‘I pick up my neighbors’ trash every morning, starting from 6 AM until around 1PM, and in return, each household pays me 68 cents every month, or sometimes 34 cents. I will go through these trash bags before dumping them here to collect any cardboard, plastic packaging, or paper. The recycle plant pays me for…
‘I haven’t been able to walk for years so I would just drag myself around the house to cook, mop the floor, and wash my clothes. People will come and wonder how I have a clean place, even the floor under my bed is spotless. I have good neighbors who will come to check on…
Using wheelchair and crutches give me a glimpse of what it feels like to be a disabled in Indonesia. I only have a short-term condition where I can probably walk again in 6-7 weeks, but for many people, it’s their reality. One of the most noticeable thing is that people stare at you. You are…
‘I lost both of my parents in just three months. I did everything I could to support my mom and pay for the hospital bills, so at that time I thought she was gonna make it. I was angry with God. My dad didn’t stop grieving and his health kept declining. He eventually died of…
‘I tend to immerse myself in my work and lose track of time. If I were to do this at home, I would stay up all night until dawn. Actually, this one should only take two hours to finish but I kept having friends come over. So, I would take a break and drink some…
‘We had a family gathering, there were 16 people in my house, but only three of us survived. Tsunami came 15 minutes after the Earthquake happened. We didn’t have a chance to escape. The water hit me hard, there was a throbbing sound getting closer and we could see a 50-feet high water coming our…
‘You will need to write five books to justly narrate my story. I do long-distance cycling with my old bike and haven’t worked a normal job in ten years. I even biked from Bandung, Indonesia to Melaka, Malaysia. It is 1,600 km away and it took me thirteen days. I don’t want to sound arrogant…
‘Hey, you don’t seem busy. Can you help me with something? I can’t log into my Facebook. My friend set up the account for me so I don’t remember what my email and password are. I was still able to access it a couple of days ago but suddenly they don’t let me open it.…
‘Me and my friends won The Indonesia World Records for the most sketches made, but fine arts hardly get any recognition from neither the media nor the government. I worked as an artist in Surabaya and Jogjakarta but decided to come back here and started a community called Sketsa Langit. I want to harness our…