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Foundations provide home for children with cancer
Five children sang together inside a spacious house, which had a notice on the fence reading Rumah Kita (Our Home), on Jl
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ive children sang together inside a spacious house, which had a notice on the fence reading Rumah Kita (Our Home), on Jl. Percetakan Negara in East Jakarta.
Yoan, 14, one of the children, was the most energetic and cheerful.
Her exuberance concealed the fact that she had been fighting leukemia for eight years.
Born in Cirebon, West Java, Yoan said she and her mother had been living at Rumah Kita since she was 6 because she had to undergo long-term medical treatment at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta.
'I am happy to stay here because I have many friends who suffer similarly,' said Yoan. 'In my hometown, my friends are healthy and I can't play with them freely.'
Another child, Rival, 13, has been living at the house for a year while he undergoes treatment at RSCM to fight leukemia. He chooses to stay there even when his mother returns to their hometown in Bogor, West Java.
'Here, we're one big family. Other parents are very helpful,' said the boy, who likes spending time playing a guitar.
Rumah Kita, established by the Indonesian Care for Cancer Kids Foundation (YKAKI) in 2006, has become a home for children with cancer while they undergo treatment at referral hospitals, such as RSCM, Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta and Harapan Kita Mother and Child Hospital in West Jakarta.
YKAKI chairwoman Ira Soelistyo said that one family needed to pay only Rp 5,000 (35 US cents) per day to stay at the house.
Ira said she established the home after her son died of leukemia in 2005. She was inspired by the operation of homes for cancer patients in the Netherlands, where she took her son for treatment.
Rumah Kita is not the only house that accommodates cancer patients.
Just 2 kilometers from Dharmais General Cancer Hospital in West Jakarta is a house owned by Jakarta-based cancer foundation Indonesian Anyo Foundation (YAI).
Rumah Anyo (Anyo's House), as it is usually called, was established in 2012 by Pinta Manullang-Panggabean and her husband after they lost their eldest son Anyo, or Andre Manullang, to leukemia seven years previously.
The 200-square-meter house, which currently accommodates 12 patients and their relatives, has helped 165 children and their families with accommodation while undergoing treatment at nearby hospitals, such as Dharmais and Harapan Kita.
Similar to Rumah Kita, Rumah Anyo also charges a family a daily administration fee of Rp 5,000 per day.
'But those who cannot afford it can stay for free,' she said.
'Many families living outside Jakarta discontinue their children's cancer treatment because they can't afford to pay for the transportation from their towns to Jakarta or for staying in the capital,' Pinta said. 'So we provide them with a solution.'
Epi, 26, the mother of Mega, a 14-year-old cancer patient, said she was lucky to find a shelter to stay at while her daughter underwent treatment.
She and her daughter have been living at Rumah Anyo for more than one and a half years, leaving their hometown in Palembang, South Sumatra, for Mega to have regular treatment at Dharmais Hospital.
Mega was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2013. The very cheerful young girl has had three surgeries. The last one, around two months ago, was to amputate her right hand.
All families staying at the house, she said, were very close. 'We always help each other. All children call all parents mama [mom] and ayah [dad],' Epi said. (foy)
