At 5:30 a.m., a day like so many others begins for 15-year-old Khalda Ghaniyyah and her three siblings in Kali Baru, a slum covering a maximum of 5.4 square kilometers, yet still one of Jakarta’s largest.
With a population density of 50,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, Khalda is acutely aware of her neighbors’ every move. Peace and privacy are impossible. By comparison, Quebec has a population density of 6.6 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Like most of the dwellings in Kali Baru, Khalda’s rented “house” (the height of irony) is constructed from salvaged materials, making the homes unsanitary and vulnerable to the heavy rains and countless floods that accompany Indonesia’s rainy season.
Furthermore, since there are no sanitation facilities, the residents of Kali Baru have no choice but to relieve themselves directly in the river, which regularly overflows into the slum.
Located along the Ciliwung River, bordering Jakarta’s main seaport, one of the city’s most polluted, Kali Baru is enveloped in a constant and indescribable stench, a stench that intensifies during the rainy season, which traps the air above the slum from November to April.
Despite the multitude of tasks awaiting her before going to school, Khalda eagerly anticipates seeing her friends there. However, because her 65-year-old father is unemployed and her mother struggles to earn enough to provide for the family’s basic needs, Khalda often has to work in a small shop run by neighbors.
When Khalda has time to dream of a better future, she dreams of becoming a chef. Talitha Koumi has pledged to support Khalda in achieving her dream.
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