My Music Part 1

This is still a trip to the past, as I'm going to write the behind-the-scenes about how I got my 3 music trophies, mainly 2 of them, that I earned last December 9th, 2018.

The first and second trophy was an award from my music course Gloriamus for getting first rank in both my Gloriamus piano and flute examinations. I didn't have that much obstacles while preparing for my flute exams, but I had one big obstacle in preparing for my piano exams. That obstacle was discipline, which I still had until now. I do like the songs that I played for the exams, I just don't like the many practise sessions that I had to do to perfect & memorize the songs.

I had advance level piano exam as part of my piano study at Gloriamus in November 2017. I had to play four piano pieces from different music eras. I chose to play Sinfonia 12 by J.S. Bach, Hoboken XVI by Joseph Haydn, Fantasie Impromptu by Frederic Chopin, and Arabesque by Claude Debussy. I do like the songs that I chose for the exam however, they are complicated to learn. They were from different eras, so I had to play them differently according to the characteristics and existing instruments used during that time. For example, during the Baroque and Classical era of Bach and Haydn, they used harpsichords because the piano wasn’t invented yet. So I had to keep that in mind and be aware of the differences between harpsichords and modern piano and try to replicate how songs were played on harpsichords on modern piano. I also had to make sure that I played the rhythm of the notes precisely. Additionally, I also had to memorize the songs.

I encountered difficulties because of lack of discipline in practising. I didn’t practise every day and wasn’t serious in practising. I didn’t follow all the instructions and corrections that my teacher gave me. As a result, I couldn’t play the whole song smoothly. Normally, I could finish learning a music piece in 2 weeks if I wanted to, but because of my indiscipline, I hadn’t learned the pieces even after three months.

My teacher was surprised that I still couldn’t play the whole pieces even at a month before my exam, so she gently scolded me. She said that I would not be able to memorize and play my pieces smoothly if my progress was still this slow.There was a high chance that I would fail the exam. Fail an exam!!! I've never failed an exam ever in my 14 years of life, especially a piano exam. My teacher’s words gave me the motivation to prove her wrong. I'll prove that my teacher got it wrong!

I started spending all of my free time (when I don’t have other lessons) practising the four piano pieces. First, I have to learn all the melodies and rhythm and be able to play from the beginning to the end with absolutely no mistake. Secondly, I have to add the dynamics and characteristics of the pieces. Thirdly, I have to memorize them. I practised for hours and hours on the songs every day. First, I have to make my playing smooth (it's not even smooth yet) then I have to memorise it. It was  very repetitive, and it did get pretty boring, but I persevere because I didn’t want to get scolded again.

By the time the exam day arrived, I felt fully prepared!

To be continued!

Music (Bimtek Part 2)

Following my last blog’s entry about my participation in Bimtek, we now focused on the main event of creating and performing music. If you haven’t read the first part yet, read it here before you continue.

So basically, the first day of Bimtek Event was mostly about getting settled and getting to know the other participants and mentors. On the second day, all the musicians were regrouped into groups of five. We were instructed to come up with a positive theme, especially about Indonesia and unity, for each group. We were given time to discuss for a while and then we must announce our chosen theme out loud. The mentors will write each group’s theme down on a whiteboard. As the mentors wanted unique theme for each group, the groups with the same themes must compete with each other for the theme or find a new theme. Some popular themes are about diversity, unity, and tolerance in Indonesia. In the end, I forgot what theme my group decided on, but it was something about "friendship."

I like my new group better than my previous group (I didn't think I really fit in). My new group made up of five people, three boys and two girls, including me. All of the boys can play guitars. They came from Pekanbaru, Kudus, and Jakarta.The girl was from Papua and she could play the trumpet. We chatted about a lot of things. It was fun talking to her. I think I like and feel more comfortable with the members in my second group because of their personalities. I'm not sure, maybe I think they're more mature?

Next is making the song! We were uncertain on whether we should compose the melody or lyrics first. In the end we decided on the lyrics. The lyrics were mostly composed by me and I have to admit, it was hard :). There were even some parts that my group's mentor deemed inappropriate, so my group had to edit and revise them lots of times. Lyric writing went on until past lunchtime. Then, we had to work on the melody.

We wanted a mix of pop and traditional Indonesian style melody and we wanted it to be fun. In our group, the different instruments our members could play were guitars, jimbe, kendang, and flute so we composed our melody with those instruments in mind. 2 mentors helped us revise the music.

