poorism, helpful or harmful?
2009.06.04 12:05
Proponents say it’s eye-opening, opponents say it’s voyeurism. Amidst the debate, one man has already taken the global phenomenon of poverty tourism –-or poorism– to Jakarta’s kampungs.
“Please wear sturdy shoes or sandals and not your best clothes. You may find conditions in the communities less pleasant and comfortable than what is usual for you. Gentlemen, please refrain from wearing shorts and singlets. Ladies, please dress modestly,” warns Jakarta Hidden Tour, a program offered to those who would like to take a glimpse at poverty in the capital.
This is not a regular tourist’s cup of tea.
(Photos courtesy of Ronny Poluan)
Two Australian participants readied themselves to roam the alleys of slums along the Ciliwung River that morning. Casual clothes, sandals and camera at hand were the only things that accompany them hopping to a Kopaja, heading for Kampung Pulo.
“We will first meet the district head, visit some schools and then have a chat with the community,” said Ronny Poluan, the tour guide of the day who also happens to be the initiator of the program.
As they entered the narrow alleys of Kampung Pulo, the cliché greetings started to pop here and there.
“Hey, Mister!” “Mampir sebentar (drop by a minute), Mister!”
Friendly smiles exchanged with welcoming grins as two distant worlds meet. But, is it all sugary and sweet?
Ronny took the participants to meet and discuss the problems of poverty with the local sub-district head, elementary school principals in the area and head of the community health center.
“Around 30 percent of some 22,000 people here are poor. We would be very grateful if anyone can help in any way,” said the vice sub-district head to the expatriate guests while trying to silent his two cell phones on the desk.
The two guests eagerly asked for more detailed problems the poor community is facing, problems as basic as the need for clean water, one that they had never encountered in their own country.
At the Sanggar Ciliwung, hearing stories how the local community can organize themselves composting waste and providing non-formal education for children, the two tour participants were even more amazed.
In another tour through the kampungs of Luar Batang, three Australian women spent an hour as guests in one of the house, a family of four who have lived in the often flooded area for 22 years.
“One highlight for me was seeing the young girls behaving just the same as my daughter who is the same age – handbags and high shoes ready to go shopping!” said Lani, one of the tour participants.
This is the kind of story one never gets from being a regular tourist.
After each visit, Ronny’s wife handed out an envelope containing Rp 150,000 to all the ‘sources’, the vice sub-district head, the school principals, the community health center’s doctor.
“A contribution from the tour to the community,” Ronny’s wife said.
It was a contribution that he set aside from the money he charges participants. An adventure tour where one pays for one’s own transportation and meals charges from US$56 for two people to visit one of the sites: South Jakarta’s Ciliwung, Central Jakarta’s Galur or North Jakarta’s Luar Batang.
It could go as high as $330 for a full day tour for four, visiting all three sites.
A third of the earnings pays for the guides, some 17 percent goes to Ronny’s NGO Interkultur foundation, another 15 percent is given as donations to the families and community organizations they visit, the rest is for tour participants’ expenses.
“I was broke and had to find a way to make a living. One which hopefully can also help others,” the former documentary film-maker explained why he started his rather unusual business earlier this year.
He started years ago by taking people, mostly foreign artists, inside kampungs of Jakarta. For free, as a friend. One of the results of his tour guiding was Leonard Helmrich’s award winning documentary Eye of the Day and Shape of the Moon, Ronny said.
“Then I figured, if I can link the poor with those that might be able to help them. Why not be a professional at it?” he said.
Well, that is part of the key word. A lot still needs to be done if Ronny wants to see what he does being more helpful than harmful.
What Ronny does is actually nothing new.
More than a decade ago, Marcelo Armstrong founded Favela Tour, a company that takes tourists into Rio de Janeiro’s favelas or slums. Tourists pay around $35 to take a close look at poverty up close and learn something about the South American community.
Favelas are now as much a tourism commodity as Brazilian samba that live-in services are sprouting there, offering more than just a couple of hour of taking a peek at poverty.
The same could be seen in the Soweto of Johannesburg or Cape Town, along meandering maze of Mumbai’s Dharavi and even in the ghettos in New York City.
“Reality Tour” of Mumbai’s largest slum claims to be a unique tour and travel agency that tries to help “dispel the negative image that many people have about Dharavi.”
What differs all the above from Ronny’s work is the end result on the part of the poor.
While critics may still slay the concept of commodifying poverty for tourism, in the cases of Favela Tour and in Dharavi, at least all the financial contribution are used for community activities.
Both tours in Brazil and India manage a community school from the fund they collected out of the tours, one thing that the Jakarta Hidden Tour is still far from achieving.
“It is something that does more harm to the poor if one is simply handing out envelopes,” urban poor activist Sandyawan Sumardi said.
Sandyawan, who has worked for years with poor families in Ciliwung, argued that it was not a constructive way of helping out the poor.
“Such an activity needs to be managed more professionally and be done very carefully not to end up harming the community meantally,” he added.
Meanwhile, some see that the tour actually has a potential to become a bridge between two worlds.
“Many have never seen what being poor is all about. And this is a way to introduce them to the real world,” said Robert Finlayson, an advisor provided by the Volunteering for International Development from Australia (VIDA) to assist the Jakarta Hidden Tour. VIDA is part of the Australian Government’s volunteer program.
The debates might continue, but participants who are world apart from the lives in the slum said that they enjoyed it. And perhaps they are the ones who will feel the benefit for life, while the object of tourism feel it for as long as the money in the envelopes that Ronny handed out afterwards lasts.
“It was very interesting. There are many ways to see Jakarta, but this tour allows you to go below the surface and meet with people on an equal level that you would not otherwise get to meet as a tourist,” Lani said.
“It was refreshing to escape from all the shopping malls.”
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