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Family of seven opens doors to mentally ill

Calling in life: Imanuel Talan (right) escorts a mentally ill person to the bathroom at Rumah Peduli Sahabat Kasih in Cisauk, Banten

Agnes Anya and Seto Wardhana (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, December 20, 2017

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Family of seven opens doors to mentally ill

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span class="inline inline-center">Calling in life: Imanuel Talan (right) escorts a mentally ill person to the bathroom at Rumah Peduli Sahabat Kasih in Cisauk, Banten. Imanuel and his wife have found their calling in running a shelter for the mentally ill. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

The sounds of rustling leaves blown by the wind and chicks playing in a small, quiet village in Cisauk, South Tangerang, on Tuesday afternoon were joined by the voice of a woman singing a gospel song.

“His [God’s] hands will lift you up,” she sang, while squatting near the chicks.

She then laughed and mumbled a few words that were seemingly directed at the small birds.

“Lia used to be an airline employee. According to her family, she was in a serious break-up, which resulted in her suffering from a mental illness,” said Trisna Santi, 41, a mother of five daughters and Lia’s caretaker.

Lia, whose family took her to Santi’s house, is among 21 mentally ill people taken care of by Santi and her husband Imanuel Talan, 52.

Santi and Imanuel began to fully dedicate their time to taking in and taking care of mentally ill people in 2010.

Encouraged by Santi, Imanuel later resigned from his job as a low-wage employee of a shopping mall in West Jakarta.

Ever since his resignation, the couple, along with their daughters, have taken homeless people suffering from mental issues and brought them to their home, where they bathe and feed them, as well as provide them with accommodation.

As nobody in the family has a background in medicine or psychology, doctors voluntarily visit the house every so often to treat its occupants.

The home, a modest brick house beside rice fields, is referred to as Rumah Peduli Sahabat Kasih.

“I had never dreamed about being a caretaker of the mentally ill. Had it not been for a calling from God, I would not have chosen this path,” said Santi.

Before they devoted all their time to the cause, the family began to periodically take in the mentally ill in 2002. They were inspired by Imanuel’s brother, Jonatan Talan, 52, who encouraged that people “pay forward God’s kindness.”

At that time, they lived in a rented house in Pondok Gede, East Jakarta. However, the more occupants they took in, the less space they had to live in.

The family, therefore, began to look into moving houses in 2010. They had their housing applications rejected seven times in seven different places before moving to Cisauk, where they were welcomed with open arms.

Today, their nephew, Ady Senge, a 27-year-old former chef, helps take care of the 21 occupants, who have developed improved communication skills as a result of the family’s efforts.

The stigmatized individuals, most of whom were largely distant when they first entered the home, now help daily in doing chores; from laundry and cleaning floors, to feeding goats and chickens.

“They are living souls, but they have been treated like garbage on the streets. People ignored them because they were afraid of them or simply didn’t care,” said Imanuel,

With only 800 psychiatrists and 400 clinical psychologists working in the country, which has a population of more than 250 million people, Indonesia faces a severe shortage of mental health professionals. Moreover, eight out of 34 provinces do not have mental hospitals, and less than 2,000 of the country’s 9,500 primary health care centers provide mental health care.

According to Nova Rianti Yusuf, the head of the Indonesian Psychiatric Association, it was important that society play an expanded role in understanding mental health, mental illnesses and mental problems.

“Indonesia has a limited number of psychiatrists who can directly assist people with mental health problems and illnesses,” said Nova, who chaired the House of Representatives working committee on the draft mental health bill.

However, even as more people volunteer to help the mentally ill, she said it was important that the government pay attention to the issue.

“People who volunteer to help people with mental health issues act out of empathy and compassion, which is very good, but this is a limited role. Therefore, support from other people and regional governments is needed. We cannot let the good people work by themselves,” said Nova. (roi)

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