They are still grateful to be able to live in the orphanage and go to school while waiting for the "fancy side dish" of chicken once a week.
By
SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS
·5 minutes read
Hasan Ismail, 16, enjoyed a third of a fried egg after eating rice. Eggs, especially chicken, are a luxury side dish for inhabitants of the Social Service Home for Children and Adolescents in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.
Other items on the plate were a slice of tempeh and pakis curry in an ompreng (aluminum tray). Hasan, who is popularly called Mail, ate well. Twice he added rice, the only food that was free to take during the mealtime at the Social Service Institution for Children and Adolescents (PSAR) of the Southeast Sulawesi Social Service Office. There were no more helpings of other sides, apart from tempeh and curry, because they had been prepared according to the number of inhabitants.
In an instant, the egg moved from the ompreng to his stomach. He licked his fingers one by one. "Delicious [the food]. This morning, I had breakfast with an omelet,” said the smiling Mail on Tuesday (15/9/2020).
The child who dreams of being a soldier said that now that he lived at an orphanage, he ate more regularly than when he was living with his grandmother and aunt in Muna regency. At the PSAR, they eat three times a day. The menu changes between eggs and fish. Once a week, they enjoy chicken. That is the meal he can’t wait to enjoy.
On Wednesday (16/9) afternoon, Mail finished eating earlier than the others. Opor ayam (chicken cooked in coconut milk) is the main dish, accompanied by a soup. There was no tempeh that afternoon. The fragrance of a small piece of chicken in soup is served in the ompreng. Each child gets a piece of chicken.
Fellow inhabitant Anisa, 14, ate her opor ayam until just a few small bones were left. Her ompreng was clean after she had added rice twice. "I ate a lot here," she said, laughing while covering her face.
Mail and Anisa are two of 50 children in the care of the PSAR. Anisa, the seventh child of a farming couple, only recently entered the orphanage. All residents of the PSAR come from poor families.
At the PSAR, each child gets a food budget allocation of Rp 25,000 per day before taxes. This is in accordance with the budget allocation for the Southeast Sulawesi Social Service Office. This means that one child only gets Rp 20,000-Rp 22,000 per day, or around Rp 7,000 for one meal.
That compares to rice with egg sold at food stalls around Kendari city for around Rp 15,000 per portion. Obviously, the inhabitants of the orphanage don’t get to enjoy snacks such as fried food or drink sweet tea every afternoon. There is no budget for that.
Putar otak
Jamilah, the person in charge of food at the PSAR, said she had to be creative to make the food budget cover the needs of all the children living in the orphanage. "The eggs are added with a great deal of seasoning so that they are tasty and the children can mix them with tempeh. Or we make sayur bening (spinach, carrot and tomato soup) without using coconut milk, to save costs," she explained.
We have to be smart to enable us to serve food
However, for cooking chicken, according to Jamilah, the budget of Rp 25,000 per person is insufficient. Moreover, the price of chicken had soared during the Covid-19 pandemic to Rp 70,000 per piece. Prices of chilies and onions had also skyrocketed.
The food budget of Rp 400 million for 50 children for the March-December period of 2020 is no longer sufficient. However, she still tries to serve, especially since the children come from poor families. "We have to be smart to enable us to serve food," she said.
The food budget is very limited for the children in this orphanage. Over the years, the budget allocation has never changed, with the value fixed at Rp 25,000 per day for one child.
For years
The head of the PSAR Regional Technical Implementation Unit of the Southeast Sulawesi Social Service Office, Syahruddin, admitted that the budget was the same as when he took office three years ago, even the same as the previous years.
From the beginning, he suggested that the food budget for children at the PSAR Kendari be increased. Moreover, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the PSAR has a heavier responsibility, because it must help children get better nutrition so that their immunity is maintained.
The food budget is only one of the problems faced by the PSAR. They receive a budget of Rp 1 billion a year, including for food, school needs, daily expenses and office operations. "Per year they only get an allocation to buy one set of school clothes for Rp 200,000 and shoes for Rp 250,000. Like it or not, there is only one set of school clothes and shoes and no budget for scout clothes or sportswear,” said Syahruddin.
Each child gets Rp 10,000 in pocket money per day. However, their allowance is often given too late. The children use the allowance for school necessities or other needs. The children have not received pocket money for the last two months.
The head of the Southeast Sulawesi representative office of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Mastri Susilo, has concluded that the government has not done enough for children in the orphanage. He asked the provincial government of Southeast Sulawesi to pay more attention to inhabitants of PSAR in Kendari.
The inhabitants of the orphanage have no choice but to accept what is available. They are still grateful to be able to live in the orphanage and go to school while waiting for the "fancy side dish" of chicken once a week.