Cooking & Delivering Meals with SOS Indonesia
I was recently contacted by a representative from SOS Indonesia, the Indonesian chapter of a non profit called Scholars of Sustenance to visit their Bali kitchen and meet the team. SOS has established itself in Thailand and Bali serving mainly as a food rescue foundation. SOS works with hotels, restaurants and businesses to rescue surplus food and redistribute it to recipients in vulnerable communities in Thailand and across the island of Bali. Recently, to help communities affected by COVID-19, Scholars of Sustenance has been independently cooking and distributing meals to those in need. Since the recent inception of this new project and to this day, SOS has cooked 13.5 tons of nutritious, vitamin rich food which has been distributed as 56,732 meals to vulnerable communities across 5 regencies in Bali. The SOS team collaborates with the government of Denpasar to gather statistics about the most affected communities and works around the clock to provide food to those who need it the most.
I joined SOS Indonesia for two days as a team member to educate myself about the work of this incredible organisation and the people who dedicate their daily lives to make sure that people in Bali’s most vulnerable communities receive warm, home cooked meals. It was a truly humbling experience. For an expat living in one of Bali’s “westernised” communities, coming along with SOS on distribution runs really opened up my eyes to the fact that just 4.5 kilometres away from my home, there are streets where people lead vastly different lives to the privilege many of us have grown accustomed to on this island. I was born and raised in Central Asia, in what is considered a ‘second world’ country, so I can’t say that any of what I saw in these past two days came as a shock, but rather a powerful reminder of just how lucky so many of us are to have clean and comfortable houses and unlimited access to healthy food.
On postcards and social media, Bali is a tropical paradise. And It’s important to note that having spent quite a bit of time in Bali I can say that this island by far is not what you would call a “struggling” place. The Balinese are a wealthy people: wealthy in culture and tradition, intellect, enterprise, spirituality and just like any other place in the world, there is vast material wealth on this island. That is why it is also easy to forget about and ignore those who do struggle, hidden away in pockets around the city of Denpasar. Before I left to visit the kitchen a couple of friends asked me, “But, is there real poverty in Bali?”. It’s not entirely an ignorant question. For many who have never left the beachside expat communities on the island and taken day trips throughout the city it’s hard to imagine that not every local here lives in a large ornate home with a built in temple altar and guest houses, for this is what expats are exposed to in districts like Canggu, Seminyak, Uluwatu, Ubud and surrounding areas. With the rise of the pandemic the island was wiped clean of tourists and tourist dollars, leaving thousands unemployed, cutting off the main artery of income for an island whose main industry is tourism.
An average day at the SOS Indonesia kitchen, where everyone pulls together to cook meals for those who need it the most.
To me, the work that organisations like SOS Indonesia do in providing the struggling population with warm, healthy meals runs deeper than it’s immediate nutritional value. Yesterday The SOS team (which that day consisted of roughly 12 volunteers, headed by Chef Nick and Chef Delmi), broke it’s personal record and cooked a half a ton of food, producing over 2, 200 meals, which were packaged into a traditional Balinese “bungkus” (pyramid shaped wax paper bags) and delivered right before sunset. I was invited to accompany Chef Nick and the team on the food distribution and saw firsthand where the meals were delivered. These were communities completely hidden from sight in dark narrow alleyways. Certainly no tourist would ever venture out here, which is why understandably it seems like a myth to the expat population that they exist. But alas, it is very real. We went door to door, dropping off the food packages in the hands of the elderly and children. Simple, shy people, with pure, wide smiles. Behind one door was a little boy who graciously accepted the food packages and flashed a brilliant white smile my way. Through the crack in the door I saw the empty room behind him, with just a single blanket laying on the floor, no toys, no tv, no books, no things of comfort many of us are so used to in our daily lives … I turned my face away from the team so they wouldn’t see the tears that involuntarily started trickling down my cheeks behind my mask. What I was struck by wasn’t how little this family had in terms of material wealth, but how much joy was radiating from this little boy and the other children we met along the way. As the hour went on I was no longer sure who was giving what to who exactly. I came into this community with a bag of food and left with a heart full of wisdom and a head full of thoughts and understanding which wouldn’t let me sleep for days. What the team and I were giving these people was a material token of care and what they were giving to us was wisdom and truth in its purest form. Truth about life, connection, community. The trip didn’t feel like charity, it felt like a collaborative effort of souls teaching each other about compassion, integrity and happiness, each in our respective ways.
Before I get too philosophical, let me say that what SOS Indonesia, Chef Nick, Chef Delmi and the volunteers do on a daily basis to support the vulnerable communities in Bali is remarkable. It’s hard work. It’s dedication and love in it’s purest form. Most importantly, the people of the communities served by SOS Indonesia are reminded that the world hasn’t forgotten them, that their welfare matters and that they are a part of a bigger community - humankind, where we try to take care of one another in little ways the best we can. My late grandmother used to say that “food is love” and what better way to show some love than to deliver a warm home cooked meal to someone who needs it the most.
SOS Indonesia Team distributing meals in vulnerable communities after a long day of cooking and packaging meals.
I encourage you to get involved with SOS Indonesia and donate resources, whether it be financial, food or time, to help this remarkable team of individuals feed the hungry.