RT17/RW 12, Kapuk.

Lilik admitted her income before Covid-19 pandemic started could be as high as 500,000 per day, but today she can only make 200,000 a day from selling food for break fasting such as kolak (sweet condiment with coconut milk and palm sugar), gorengan (deep fried snacks), and rice cake.

“Now, we just eat whatever we can in the kitchen, sometimes we eat what we sell, like rice cake and gorengan,” admit Lilik. Lilik is grateful for the food aid given by Tzu Chi. “I am very happy for this, so grateful, rice is very expensive,” said Lili firmly. At the end of the conversation, both Lilik and Cicih hope for the situation to get better to normal so that the community could live quietly, safely, and peacefully.

Translator: Chrestella Budyanto (Tzu Chi School)