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Pawon'e Arek-Arek collective frees people from fear of hunger
Started by a group of 30-somethings, a charity movement is growing and distributing food as an independent collective to help people in need.
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Volunteers of Pawon'e Arek-Arek pose for a photograph while shopping for groceries at a market in Surabaya, East Java. The food charity is an independent, self-funded collective that distributes food each week to people in need. (Courtesy of Ivan Darski/Ivan Darski)
T
he setting sun accompanied Yoyo, Rempel, Ryan and fellow volunteers to a market in the East Java capital, while the incoming dark clouds that seemed to hover overhead prompted them to hurry.
Clutching sheets of brown recycled paper, they were ready to hunt for their groceries, scattering in all directions on arriving at the market. Less than an hour later, they regrouped, holding big bags filled with a variety of foodstuffs, from vegetables to fresh chicken and to spices that were ready to be chopped and fried into snacks.
Yoyo, Rempel and Ryan, all in their early 30s, are cofounders of a food charity called Pawon'e Arek-Arek, meaning “kitchen guys”. They dislike the term "founders" and prefer “volunteers" instead. "No gods, no masters," they say, all asking not to use their full names. The charity distributes free food weekly to people who are struggling to survive the COVID-19 health emergency in suburban villages, or kampungs.
"Initially, this program was created to meet the needs of [people we knew personally]. Many of us have been badly affected by the pandemic. We faced reduced incomes or job loss,” said Yoyo.
“After the pandemic had gone on for a month, we began to see another urgency. Aside from us, others were also in need, suffering from the situation just like we do,” he added, which led the trio to launch the movement on June 1, 2020.
Their activities run from dusk till dawn. At 5 p.m., the volunteers of Pawon'e Arek-Arek can be found busily grinding spices, preparing broth and chopping vegetables in the living room. On the day that I visited, they were busy preparing chicken soup for distributing the next day.
Yoyo, Rempel and Ryan said Pawon’e provided the “simple hope” that through solidarity, everyone can survive and outride the health crisis together.
