ABSTRACT
This chapter recounts the author’s work as Country Representative of Oxfam in Central Java, based in its capital, Semarang, for four years. Oxfam aimed to work with the poorest landless labourers through Indonesian CSOs, but found the government much more interested in enlisting Oxfam in its Master Farmer programmes that helped richer farmers. If government officials could benefit from association with successful CSO programmes, however, they did so. One of Oxfam’s largest partners was an AT organisation, Yayasan Dian Desa, which specialised in providing clean water to villages, often through the use of big “ram pumps” – which pumped water far uphill solely using the pressure of falling water. Oxfam also supported goat “hotels” (cut and carry feeding systems for stalled animals) and community fish ponds that attracted human waste disposal. The author also hosted Oxfam UK shop staff in Java and talked up the work to supporters in Glasgow on a home visit.
The lessons learned were the value of supporting communities’ local innovations and helping students work with indigenous CSOs, even when governments are unhelpful.
The author was friends with Ann Soetoro, Barack Obama’s mother, who worked in south Central Java with blacksmiths.
