7. Where Water Brings Hope and Courage
Water Mission's impact on communities in Medan, Indonesia
Dear friend,
A recent lecture on the moral significance of poverty got me thinking about the time I traveled to Medan, Indonesia to visit Water Mission. I sorely miss traveling; I miss being witness to developments going on in rural regions; I miss learning from different cultures. But more importantly, I miss being humbled by stories of hope and courage in facing adversities that are relatively rare in a developed country like Singapore.
Revisiting a post I wrote of my experience brought back vivid memories of what fulfillment looked like. In an earlier issue of Our Green Offering, I concluded that a "life spent living for others" was how I wanted to approach the rest of my life. I've considered the next steps in my career with that conclusion in mind. If you find this perspective a little broad, that's because it serves the sole function of being directly contrasted against a "life spent working for and glorifying one's self".
The development of basic infrastructure, in my view, is something that has been foundational to my person-hood. Churches often adopt projects — like the building of wells and churches — as a part of inculcating a spirit of stewardship in young Chrsitians. My own deep memories of church planting and well building have not left me. But beyond the purposes of ministry, buinesses, too, can operate through a Christian lens with the purpose of edifying the livelihoods of communities. The rest of this (long) newsletter is a recollection of my experiences and thoughts on Water Mission's impact on a village in Medan, Indonesia. I hope you enjoy it!
Where Water Brings Hope and Courage
This is how I can best describe the streets of Medan as I watched through the window of a pick-up truck. Constant honking fills the air as motorbikes weave through larger vehicles. At a glance, the speed and ostensible recklessness of traffic may lead you to believe an accident is waiting to happen, yet upon closer observation one gets a sense of the collective coordination beneath the surface of chaos.
In my travels through South-East Asia, I’ve found this chaos to have a unique thrill otherwise unavailable to me in the developed-but-sterile Singapore, my current country of residence. To escape both the sterility and cultural baggage we tend to bring along when we travel in groups, solo travel has offered me a unique glimpse into the lives and work of native people in neighboring countries. Planning trips with the objective of learning from a different cultural perspective has, as such, become a staple in my travels abroad.
My trip to the third most populated city in Indonesia introduced me to Jordan Franky Sinaga, a 36 years old Indonesian project manager working with Water Mission International, a global non-government organization (NGO). Right off the bat, Jordan’s hospitality impresses upon me his humble spirit; despite being in charge of nearly 20 projects, Jordan carved out time to accommodate my curious inquisition into the development of water infrastructure in his homeland.
Water Mission International
To get to one of the many offices in the Northern Sumatra region, one must drive about six hours from the city of Medan to the town of Balige. Flying is also an option, of which will cut your travel time to a mere 50 minutes. Regardless of how you travel, what is afforded to you is a view of Lake Toba, the largest lake in Indonesia, and the largest volcanic lake in the world. It is in the various regions around this lake that Jordan and his team have worked to build wells and other forms of water infrastructure, not only providing many communities access to clean water, but also educating appointed village members on water hygiene, equipment maintenance, and money management, to name a few.
I am greeted by a chorus of “Horas! Horas!” as I walk through the door of the Water Mission meeting room, or Waha Mitra, as they are known in the native Bahasa language. 'Horas' on the contrary, means ‘hello’ in the indigenous Batak language, and reflects the dominant ethnicity of the representatives in the office. It is through this meeting I met Hitler Rismanto, – (yes, named after the infamous dictator, a fact I found rather awkward. I defaulted to using his family name) – Dendi Manurung, and Desmond Simaremare, three Batak-native area coordinators and educators who went on to be my chaperons as I visited their various community projects.
Although they currently work to provide access to clean water in many villages, Water Mission International’s work has gone through several changes in their operational strategy in Indonesia. As Jordan shared, the organization first came to Indonesia in 2005 as part of the relief effort in response to the tsunami that ensued following the Nias-Simulue earthquake in December 2004. Water Mission had initially only brought in equipment for disaster relief, but eventually went on to obtain official NGO status and employ full-time staff in 2007.
One of the more significant ways in which operational strategy has been changed is in the way equipment is distributed. Where in the past Water Mission distributed equipment to churches for further distribution around villages, misperception that the water may not be halal – and, as such, not consumable – by Muslims living in the community prompted Water Mission’s Indonesian team to work directly with communities instead, encouraging collaboration from community and religious representatives alike.
“We advocate for the use of resources to help develop a community. Our work involves recognizing a problem, and aiming to make it better. This is the process before people can flourish: the infrastructure must work for the good of the whole community”, Jordan quietly summarizes. I nod in agreement. While it is easy to forget about the privilege my peers and I have back home, access to clean water continues to be a new found privilege for rural communities in many South-East Asian nations.
Hidden Complications
Water Mission’s work is understandably not without complications. Complications range from innocuous daily tasks – such as using detergent to wash clothes in streams and the lake – to the unseen dumping of waste into the lake by factories. So while the lake may seem like a natural source of clean water, it still needs to be purified before it can be certified safe for consumption.
