Java Phase 1

My first volunteer work took me to Java in 1991. There were no hidden altruistic goals. I had not traveled in five years; my daughter was now in kindergarten; I went through several years of Chapter 11 business reorganization, and it was just time to get away. Central Java was as far as one could go without a space shuttle. Not being one to go on ‘vacation’, I was hoping this newly found volunteer group would catalyze travel into an adventure that I had known before when I worked and lived in faraway places.
I recently found a very basic journal of events from that trip. My present recall of events is limited. As sometimes happens, consciousness can be revived in writing.
There was something about flying from LAX to the Isle of Bali on Garuda Airlines following a layover in Biak, Irian Jaya that says Michigan is very far away. Beyond there was a flight to Yogjakarta where our converging troop of ten volunteers receives some orientation. A short trip to the great Buddhist temple of Borobudur brought my amazement at the magnitude of this belief. How can such a creation happen from these monastic beings? Vans took us to Cilacap and our school project at the village of Jeruklege. Our accommodations were old teacher dorms, simple and clean. The traditional bath called Mandi was quite acceptable as the daily heat of 92 cooled to 82 at night. Mandi was a concrete vat of rainwater in a small chamber where one soaped down and wetted as required dipping and dripping the cold water over yourself. It was a take-your-breath-away experience two or three times a day. We tried a thermal shower (a rubber bladder of water heated by the sun) but in this atmosphere it was always scalding hot.
I soon found our western presence was a major bone of contention with the local authorities. Freedom was anarchy here. We were in daily contact with the police, an uneducated lot, threatened by our foreign language. This was a Muslim nation and we were considered part of a Catholic sponsored school. More so we kindled a friendship with a local theatre troupe. Here I derived that through costumes or puppets they were able to express descent. It was the puppet doing the talking not the man behind the image. The theatre was a major political referendum.
A legendary priest named Charlie became a major part of our attraction for this project. Father Charlie spent an evening with us. He said he was a cross between St. Vincent de Paul and the Godfather, in reference to getting his work done for the people. He was annexed to Australia after being ordained because of foul language then permanently put in Java in 1973. His philosophic views of helping people did not meet with what convention had of priests. One “Charlie” concept was to give a needy student a pair of goats which can provide a living income for a family. A year after graduation the system is repaid with two goats. Few jobs are assured because of higher education because of the masses but the thought process is started for opposing their feudal system and with thinking comes an independent spirit. I gathered that Charlie’s cause did not garnish full support from the church. His several schools in Indonesia were without nuns or places of worship. His Godfather reference probably had something to do with fund raising and securing volunteers like us. Our task was renovation of classrooms with paint and repair. Charlie’s persuasion and the smiling children kept us inspired.