Mr. Sanguine's Home

Buoyed by the high I got from my recent photodocumentary trip to Calcutta Rescue, I embarked on a short stint to Kupang, West Timor last week at the invitation of a friend. Pak Budi and his wife Peggy run the Roslin Orphanage which is situated in the outskirts of Kupang. They were hosting a visit by a number of young Singaporean adults who were spending 2 weeks performing community work in and around the Kupang area.

The group was comprised mostly of polytechnic and university students, while others were just starting out on their careers. I had originally thought it might be interesting to observe how a group of pampered Singaporean youths adapt themselves in an environment that was lacking in many of the basic conveniences they were used to but was pleasantly surprised to learn that most have been on such trips to places like India and Cambodia in the past and their expectations were quite realistic.

I'll be breaking this post into 2 parts, the first of which will focus on life at the orphanage and the second will be a short photodocumentary of the student group as they work in their new surroundings.



Starting the day off with a bath and a fresh set of clothing.




This little one followed me around before asking for a photo of herself.




Breakfast time.




The children aren't put up for adoption as Budi and Peggy adopt a holistic approach to their upbringing, preferring to perform the role of foster parents to all their young charges. They firmly believe in instilling a set of sound values in the lives of the children and that's why they tend to take in kids only at an early age.




The children are given a proper education to at least a secondary level and the more promising charges are given a shot at tertiary schooling.




Given the environment that the kids are in, they tend to exhibit early signs of independence. Many are able to feed themselves from the time they're under 2 years old. Most would have been toilet trained by this age too, diapers have no place here.




The orphanage is entirely self funded by Budi's salary from working in Singapore and through some personal donations. They receive no government concessions.








The Roslin Orphanage is just one of the many projects which Budi and Peggy are managing. In addition, they provide a mobile library service, employment opportunities to the locals in their stores and farms, running a college which provides technical education and a whole host of other community activities too vast to mention.

Labels: Travel