BUILD A HOME FOR THE POOREST 'NENEK PENNY' BY TAMAN DAUN COMMUNITY

On the old age it should be a time for parents to enjoy their old age with family, play with grandchildren as well as loved by their children as an expression of gratitude for the sincerity of a mother who gave birth and raised her children. But this is not a case for Nenek Penny (grandma Penny). The 75-year-old woman is known to live alone without being accompanied and cared for by her family. In fact, to eat everyday Nenek Penny only depends on the mercy of the neighbors. Her husband had passed away 10 years ago, and when we asked about her biological child, Nenek Penny always answered "I'm sick."

In addition, her physical condition is no longer strong enough to bear the burden of her live and her eyes are almost blind because of  nearsightedness. Because of this poor condition, she is no longer able to do her work as a traditional sarong weaver and farmer. In her daily darkness life, she is only sitting in the room from morning to evening, waiting the day to end in the dark and then sleeping at night on a bamboo mat without a mattress, as if she hoped someone would come to feed her or she would only surrender waiting to die.

Almost 20 years that Paulina Peni Kei has been living alone in rickety and rundown-hut in Kalikasa-Katakeja Village, Atadei District, Lembata Regency - East Nusa Tenggara - Indonesia.

Live in destiny of living alone in a hut, floored on ground and almost collapsed, she just resignedly laying her body on a shabby bamboo cleavage. She also doesn’t have electricity, thus it's increasing the pain of her life and worsen her eyes which were just nearsighted become totally dark.

It's Beyond Humanity

No toilet? It's beyond humanity. Every time Nenek Penny wanted to go to the toilet, she was forced to scatter all her excrement in her house and then lived and breathed with dust and bad air all her life, then would die like a pile of carcasses?

Her condition was really beyond humanity.

The main thing here is solely about self-esteem as befits a human being. The only thing that makes humans as human is the existence of a toilet. This little thing that is forgotten, but therein lies the dignity of a human being.

Based on those values, Taman Daun Community moved to build a palace for Nenek Penny, to elevate the live of Nenek Penny as a human being, decisively said by one of Taman Daun Volunteers.

In a very short time precisely on 27/06/06, building materials began to be collected one by one. Started from the members of the Lembata Taman Daun Community up to a number of people who were aware of this action also gave their contribution both in any kind of material things and building materials such as cement, iron sheet, wood, and red bricks, building materials and household furniture.

Four local carpenters from Lewoleba: Emrin Manuk, Hanes Nara, Paulus Keraf were willing to leave their wives and children to help Nenek Penny and had to stay overnight in a village that was quite far from Lewoleba plus a badly damaged road terrain that was very life-threatening, and one member of Taman Daun "Yasin Hali" was willing to leave his sick father for several days to make Nenek Penny happy.

New Home, New Life

Assisted by literacy activists from Taman Baca Kampung Kodok Kalikasa - Atadei village, Nenek Penny's shabby shed was completely demolished within four days, started precisely from 3:00 p.m. on 29 June 2020,  a slum hut in the middle of the village turned rapidly into livable house, standing firmly on the same plot ground with the same layout of her old shabby hut with two bedrooms and one living room, plus kitchen and toilet.

At noon on Friday 3 July 2020, Nenek Penny was picked up from a neighbor's house where she lived temporarily during this building process. 

All Taman Daun Volunteers and several residents accompanied this old woman's footsteps into the yard of her new home. Tears could not be hold by almost everyone present at that time including Nenek Penny when a priest blessed her new home.

'Gotong Royong' Gemohing Culture

One member of the Taman Daun Community claimed to be very proud and touched by the involvement of all volunteers. Hopefully this social action can be an example of the "Gemohing" culture, a spirit of mutual cooperation tradition of the Lamaholot Lembata's community that is getting faded away.

"We were born from Lamaholot's culture "Gemohing".  So this action could be a motivation for the community to revive the Gemohing culture," he added.

For him, Gemohing is a noble value of Lamaholot which is always actual and timeless. 

Furthermore, he was thankful to all volunteer friends and kindness people who donated from their shortcomings. "We are truly rich people".

With this new home, we have honored Nenek Penny as a real human being. This happiness turns out make her live again and unexpectedly her eyes start to see again even though it is still vague. When she heard that we were going to build a new home for her, she seemed very happy and started walking alone slowly with her face that turned to bright. 

This help was initially started just because we could not bear to see her decrepit hut that was almost collapsed, but then turned into having a deeper meaning.  We have helped an old woman who is blind because of mental-psychic and the deep suffering of life that she has endured herself. This could be an important point to show the cause and problem of blindness and poverty in the community generally. 

They can be helped if we can help to ease the burden of their life that is too heavy that affect psychologically and cause blindness.

Our help today is like a drop of dew to sooth her heart. She is very old and this might be her last happiness that she would bring in her heart and mind at a time when her soul left her body.

Today we are grateful to have been able to elevate the dignity of Nenek Penny’s life as a human.

@TamanDaun