Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

food and their daily needs. They tended not to drink or
smoke (most likely because of religious prohibitions),
and tried to save some money so that they could go
back home to farm in the future. But their income was
too small to save anything as intended, so the hope of
going back home to the countryside was quite remote.
Some of them also felt lonely and forlorn.
Policy and Roles of the Local Administrations in Solving
the Problem of Homelessness
Information concerning the policy and role of
government agencies was gained mainly from talking
with the homeless. Only a few opportunities were
available to speak with government officials and social
welfare officials, mainly because of limitations in
coordination and time.
Based on the study, it was determined that local
administrations still had no clear policy to solve the
problem of homelessness. They emphasized mostly
solving the slum problem, since slum dwellers
constituted the majority of the urban poor. At the
same time, even the budget available to solve the
problem of the urban poor was quite limited. The role
of government organizations was thus only to provide
advice in job training and health care. There were no
meaningful programs to provide jobs, food, or housing.
Some homeless groups complained that they were
driven out of their dwelling places and had to move all
the time. The ineffectiveness of local administrations to
adequately address the problem of homelessness became
even more problematic when viewed in conjunction
with the absence of any significant role for the central
government in addressing the issue. The absence of
policy and action on the part of the central authorities
meant that for the time being, the limited provision of
services at the local administrative level was the most
that the homeless could hope for.
Roles of Non-governmental Organizations in
Addressing Homelessness
Though there were quite a number of NGOs working
with the urban poor in Jakarta, most worked with
slum dwellers rather than the homeless. It might be
said that no NGO worked directly with the homeless,
and only a few of them worked with street children.
Based on conversations with some NGO workers, it
was determined that most NGOs occupied themselves
with work focusing on slum dwellers—some four
million in all in the slum communities all over Jakarta
City. Besides, NGOs had limited budgets. As a result,
NGOs working with the urban poor in Jakarta were
THE EMPOWERING THE POOR AND VULNERABLE
321
only marginally interested in the homeless, primarily as
a group about which they were studying, but not yet as
an actual target group.
The organizations that worked most with the homeless
were Christian churches. They had programs for
providing food, health care in some cases, and teaching
religion, but their activities were still focused on only a
small group of homeless. Most of the homeless received
no assistance in solving the problem of joblessness,
insufficient food, housing, and health care, both physical
and mental. Donation of food by private citizens in
general was done on a personal basis and irregularly.
Grouping of the Homeless
The homeless in Jakarta had apparently formed into
small groups naturally. They tended to form into small
groups of 3-5 persons, but some groups might have up
to 10-20 persons. From the survey conducted, it was
found that most of them knew each other because they
stayed in the same area and made the same living of
scavenging garbage and collecting discarded goods.
Only a few were related by kin or came from the same
village. The relationships between members of the
group were not deep. They spoke to and helped each
other sometimes, and even this was helpful in solving
the problem of loneliness.
The formation of groups as a result of participation in
activities supported by either GOs or NGOs was rather
rare. Exceptions included only the food provision
programs and the teaching of religion supported by
the Christian church. Even in these cases, it was only a
small group of homeless who gained. More frequently,
the grouping of homeless people occurred naturally
according to the life of the homeless, without support
from any organization at all.
LESSONS AND EXPERIENCES
My study of the homeless in the metropolis took
nine months and covered three countries: Japan, the
Philippines and Indonesia. Six months were spent in
Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Kyoto and Nagoya; two
months in Metro Manila; and one month in Jakarta.
The lessons and experiences learned can be summarized
as follows:
Background, Way of Life and Problems of the
Homeless
In terms of background, homelessness as a phenomenon
in Japan emerged with the creation of a large pool of
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows