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Carnival livens up city streets
Hundreds of members of Urban Poor Linkage donned traditional costumes and used household items, including drumblek (a can used as a drum), to produce music to which they danced at Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Thursday
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Hundreds of members of Urban Poor Linkage donned traditional costumes and used household items, including drumblek (a can used as a drum), to produce music to which they danced at Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Thursday.
The carnival was part of the "People Greet Each Other to Change Indonesia" event and also celebrated the 60th anniversary of the human rights declaration, which falls Dec. 10.
In addition to a contingent of poor people from the city, the carnival also featured 100 residents of five different mountains in Central Java (Sumbing, Merbabu, Merapi, Andong and Menoreh), who danced to the music, which was also produced using kitchen utensils.
Fulfilling the organizer's wish to keep the carnival garbage-free, participants were encouraged to bring their own water containers as opposed to using plastic cups and bottles which are the most common form of garbage produced by typical protest rallies.
"Our performance today proves that in the midst of crisis we don't just give up. The carnival is our statement for people to care about human rights," said Dian Tri Irawaty of the Urban Poor Consortium.
She said poor people were the victims of rights violations, including evictions and other social injustices.
The carnival marked the opening of a seven-day event organized by Uplink that will run from Dec. 5 to 10 and will stage various art performances and workshops at Tugu Proklamasi in Central Jakarta.
The organizer said all of the events would respect the Zero Waste Event movement by taking steps to reduce garbage.
At the event, volunteers will stand by recycle waste bins and provide information on what kind of waste should go in which waste bin.
"For meals, we are cooperating with our constituents who are street vendors. They will provide the food and the utensils. We want to discourage the use of plastic spoons and styrofoam boxes. If they must use them anyway, our volunteers will educate the visitors about reusing and recycling," Dian said.
At the event, organizers will open stalls informing about the three Rs of waste management (reduce, reuse, recycle). The event will also feature workshops on acupressure, traditional massage, household budget management and traditional jamu (herbal drinks). Related photo on Page 1
