Making a difference in Bandung, Indonesia

Bandung, Indonesia

When we visited Bandung in 2013, my husband and I wanted to something for the people there. Having children of our own, we were more inclined to helping children there. We told our driver to bring us around to visit the different orphanages in the area. We looked at the different orphanages, talked to the care takers there and finally decided to visit the one that needed most help. We spoke to the care takers to find out what kind of help they needed most and emphasized that we will not given monetary donations but would like to give directly to the children. We wanted to ensure that kids benefited directly.

In addition, I wanted this to be an opportunity for my own children to interact with the locals and the less fortunate. Hopefully, this would make them reflect and cherish what they have.

A group photograph at the end of the visit.

As can be seen from the photograph above, my children have become a part of them. Although language was a barrier, it did not stop the children from interacting and learning about each other's culture. Interesting enough, the kids started playing together on their own. At first, they were rather frustrated because they would not understand each other. But very soon, they interacted through sign language and gesturing. My children taught them how to play "London Bridge is falling down" and "Eagle catching the chicks (老鹰捉小鸡）". The children at the orphanage taught my children other games as well. Even though they could not understand each other's language, they were communicating. They understood each other's laughter and enjoyed the company.  

Even my youngest daughter, 23 months found her playmate and enjoyed her company.  

 Finally, just as we are about to leave, we wanted to give something to the children. As we previously spoke to the person in charge, we knew that the children here needed exercise books, stationery ( Pencils, erasers, rulers and sharpeners) and they love sweets and instant noodles. Therefore, we were around hunting for these items and packed them into goodie bags. Perhaps to us who are very fortunate, it's just another goodie bag but to these children, it represents that someone cares about them and it represents hope for them. 

Moreover, we did not buy all of these items from the megastores or shopping centres. My husband bought most of these items from many different small shops around the area. He believes that by buying from these small shops, we are also contributing to the community by simulating their economy. The only item we bought from a megastore was the exercise books because we bought up all the exercise books from the small shops around the area. 

My husband recalls that the owners of the small shops that he bought from were so thankful and repeating thank him for his purchases and had big smiles on their faces. We were happy to be able to contribute in our small little ways as well. We later found out from my helper that our single purchase at these small shops can mean 1 month or more income for them. Our purchases were not big. Some were just a few dollars, others about ten, twenty dollars. But it means a world to them and perhaps a different to their families. 

Our contribution may not have an incredibly great impact. But we hope that we did make a difference to some of these people and their families.

Afterall, quoting my husband:

" Now, they will have some knowledge and a better impression of Singapore." To our children, " we are the ambassadors from Singapore. Our actions will have an impact on how the world looks at us and interact with us as Singapore