It's Charlie

Just 10 days after my Saumlaki trip, my awesome office mate Dinda and I flew to Jayapura to accomplish our Papua field trip transiting towards Wamena, Jayawijaya. By air, distance from Jakarta to Jayapura takes around 3,700 km or equals to 5 hours 25 minutes. Direct flight of Garuda Indonesia GA-0656 departs daily at 23.20 from Soekarno Hatta Airport to Sentani Airport. The earliest flight to Wamena is by Trigana Air IL-271 at 07.45.

Children of Napoa Peak, Wamena | © UNICEF Indonesia / 2016 / Dinda Veskarahmi

Children of Karogi Village, Wamena | © UNICEF Indonesia / 2016 / Dinda Veskarahmi

Karman is a bicycle taxi driver (English: tukang ojek sepeda) at the Port of Sunda Kelapa. He should wake up very early every morning to prepare his bike standby at the gate of the harbor to transport his service to the tourists visitors. Sunda Kelapa harbor is one of the forerunner to the establishment of Jakarta city.

Kalijodo - (English: river of destiny) is the Indonesia’s oldest red-light district, dating back to the early 18th century. Turnover business of prostitution and especially gambling in Kalijodo reaches over 2 billion Rupiahs per day*. Kalijodo may represent lower-class prostitution, but in fact, Jakarta is saturated with this kind of business. There are still lots of places, even in five-star hotels where people can accidentally stumbles across it.

Passing through the street Latuharhari until Taman Lawang, we will encounter a slightly different world. Incorporated in TL's (short for Taman Lawang) trans-gender community, Aline is very happy with her status as a shemale.

Bujang (not a real name), an HIV-positive former drug user. He struggles not only to cope with the fee of his treatment, but also with the social stigma and prejudice towards him. All of his family forced him to leave home and isolate himself. That is to hide a shameful thing of his family. Besides Bujang, there are still many people living with HIV positive who is experiencing the similar thing.

The existence of Becak (English: Rickshaw) remains continue to be hunted even though nearly extinct. This is related to local government regulations on public order. Being creative, Dhony modify his Becak to become a BeMot - short for "Becak Motor" (English: Motorized Rickshaw) . By doing so, it will be easier for him to escape from KAMTIB - short for "Keamanan & Ketertiban" (English: Security & Order).

Many couples in the city like Jakarta are bound by the reality that they will have to face some challenges if their lovers come from different religions. The law on marriage only legalizes married couples from the same faith. Then, is it true that love knows no boundaries?

Everyday, Mamang has to walk about 10 km daily to deliver bottles of tomato and chili sauce to the chicken noodles (Indonesian: mie ayam) gerobak sellers in Pasar Ikan. His net profit per day will be used to finance his 2 children. The oldest one is in 1st grade junior high school, while the second child sits in 2nd grade elementary school. Luckily, Mamang only has 2 children! *Gerobak is a traditional transportation, used for selling food in Indonesia.

At the beginning of project Trans Jakarta, a number of workers was challenged to cut down a tree in the area Duta Merlin. In just a few weeks some people die for no apparent reason. A moment the next day, the project leaders gave "sesajenan" (English: the tiny offerings usually contain flowers) and paid homage to the tree that is rumored haunted.

The poor is a cliché challenge that we often hear everywhere in big cities. There are 2 types of beggars in Jakarta. The first is seasonal beggars and the second is a common beggar. Seasonal beggars usually appear when approaching the celebration of religious holidays or towards the end of the year. There are a lot of homework that the Gov't need to do to solve the problem of the poverty.

For most people in Jakarta, the need for clean water supply is an obligation. Sometimes people in residential areas will get difficulty getting water, for example when the electricity off. At such times, the presence of "Abang Air Gerobakan" (English: Water Cart Driver) will desperately awaited.

There are many nicknames for this horse-drawn transportation: Sado / Dokar/ Delman / or even Andong. The name itself was actually derived from the inventor, Charles Theodore Deeleman. However, Andong's existence is nearly extinct. Of course this may be understandable as an adjustment to urban life. However, the pleasure of riding an Andong will not be replaceable, even with the coolest car ride though.

Romi - 11 years old works near Jembatan Batu area as a used-bottles scavenger. Life without a father has made him only sits until 5th grade of elementary school, before he finally decided to help his mother to earn money. He frankly admitted smoking cigarettes and glue sniffing activities are part of the enjoyment in his leisure time.

The influx of goods from China is unstoppable. Someday in an impromptu bazaar, you may probably find out that the price of a bra may be now much cheaper than the price of a cup of Starbucks.

Lots of teenagers in Jakarta are very enthusiastic in welcoming some special moments. This euphoria usually appears in the new Year's Eve, the Takbiran Night (Indonesian: the night when the fasting is end) or even at a time of their beloved football club has a competition.

Experiencing a flat tire is an unexpected risk of having a car or a motorbike. When we do, finding a tire patcher (Indonesian: tukang tambal ban) is an unspeakable joy. Solihin - a tire patcher in Kemayoran area uses his expertise to earn income approximately Rp 20,000 (NZD $2) daily.

"Mudik" or "Pulang Kampung" (English: back to own hometown) is an extraordinary happiness for everyone. It's has also been part of a culture in welcoming Eid Ul-Fitr. Every year, progressively around 8 million travelers return from Jakarta to their hometown using various modes of transportation, one of which is by train.

Slamet started running his barbershop since the year 1990. Prior to work as a barber, he was a stone mason. He was very lucky that one day unexpectedly he met with his friend from the same village who in turn taught him how to cut and shave hair.Now almost everyday he is overwhelmed receiving lots of teenage customers who want to have hair-style like their favorite's public figures. One of the icon of Jakarta is Bundaran HI (English: Hotel Indonesia Roundabout). The initial design of the Bundaran HI was sketched by an Ambonese, Henk Ngantung - at the time was the deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta. Seeing the sketch was very charming, President Soekarno then asked Edi Sunarso to realize it to be a statue. Overall processing time took about a year before it was inaugurated in 1962. Now, in this democratic era, Bundaran HI is widely used for the protesters to voice their aspiration.