Sariban, 74, resident of Sadang Serang, Bandung, West Java, cut down a fallen tree on Jl. Pahlawan in Bandung on Sunday (28/5/2017). Sariban, an icon of Bandung’s sanitary workforce, has worked as a volunteer sanitary officer in the city for the past 34 years.
Prak... prak... prak.... His body is small. He is now 74 years old. But, Sariban firmly cut a frangipani tree that fell on the side of Jl Pahlawan in Bandung, West Java on Sunday (28/5).
“Since last year, I have proposed that the Bandung City Administration replace this tree. Aside from being prone to falling if there are strong winds, its fallen leaves can block the drainage,” Sariban said.
Sariban is no stranger to Bandung. He often wears a bright yellow uniform and rides an old bicycle around the city. In the back of his bicycle is a broomstick and a garbage bin. Anytime he sees garbage on the street, he picks it up.
Sariban has been carrying out the activity since 1983 or 34 years ago in a bid to keep Bandung, the city he loves, clean. Unsurprisingly, because of such activity, Sariban is often sought out by journalists from home and abroad, companies who want to make him an icon of their ads and regional head candidates who want him in their campaigns. But, that’s not Sariban wants. “I just wanted Bandung clean. Period,” he said.
At his age, he also wants to contribute to society. “I do not want to burden the family, state, with health problems. I want to make them proud, not burden them,” he said.
Separately, on Jl Pahlawan, Bandung, the legs of Djajadi, 73, were still strong to walk around his dwelling place of RW 004, Manjahlega subdistrict, Rancasari district. With high spirit, he showed some garbage bins the local people had made. The garbage bins were used to collect three kinds of garbage, organic, non-organic and toxic wastes.
The idea to make the bins came in 2006. He, then, transformed the organic waste into compost. Within 20 days, he could produce 600 kilograms of compost. The compost was sold for Rp 5,000 per 4 kilograms.
“The proceeds from the sales are collected as a saving of the Elderly Citizens Union or Hiwala 22. This community is a group of elderly people on Manjahlega which I helped founded 15 years ago,” he said.
Today, Hiwala 22’s members are 150 people or a small portion of 194,197 elderly people in Bandung. They managed a 360 square meters park in RW 004, which was called Elderly Park because it was initiated by the citizens over 60 years old. The park was full of green plantations and was adorned with lane of pebbles for foot massage.
Meanwhile, in RT 005 RW 043 neighborhood in Kayen hamlet, Condongcatur village, Depok district, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, Suprihatin, 70, triesto live autonomously. She turned the 6 square-meter garage into a kiosk to sell home appliances.
The mother of three and the grandmother of five lives in her house alone. Suprihatin is a member of the Elderly Family Group (BKL) in Gandok hamlet, Condongcatur village, Depok district. For a person of her age, Suprihatin was healthy. She does not require particular medicines. She diligently attends a physical education class for the elderly twice a week.
Depend
Unlike Suprihatin, Niti, 85, a resident of RT 002 RW 026, Girikerto village, Turi district, Sleman regency, lives alone. She can no longer work and has never married. She relies on her neighbors’ help.
Niti lives in a 3 by 3 square-meter house with brick walls and dirt floor. The house was built with the help of the local community. She still has good vision. But she can longer hear as well as she used to.
Niti’s small legs seem too weak to support her body. Her arms are no longer strong enough to carry heavy things.
Nilawati, 40, Niti’s neighbor, said every day, locals provided Niti with food. Sometimes they spoon-feed Niti. “Around 20 years ago, Niiti sold food and rented a house here. As she got older, she became unable to continue selling food,” she said.
Several residents and local neighborhood heads have reported the condition of Niti to the Social Affairs Office in Sleman regency. However, there has been no response from the office. Local people willingly help her, but, they want grandma Niti to be taken care of by the office properly.
Meanwhile, in Menur Pumpungan subdistrict, Sukolilo district, Surabaya, Mohammad Hadi, 68, proudly showed a certificate of him being the fifth winner in the Elderly Fun Walk. The achievement shows the elderly people in the neighborhood are healthy.
Based on the National Social Economy Survey 2015, the number of Indonesia’s elderly citizens over 60 years old stood at 21.5 million or 8.43 percent of the total population. The number of elder people was estimated to grow to around 10 percent of the total population in 2030. Unfortunately, not all elderly people have the same conditions. There are elderly people who remain healthy and productive and there are those who sick but can still carry out activities. Others suffer from chronic diseases and require assistance.
The drastic increase in the number of elderly people must be anticipated. Today, May 29, commemorated National Elderly Day. It serves as the right moment to prepare health, audacious and productive elderly people.
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