Y

ati rested briefly in her plywood shack next to a pile of garbage and a carpenter workshop in the Tebet, South Jakarta on Monday afternoon.

The 60-something woman had spent the last 18 hours collecting and sorting garbage — a grueling job that earns her a meager Rp 25,000 (US$2.60) a day. After work, she allowed herself to lie down on her bed, a bamboo mat in her one-room shack.

Despite the hard work and long hours, she said she always took an hour or two at noon and dusk to go home and pray, as an expression of gratitude for “Him who breathes men’s breath”.

With her stout figure and a loud voice, Yati seems tough. Behind that hard exterior, however, lies the gentle heart of a woman who would rather skip a meal to feed the beggars at her door.

On the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, or Idul Adha, which fell on Oct. 26 this year, she touched the hearts of others and became a media sensation when she and her husband, Maman, 35, sacrificed two goats worth Rp 3 million at a nearby mosque after saving for three years.

“I have received plenty of meat from people during Idul Adha. I wanted to be able to perform the sacrifice at the mosque, too,” she said cheerfully.

Originally from Pasuruan, East Java, Yati was an orphan who took up scavenging to survive. One day in 1965, she fell asleep in a boxcar transporting cattle. She woke up stranded in Jakarta.

“I’m alright as long as I have my scavenging hook and bucket with me,” she said.

From then on, she established countless shacks with fellow scavengers in Manggarai, Central Jakarta; Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi; and in Taman Honda in South Jakarta, among other places, only to be evicted again and again. She went back to Pasuruan in 1975, but felt rejected by her relatives.

In the early 1990s, Yati tried to start a family. She married a fellow scavenger and adopted a friend’s son. However, her husband became abusive and married a younger woman, and her son, she said, only visited her only to ask for
money once he got married and moved out.

Yati’s second marriage has lasted for 12 years, and has been much more positive. “Maman is very supportive, including my plan to buy goats for Idul Adha sacrifices.”

Kasum, 23, a neighbor, described Yati — who she calls Emak — as an amicable woman who would not let beggars leave empty handed, even if she had nothing for herself. “Emak owed many debts to help others,” she said.

Kasum said she was concerned about Yati’s deteriorating health. At night, she often heard Yati groaning from the pain in her legs and elbows.

“She said she wanted to stop scavenging and go home to Pasuruan even though no one would greet her, but she has no money and fears that she will grow older without anyone taking care of her.”

Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri visited Yati on Sunday, offering her and her husband the option to either return to her hometown or stay in Jakarta, both with a better home provided by the ministry.

“I’d rather keep working as usual, so if they don’t buy me the house and land, my life will still go on,” Yati said. “But who knows, maybe this is how Allah answers my little sacrifices, so I can stop picking up garbage.” (aml)