TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Community volunteerism vital to battling COVID-19
The strong sense of community and volunteerism at the lowest tiers of the administrative structure has been an invaluable force in the nation's COVID-19 response.
Change Size
Two motorcyclists pass workers spraying disinfectant from a pickup truck on Oct. 4, 2020 in the Wijilan Kidul neighborhood of Kraton district, Yogyakarta. Neighborhood and community units have been assisting the government implement the national COVID-19 measures, albeit quietly and without any media splash. (JP/Donny Fernando)
T
he role of rukun tetangga (neighborhood unit), or RT for short, has never been more important given the dramatic rise in the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Jakarta. These associations, run by ordinary people volunteering their time and energy, are on the frontlines of the current battle against the “second wave” in Indonesia.
When the RTs work effectively, they can mean the difference between life and death.
Although the success of the government’s COVID-19 response depends on these associations to a large extent, little is reported or known about what they do, even among Jakarta’s residents.
The national COVID-19 task force compiles the latest figures and reports on the government’s pandemic policies. Implementing these policies very much rely on the support of RTs in collaboration with the larger rukun warga (community unit), or RW, which is also staffed by volunteers.
Some of these localized associations, though unfortunately not all, are rising to the challenges of the devastating pandemic in assisting residents affected by the virus in any way.
Since the people running these associations are not salaried public servants, the spirit of volunteerism determines how effective they are at their jobs, and by extension, the success or failure of the government’s COVID-19 response. But the track record of RTs and RWs is patchy.
Some areas have this spirit of volunteerism while others do not. This spirit generally runs high in poorer districts of the city where residents have no one else to turn to for help in dealing with COVID-19. In the more elite areas, the residents are too busy to care about or get to know their neighbors. Besides, they feel they can manage with their money and connections, so they don’t have to count on help from their neighbors.
