Help

A major change from life in Canada to here in Indonesia is that we have help around the house. Our Helpers have been such an important and necessary part of our lives, especially with Amy and I both in language school this last year.

With the average income in Indonesia being exponentially lower than in Canada, things cost less, and people have less. Having such things as a shower, a fridge, or an oven are not the norm here. In fact, having these types of amenities (that are considered standard back home) puts one in a higher income bracket here - whether you realized it or not!

We currently have two awesome women helping us Monday to Friday. The kind of ways they help us: Cook a meal (from scratch), clean & disinfect floors (more important in a tropical country as it kills potential bacteria & diseases...We've already had friends deal with nasty diseases such as Typhoid and Dungue Fever), take care of Charlotte for part of the morning (allowing Amy & I to do homework and go to school), shop for food, do the mid-day dishes, fold & Iron clothes (ironing here is a must because we do not have a dryer and in a humid environment it sucks out that extra bit of moisture helping to prevent mould), and the list goes on!

Could we do this ourselves? Yes, we could. But, considering we are here (in Salatiga) to learn Indonesian, the amount of time we could devote each day to learning a language (and take care of house & home), would be minimal. It would literally take us years to accomplish what we are coming close to finish doing in just under 1 year!

Not only do these women help us with work around the home, but they have also helped so much with our language acquisition and cultural learning. So many times Amy and I have asked them questions for homework or just questions about life here. They have become our family friends, people we trust, and we will miss dearly when we move in the fall!

Last month one of our Helpers "K" had her first child, a baby girl. As she is now on 3 months off for maternity leave, she invited us over to her home to meet both her baby and also her family. We were very excited to do so!

 Not only did they have a nice spread of snacks waiting for us, they also served us a full meal! Enak Sekali! (very tasty!)

Every time we visit an Indonesian friends home, we are humbled by their generosity, politeness and how they live with so much less. Whether or not you are satisfied with your couch in your own home becomes less important after you have visited with a lovely family that has never had a couch...Talk about reality check! It is so good to be thankful to God for what He has given us, and whatever situation He has put us in, no matter what that is.

  Amy with new baby & Simon eating his 5th helping of snacks.