Oma Haw Lie Tjoan Lives with Piles of Garbage Inside Her House

Without waiting for long, the volunteers immediately took out the garbage from Grandma's house, but Grandma Haw Lie Tjoan still seemed unwilling if all the trash was thrown away. Volunteers are able to calm her down and finally clean up her house smoothly.

Grandma Haw Lie Tjoan lives alone on Jalan Lubuk Kuda Gang Selamat, Medan. Together with her old bicycle, ready to accompany her around the residents' houses to collect used goods, she became a busy person all day long. The used goods she collects will be sold to the buyers of junk goods and the proceeds of the sale will be used for daily living expenses. There used to be a buyer who came to Grandma’s house to buy things that Grandma had collected. But about two years ago, the usual buyer had died. Grandma Lie Tjoan is now confused where she can sell the garbages that has been collected and is now piled up inside her house.

Grandma Lie Tjoan is the type of person who diligently goes around looking for used goods. According to neighbors, in a single day, she can go out three or four times from the house, from morning until 11 o'clock in the evening to pick up used goods. Grandma only relies on her old bicycle, but not rarely she gets a lot of goods. The bicycle that she used to ride was forced to be pushed because it was full of goods she had worked hard to search and collect all day long.

Garbage inside Grandma Haw Lie Tjoan's house is mounting. The garbage filled up to the front room and door of her house. She even had to climb up and down the mountain of garbage when she wanted to get in and out of the house.

The portrait of the hard worker is a little unfortunate because Grandma did not neatly arrange the items that had been collected. From day to day the items are increasing, making the house full, and piled up to a height of approximately 2 meters. The entire room in her house was full of rubbish and even the floor was no longer visible because it was covered with things Grandma had collected. From the back room to the front room, only one small tunnel is left which can only be passed by one person, and even then, to pass the tunnel, one must be on all fours above the trash to get to the front of the house.

If night falls and Grandma did not go out anymore, then Grandma will store her bicycle. Even though Grandma was 73 years old, Grandma was still able to lift her bicycle and store it on top of the garbage pile..

Actually Grandma had two younger brothers and an elder sister, but both of her younger brothers have died. According to the neighbors, her deceased brother was placed on top of the garbage pile. Neighbors who knew that immediately helped Grandma to bury the body. Now there is only one older sister left who rarely comes to see her.

Helping Grandma Cleaning the Garbage

Grandma's good encounter with the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation is thanks to compassion of a resident, Lai Yun Nai who is often visited by Grandma when collecting used goods. Granda complained to Yun Nai that her legs were not so strong to collect used goods. She also was not strong enough to climb a pile of garbage to enter her house. Hearing Grandma's story, Yun Nai was also curious and came to Grandma's house. Seeing Grandma's house full of rubbish, Yun Nai offered to Oma, what if the garbage was taken out and donated, or thrown away. Maybe because Grandma also felt her body was no longer strong at the age of 73, Grandma agreed that someone would help to clean her house.

The garbage collected by Grandma Haw Lie Tjoan now fills all parts of her house. The whole room was not exempted from garbage that reached 2 meters high, almost touching the ceiling of the house.

Yun Nai was thinking, where to ask for help so Grandma can live with a cleaner environment. Luckily Yun Nai often saw DAAI TV shows, Yun Nai knew that Tzu Chi volunteers helped not only once but also gave attention with visiting her periodically, so Yun Nai invited Grandma to ask for support at the Medan's Tzu Chi Office in Cemara Asri complex.

Grandma Lie Tjoan lives on Jalan Lubuk Kuda, this area fall under Hu Ai East Medan volunteer community, so the request for house cleaning assistance was given to Hu Ai East Medan volunteers. So on June 3rd, 2019, 8 volunteers visited Grandma's house to observe the  situation.When volunteers knocked on Grandma's door, Grandma's took quite a long time to open the door. The volunteers immediately stunned because as soon as the door was opened, trash was immediately visible in front of their eyes. Grandma's house is full of garbage.

The volunteer had gaped when the first time Gradnma Haw Lie Tjoan opened the door, they immediately saw a mountain of garbage welcoming them. Grandma's bicycle must be parked above the trash.

"Initially we estimated piles of used goods only in the front room, because when Grandma opened the door of the house, we immediately saw garbage and Oma came out of the tunnel of used goods. At that time the condition of the back room was completely concealed. It turned out that after the used goods in the front room were scraped out, for the second time the volunteers were again stunned. It turned out that the back room was the same. "The room is full of garbage with a height that is more or less the same as the front room," said Marliani Tjula, Grandma's house cleaning coordinator volunteer.

16 Pickup Trucks Worth of Garbage
Sunday, June 9, 2019, 24 people were ready to help Grandma clean up the garbage from her house. It was really unexpected that the garbage was so much and packed Grandma's room.

The volunteers first prayed together before starting the house cleaning activity so that everything could run smoothly. Masks and gloves were then distributed and enthusiastically the volunteers worked together to remove the garbage in Oma's house.

One of the rooms looks very full of garbage.

At first Grandma felt that she wasn't willing to get all of her things taken out. Where when the volunteers shoveled the garbage in Grandma's house, she instead picked up items such as beverage cans, used buckets, egg plates, and many other items that she seemed to have not been willing to throw away.

Volunteers try to give understanding to Grandma but Grandma seems to be increasingly busy picking up her belongings. Grandma had forgotten that during the survey, she cried begging for volunteers to help her throws away items that had piled up in her house. Seeing Grandma's condition, the volunteer phoned Yun Nai to approach Grandma. A doctor from TIMA, Dr. Wijaya Taufik Tiji also calming Grandma Lie Tjoan. Finally Grandma has been able to accept more of the situation even though she has not accepted it fully.

After the garbage is removed from the house, the room looks more spacious and spacious. Volunteers will still return to Grandma Haw Lie Tjoan's house to do the next cleaning.

Until 7 o'clock at night, there were 16 pick-up trucks that managed to transport garbage from Grandma's house. Grandma's house which has 3 bedrooms, inside there is also a pile of rubbish, these three rooms are still not cleaned and will be resumed on a different day.

"It's amazing, Tzu Chi volunteers are swiftly working to remove the garbage from Grandma's house. I often visit this Grandma, but I don't expect that much garbage. At first I was also confused about how to help Grandma clean her house, but I remembered the television shows, where Tzu Chi was so good on humanitarian mission. Tzu Chi helps not only once but there is a continuation, I think if we ask Grandma to stop picking up used goods, then there must be someone who can finance for Grandma's life, "said Lai Yun Nai.

Marliani Tjula (center), the activity coordinator was very empathetic to see Grandma and thought Grandma was like her own parents.

"I impressed because the Tzu Chi volunteers were so quick to give a response, we submitted a request for about one week, today volunteers have come to help clean Grandma's house. I also see volunteers not only cleaning Grandma's house but also paying attention to Grandma's psychology state, "Lai Yun Nai continued with admiration.

Volunteers hope that by cleaning up the garbage in Grandma Lie Tjoan's house, it will make Grandma's life more comfortable in passing her old days. Like Master Cheng Yen's contemplation, "Giving attention to others is the same as giving attention to yourself. Helping others also means helping yourself ".

Translated by Andryan Viryadi Tanamir (He Qi Barat 1)