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espite the hardships that Yati, 64, faces every day, she and her husband, Maman, sacrificed on behalf of others during the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, or Idul Adha this year.

For three years, she saved all the money she made from collecting garbage so she could buy two goats for Idul Adha.

“I have received enough meat from people during Idul Adha. I wanted to be able to perform the sacrifice at the mosque, too,” said the woman who has been a garbage recycler for 45 years.

She used the money she saved to buy three gold necklaces worth a total of Rp 3.8 million (US$395), which she then used to buy the goats for Rp 3 million.

“I feel relieved now, for I have fulfilled what has been mandated by my religion and by my parents,” she said.

Upon hearing the news, Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri visited Yati at her dilapidated shack built on land belonging to the Jakarta Social Agency in Tebet, South Jakarta.

Apart from giving her some money, Salim also offered Yati and her husband options to either return to her hometown in Pasuruan, East Java, or stay in Jakarta with a better home provided by his ministry.

“If they really want to go back to their hometown, we will help them with a house and land there,” he said.