While struggling to juggle working hours with domestic chores, I managed to observe a neighborhood initiative called canthelan (Javanese for hook) and a community-based WhatsApp group called sonjo. Interestingly, they share similar features i.e. gaining widespread popularity, having philanthropic characteristics and clear sense of solidarity.

The former displays the value of mutual help in the form of sharing household staple goods. Canthelan is a social movement in which people hang things up in public spaces for those in need to pick up freely.

At the beginning, most people gave away produce, such as rice, instant noodles, vegetables, spices, eggs and other essential daily food ingredients. In the second week, some nonfood products like detergent and soap were on display. Today, people sometimes also offer seeds and fertilizer in canthelan to encourage local farming. 

Only a few canthelan communities are managed professionally, while the majority of the initiatives rely on volunteers’ spare time and resources.

Local people also displayed their solidarity through the sonjo online movement. Taken from colloquial Javanese, sonjo is loosely translated as “friendly gathering in a cozy atmosphere,” which embodies notions of solidarity, care and collective values.

This movement manifested in an online platform to bring together buyers and sellers. Initiated by a small band of lecturers from the School of Economics and Business at Gadjah Mada University, it has since proliferated from a single WhatsApp group into seven sub-groups discussing specific topics pertaining to COVID-19-related procurement of rapid test kits, building swab sampling chambers, distributing personal protective equipment to health facilities and devising special programs for people with disabilities. 

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