Meet the kids and me
It felt very strange boarding the airplane in Amsterdam last July 2014. I had just spent one month in my native country the Netherlands, to be with my father for the last time. When the plane took off I knew that it would be a long time before I would visit Holland again, because it is a 14-hour flight to my current hometown Jakarta, and my father, who was one of the most important reasons for me to go back on a yearly basis, was about to go off on a journey of his own.
In 2001 my big adventure began; I moved to Jakarta all by myself, to do what I wanted to do since I was a young child, help poor children in need. But it would be a long time before that dream materialized. The easiest way to get myself to live in Indonesia, was to apply for a job in the social scientific field at one of the many universities in Jakarta. With my newly acquired PhD title, and a grant for a research proposal I had written about the development of empathy and compliance in toddlers, I soon found work as a scientific researcher.
For my project I had to visit the poor kampungs on a daily basis, and immediately I was struck by the poverty I saw around me, in particular the terrible circumstances the children had to live in. So unfair!
Few years later I met my husband, and we moved from my luxuries apartment to a house in a small kampung, not as bad as the ones I had seen, but still poverty was visible. Again the desire to do something to improve the living conditions for the little children flared up inside of me. At that time though I was working as a preschool teacher at the Netherlands International School.
In the same time period I got married with my Indonesian husband, I found out I could not have children of my own, so we decided to adopt. Soon I carried our first daughter in my arms, and I felt so happy, and proud to be a mum. I wanted to raise her to the best of my knowledge and abilities, and give her what every child needs and has a right to. By the time our second daughter found a home with us, I had left my job at the NIS and was already busy setting up a home for more babies who could not be raised by their biological parents, mostly because of economical reasons.
Initially I wanted to name the orphanage to my first child Lisa: Lestari Ingrid Sayang Anak! That name was rejected, and changed into Lestari Sayang Anak, which means Forever loving children. After a lot of red tape, and patience while getting the notary act, and the licenses done, my orphanage was finally born, a home for abandoned babies and toddlers! That was in 2009.
My ideas of how an orphanage should be are clear: It has to provide in all that every child has a right to, as it is written in the Rights of a Child by Unicef. That can be done! In this blog I describe life in Lestari Sayang Anak, larded with many funny anecdotes. You will get to know the children, the staff, me, and what it takes to run an orphanage, and make it feel like home. There are 10 children who have found a home with us. The first one was Jimmy, now 4,5 years old. Followed by Benny who just turned 4, and soon Roby joined us, he will be 4 in December. Three became four then five with the arrival of Martin and Harry, both 3 years old now. Our first girl joined the club with Memey, now 2 years old. Soon followed by Risky, who was three when his father brought him to us. He is now 6 years old. The youngest ones are Joshua, now 1 year old, and Max, 4 months. Recently Shisil came here, and she is 5 years.
There are 5 ibu’s to take care of the children, they live in, but each has two days off per week. So there are always 3 or 4 ibu’s around. Without them I would be desperate, because they are like second mothers to the children, and are very dedicated to their work.
So, now you know a bit about my background, and I have introduced the children and the staff, I am happy to invite you to follow our adventures at my orphanage!
This first blog I like to dedicate to my father, without his support I would not have been able to make Lestari Sayang Anak as it is now. Dad, if you are watching us from wherever you are, I hope I do you proud!