New Awareness of Sharing Burdens

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Ismanto (52), wounded at his home in Sengi Village, Shaman District, Magelang Regency, Central Java, last April. In the midst of a pandemic, Ismanto took the initiative to create a food exchange program for food.

Different backgrounds pose no impediment to people determined to help one another. The spirit of humanitarianism only serves to bridge differences in relieving minority and marginalized groups of their burdens as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic. Social divisions are thus eliminated by an awareness of the need for mutual support.

Those who have risen to help fellow citizens don’t care about their different upbringings, as the activists of Solidaritas Pangan Jogja (Yogyakarta Food Solidarity) have demonstrated. The movement was started by creative workers, students, social activists, tourism operators and housewives.

The group started by setting up community kitchens in several spots in Yogyakarta at the end of March. The food its members cook in these kitchens are passed out to local residents who have been affected by the outbreak, mostly informal workers.

Syafiatudina, the 32-year-old coordinator of Solidaritas Pangan Jogja who goes by her nickname “Dina”, originally began by distributing food parcels to becak (pedicab) drivers, garbage collectors and waste pickers in her neighborhood. She bought the parcels from neighbors who ran a catering business.

“A number of students and other members of the public also engaged in similar activities. Then we merged into this movement,” Dina said on Monday (18/5/2020).

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Eni Kusriati (left), a resident of Cepokojajar Hamlet, is preparing a ready-to-eat food aid package, in Cepokojajar Hamlet, Sitimulyo Village, Piyungan District, Bantul Regency, DI Yogyakarta, on Saturday (8/4/2020). Eni is part of a social movement called Jogja Food Solidarity. The movement distributed food to people in need during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The group currently runs 12 community kitchens in Yogyakarta. Each kitchen has its own daily production target, ranging from 60 to 200 food parcels. The community kitchens are able to continue operating on the donations that keep flowing in from various circles.

According to Dian, the varied backgrounds of the group’s members are not an issue. The key was transparency about the donations and how it was spent. The movement ran on the mutual trust among its members. They were also united by their will to help others amid the crisis caused by the pandemic.

“We have a pluralistic membership. It’s the humanitarian mission that has drawn us together. We want to do something for the people who need help,” she said.

The housewife is a cook at Cepokojajar Kitchen, one of Solidaritas Pangan Jogja‘s community kitchens.

The group’s members are only eager to work, like Eni Kusriati, a 46-year-old who lives in Sitimulyo village of Piyungan district, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta. The housewife is a cook at Cepokojajar Kitchen, one of Solidaritas Pangan Jogja‘s community kitchens. Eni has had prior experience running an emergency kitchen in 2006, when an earthquake hit Sitimulyo.

“Our peers in the movement can use my kitchen. As long as I can contribute manual labor, I will help,” she said.

Bartering paintings

A similar movement has been undertaken by the community activists of Dapur Aksi Berbagi (Shared Action Kitchen), which was founded by artists, cultural activists, researchers and farmers. Ignasius Kendal, the movement’s “command post coordinator”, said that a network of young farmers and local wholesalers were also involved in the effort, solely for the purpose of maintaining the vitality of the social economy.

“Most recently, young farmers have donated seedlings for growing at homes,” said Kendal.

Meanwhile, Ismanto, a 52-year-old artist from Sengi village, Dukun district, Magelang regency, Central Java, said that Dapur Aksi Berbagi had prompted him to continue to paint in spite of the health crisis. He doesn’t intend to sell his paintings, but rather to hold a painting barter program in exchange for food. People can barter staple foods like rice, cooking oil and eggs for one of his paintings.

KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Rice packets of ready-to-eat food aid packages, in Cepokojajar Hamlet, Sitimulyo Village, Piyungan District, Bantul Regency, DI Yogyakarta, Saturday (8/4/2020). The food was prepared at the home of Eni Kusriati (46), a resident of Cepoko Jajar Hamlet, who is a member of Jogja\'s Food Solidarity. He was in charge of preparing food prepared for the residents in his village.

With an artistic career spanning decades, Ismanto’s paintings and sculptures are worth hundreds of millions of rupiah. While he is not making an income at this time, he continues to paint every day. “I have around 20 paintings right now that are ready to barter,” he said.

He announced his food aid barter program through social media on Saturday (16/5) and received very positive responses, with 24 people expressing interest in the program. Of these, 10 people wanted to barter food and 14 others wanted to donate cash.

One donor, Elisabeth Wahyu Ajar Wulan, has contributed her salary for an entire month to Ismanto’s program. She wasn’t concerned about whether she would receive a painting in exchange. “I just said, please paint whatever you like,” said the 28-year-old, who is a nurse at a private hospital in Yogyakarta.

Of the 24 people participating in the program, 22 come from a variety of professions ranging from nursing, videography to social activism and to office employees.

Of the 24 people participating in the program, 22 come from a variety of professions ranging from nursing, videography to social activism and to office employees. Ismanto has a stock of 2 quintals of rice, 1 quintal of granulated sugar and 160 liters of cooking oil from the food and cash donated through the barter program. Some of the food has already been delivered to 70 families in the city of Magelang and its vicinity.

On observing the phenomenon of community-based action, sociologist Arie Sujito of Gadjah Mada University commented that the health emergency had brought a new normal to society, raising community awareness of sharing the burden. Doing so by providing mutual support left no space for discrimination.