My Batam Experience

Upon the invitation of Bridget Lew of H.O.M.E. I visited her project in setting up an NGO, Yayasan Dunia Viva Wanita (YDVW), which seeks to empower women and changing the lives of the slum dwellers in Batam caught in the process of urbanization and industrialization.

Her aim is to decrease the vulnerability of people from engaging in trafficking and exploiting workers.

I was interested to see how Batam was dealing with the issue of HIV/Aids and how Bridget has linked up with the government and non-governmental programmes on this important public health issue.

We met with Pieter P Pureklolong who is the Executive Secretary of the local government Commission on Aids who briefed us on the situation in Batam which is known in Singapore as a sex tourist destination.

His official report indicated that there was a 15% rise of 273 with HIV in 2009 to 317 in 2010. There were 77 who developed Aids in 2009 and 134 in 2010. The number of deaths was 36 in 2009 and 74 in 2010. The government provides free testing, free Aids medication, free male and female condoms produced in the country.

We visited the main red light district with sex workers plying their trade in a block of apartment flats just off the main street near two shopping malls. A private clinic offers medical services to the sex workers just across the street. Working with the clinic are volunteers who provide counseling services and safe sex education to the sex workers. Along with the government hospital are private hospitals that take in Aids patients. There is close co-operation between the private and public agencies in addressing the issue of HIV/Aids.

In an industrial zone known as Batammindo there is established a community centre where social agencies are able to provide various educational, recreational, and social services to the 40,000 workers from different islands working in the different manufacturing factories. On the day we visited the workers were on a national strike for an increase of their minimum monthly salary from about SGD180 to 200. Bridget's project has a computer training centre with donated computers from Body Shop to train the workers. She has plans to provide an educational programme on HIV/Aids in order to work on prevention and stigmatization.

We went to an urban slum known as Kampong Air close to a rubbish dumping site where
YDVW in co-operation with local agencies and support from H.O.M.E., Healthserve, Bethany Church in Singapore have established a comprehensive development project.
200 children are in a Little Angel Reading House with a library and play activities. The youths will be given enrichment programmes including sex education and safe sex. Women have formed a Co-operative to sell basic supplies like rice, cooking oil etc. A micro-credit scheme will be in place to enable the slum dwellers to generate family income. Seminars will be conducted on Sanitation & Health including HIV/Aids and Human Trafficking.

Rumah Wanita in a secluded neighbourhood is the Shelter is for abused women from domestic violence, migrant workers from other islands, victims of human trafficking and unmarried mothers. They find safety and security and receive guidance and training for them to be integrated into society.

It was an enriching experience which energises me for wider development services to marginalized communities. It is a privilege to be support the work of H.O.M.E. in Singapore and with YDVM in Batam.