Spreading the Virus of Sharing on the Internet

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

A website for the payment of Islamic alms presents a choice of numerous alms institutions offered by online shopping site bukalapak.com. Citizens have a number of options to pay alms online through their smartphones.

Ali Hamzah (11) entered the Blok M Square shopping center in South Jakarta, brimming with a smile. He pushed a shopping cart between lines of shelves, his eyes glued to the displayed women’s clothes on sale. “I want to buy a new dress for mom,” he said.

Ali was not used to shopping at malls. His father is an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver and his mother is a housewife. The family does not have the luxury of shopping at malls often. On Sunday (26/6/2019), ahead of Idul Fitri, Ali could visit the mall due to the “Shopping with Orphans and Poor People” (BBYD) program held by humanitarian organization Sekolah Relawan (Volunteer School).

In the program, Sekolah Relawan asked 138 orphans and less fortunate children to shop at a mall. Each child was given Rp 250,000 (US$17.5) to buy the things they want.

Upon entering the supermarket, Ali said that he did not wish to buy anything for himself. Instead, the boy, who lives in Menteng Dalam, South Jakarta, decided to buy a Rp 139,000 dress for his mother.

He used the rest of the money to buy a pair of shoes for himself. He said that he wanted his mother to wear a new dress when going to her hometown of Kebumen, Central Java. “She only had old clothes. I don’t want her to wear that when we go to her hometown,” he said.

Ali was just one of the many children who participated in the BBYD program at Blok M Square. There was also Raffa, 7, who used the money from Sekolah Relawan to buy new clothes for his parents. “He did not buy anything for himself,” said volunteer Sekar Athaya, 21, who accompanied Raffa.

He did not look disappointed even when he went without buying anything for himself. It was only at the end of the event that a donor transferred some money to a volunteer to help buy new clothes and shoes for Raffa.

Sekolah Relawan founder Bayu Gawtama said that the BBYD aimed to help orphans and less fortunate children achieve their dreams. “We know that many of these children have dreams and wishes like any other children. On Idul Fitri, they want to have new clothes, sandals or shoes,” he said.

This year’s program encompassed around 1,200 orphans and less fortunate children in 30 cities. Other than in Jakarta, similar events were also held in Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bandung and South Central Timor regency in East Nusa Tenggara.

Internet

Sekolah Relawan raised funds in various ways, including through social media. Several Sekolah Relawan activists held an online campaign called “Sale Care Challenge”, in which Bayu and his colleagues auctioned their personal belongings through Facebook to raise funds for BBYD.

“At first, I auctioned my child’s toy car at the opening price of Rp 400,000. Someone bought it and I used the money for BBYD,” Bayu said.

Other people followed suit. Some auctioned bags, T-shirts, necklaces, prayer beads and other items. They also challenged their friends to take part in the challenge. This way, the virus of sharing was spread far and wide to many people.

BBYD donor Kartika Ayu, 51, said that she found out about Sekolah Relawan programs through social media. She said that online fundraising helped her to share with those less fortunate than her.

Real Action Bandung community also used social media for fundraising. “Many were moved to donate after we created a campaign on social media. I think transparency is the key. We always publish donation reports through social media,” Real Action Bandung founder Raden “Egi” Soegiharto, 35, said.

During this year’s Ramadan, Real Action Bandung opened a donation channel on Instagram, which was responded positively by netizens.

“We managed to collect Rp 22 million in three days. We used it to provide donations for 55 orphans and 60 less fortunate elderly people,” he said.

The Ramadan spirit of sharing was also seen in increased fundraising through popular crowdsourcing website Kitabisa.com. During Ramadan, around 10,000 donors participated in various fundraising campaigns on the website every day.

“Total donations reached Rp 63 billion, twice the amount in other months,” Kitabisa.com founder Alfatih Timur said.

The donations were spread across 100 programs, including school fees for orphans, Idul Fitri gifts for the less fortunate and fundraising for a prosthetic leg.

University of Indonesia school of economy and business professor Rhenald Kasali said that sharing was part of Indonesia’s culture, due to religious teachings and local wisdom.

This was why many were moved to donate through social programs and activities. In recent years, this sharing spirit has blossomed in line with the mushrooming of online fundraising initiatives.

Technology has no emotions or ideology. The users give it a face, be it of anger or of good deeds.

(TATANG MULYANA SINAGA)