I was also afforded an insider’s perspective to the political climate in Indonesia, courtesy of a conversation with my Chinese-Indonesian Air BnB host in Medan. Over the past years, development has been impeded by the underlying systemic political corruption which has ultimately informed the country’s relatively underwhelming economic growth.
“With a population as large as ours, the economy should be booming”, my host laments in our nearly 2-hour long conversation, “but with political parties resorting to violence to get their message across, everyone is on high alert. How can the economy develop if corruption remains present?” He’s referring to the recent riots in Jakarta, the country’s city capital, and it is a valid concern. Political turmoil has a propensity to take center stage, but when all is done and dusted, rural communities continue to live without the basic infrastructure a government should be providing its citizens. And while some NGOs may have taken on that burden on the government’s behalf, there’s no telling how a corrupt government may complicate matters even further.
Sampuran Village
The air was cool and clear as I ascended up the mountains on the back of Rismanto’s motorbike. My Indonesian hosts had extended their hospitality by offering me a front row seat in a day of their work, and it was only there I discovered the relational orientation of their work. Warm greetings from ostensible strangers frequently punctuated the rushing wind. Some they knew by name, others they didn’t, but the widespread familiarity with multiple members of the community was astounding.
We went on to pay a short visit to the Sampuran village where Water Mission had recently finalized the installation a water filtration system. Although distinct white taps were a frequent observation, they were notably communal. Several homes share a single tap, often found in front of modest looking homes. Additionally, many continue to live without running water in their homes. Instead, families convene daily at the nearest tap to collect water in buckets. This is still better than the alternatives, which are substantially longer walks for unfiltered water either at the lake or the village well.
With the clear disparity in the development of infrastructure between the city of Medan and in rural communities surrounding Lake Toba, it’s easy to see how underdevelopment affects communities in other ways besides the lack of clean water. Opportunity is scarce in the rural hills of the Sampuran village; school buildings look worn and lacking, especially in contrast with the bright school uniforms donned by students. After school hours observe many students traveling back to their respective villages via motorbikes, boats, and by foot. With little to do after school hours – given the relative homogeneity of businesses in the area – some students bear the responsibility of helping their family financially.
I visited the humble home of one such teenaged girl – no older than fifteen – who was working hard at weaving a traditional piece of Batak cloth on an antiquated loom. Undoubtedly tedious work, I couldn’t help but notice the state of the home. The wooden floor of the living room was literally in a state of decay. The living room itself would have been dark if not for a single fluorescent light that glowed overhead. As her father’s cigarette filled the home with smoke, he revealed that the family depends on the sale of the cloth, which sells for about 200,000 IDR (~ USD$14). The cloth takes about 3 days to complete, given the girl’s school schedule, but is barely enough to get the family by. The girl, as a result, works just about every day.
The Grounds for Faith and Courage
The absence of an efficient educational infrastructure as well as the adaptability required to function in our rapidly changing world left me discouraged. One cannot help but wonder if the current framework present in these remote parts of the mountain is sufficient in equipping the next generation for the future. With online blogs writing of global shifts from our digital age to what some identify as society 4.0, one can immediately see how much work needs to be done in these areas before the playing field becomes level, and even then, will it be enough?
Despite all of this, my perception and attitude towards all I had witnessed was a stark contrast to that held by Rismanto and his team. I only spoke of the effects of corruption and issues with development after prompting Rismanto, and even then, little time was spent discussing their frustration.
“It’s frustrating because we know so much more can be done”, Rismanto shares over a cup of coffee at the peak of Mount Himandanju. “but I focus on my work because I know I’m working for a greater cause.” Indeed, both Rismanto and Jordan had repeatedly expressed a strong desire to build up the next generation. Each sees it in himself to be accountable for the culture and community they believe in, and know their work is a crucial foundation if their next generation is to stand a chance in our rapidly globalizing world.
Very often we tend to overrate big players. Doctors in the field of medicine; lawyers in the field of law. Yet in the field of development, the biggest players are the ones hidden, those who work to preserve hope in a community and faith in a larger cause.
I can only speculate what keeps these individuals grounded. Perhaps it is the tangibility of all that surrounds them: the mountains and lake, and all of the beauty within it. Perhaps it is their religious piety and the burden that has been placed on their hearts to work for a greater cause. But what I can say with certainty is that they are full of hope.
Days in the mountains are long, journeys are tedious, and the pace of development could certainly be faster. But when your work and ministry is centered on tangible relationships, you can taste the impact of your work. This, I believe, is what energizes Jordan, Rismanto, and Water Mission staff alike.
Thanks for reading, til the next one!
Forever grateful,
Daniel Teyogu
Thanks for sharing and writing this! Was touched and blessed by this piece. Sometimes it's so easy to forget how easy and good we have it in Singapore. The work and vivid hopefulness of the Water Mission staff are so inspiring <3 Let's not take clean water for granted. x, Sue.