At first, each of us hummed out melodies we felt that is suitable with the lyrics. The guitarist then strummed out some matching chords. We were halfway through the song when a mentor came and listened to our progress. He commented that the song was a bit plain and suggested for us to maximize the use of other instruments and not just focused on guitar.

I played out some traditional melodies with my flute and tried to match to the guitars’ chords. However, the mentor thought that the flute’s sound would be overpowered by the guitars and it would actually sound very sweet on its own. Therefore for the introduction, we decided to start with a flute solo.For the chorus we added a traditional drum and guitar parts for a more upbeat and modern melody.We had to change the structures of some parts of the lyrics so it would fit with the melodies. Finally, our song was finished close to dinnertime.

We still had some time to spare before dinner and my roommate, Ike, said that she'd like to see the storytelling group’s activities. So we went to the second floor where the storytellers are. Ike and I brought our musical instruments, flute and violin. When we arrived there, the storytelling participants had finished their assignment and were just relaxing and chatting with each other. They asked us to play our instruments for them. I didn't prepare for the impromptu performance, but at that time I was a fan of the Swan Lake theme, so I played a part of it as I didn't memorize it all.

A boy chirped out “Waa... a Barbie song!". That was unexpected! I found that a bit amusing and embarrassing at the same time as I came to the realisation that there was indeed a Barbie movie,“Barbie of the Swan Lake”, which used the Swan Lake theme song. I remembered watching the movie when I was younger. After a good laugh, the storytelling participants asked me to continue playing. It was nice and pleasant meeting them.

We were scheduled to perform the songs that we just composed in front of all the music groups after dinner. Since Ike and I went to the ballroom earlier than the scheduled time, we had some time to spare. I showed her how to play my flute and I tried her violin. Ike showed me how to hold the violin and where to position my fingers. She taught me to play the note “D” and “G”. At first I thought that the fingering’s not as hard as the flute as there were only 3 strings on the violin. It’s easy to position my fingers. However, when I actually played the notes, I realized that it’s hard to make the sound stable. Sometimes the notes sounded on pitch and sometimes it’s off pitch.

Soon afterwards everybody gathered in the ballroom and it’s performing time! The atmosphere changed and everyone was tense. The mentors randomly picked the order of the groups’ performance. There were 8 groups in total and our group was the 8^thgroup. Perhaps, the mentors felt sorry for us for being the last group, so they decided to change our position from the last group to the first group, by choosing us to perform first! Lucky us!

I was so nervous! Our song started with my flute solo as the intro. This gave me a lot of pressure as not only our group was the 1^st one to perform, but I was also the first one to perform alone. I'm glad that there was a mic and camera test first, so I could calm down on stage for a while. We were asked to play a part of our song for the testing, which calmed me down a lot. Finally, the official performance started.

As the performance started, I put all my focus on my notes which I put on the floor because there was no music stand. So I wasn’t too affected by the cameras and the audiences. I’m happy to report that our performance went on smoothly without any mistakes. You can watch it here.

After everyone had finished their performances and the event was closed by the music mentors; there was a huge celebration. Most of the participants became hyper and danced around; I guessed they were letting their steam off. There were also a lot of photos or selfies sessions. After a while, everybody dispersed. Some went back to their rooms, while some continued to hangout.  Now that I think about it, I just went walking around in groups visiting other contestants’rooms. I think we were a bit rowdy and disturbed some other hotel guests. The security even came out to control the situation and some of the boys ran off. Eventually, I went back to my room. We had a mini party in my room with my roommates, Ike and Kak Ulfi. We had hamburgers and chatted until late night.The next day we packed up, took selfies of the three of us together, and it’s time to say goodbye.

This event forced me to step out of my comfort zone. I had to interact with different people from different cities and backgrounds. I felt that with so many participants, I couldn’t get along with everybody, but I did find a few good friends.This was the first time I was asked to compose a song in group with several musicians right there and then. It was challenging but fun. I also got to know some traditional Indonesian music instruments. It was truly a crazy experience.

All the participants.

Me and my roommates.

Ike, me, and Kak Rosince.

Music (Bimtek Part 1)

I haven’t been an active blogger last year due to my laziness (I'll admit it), but starting from April 2018 I suddenly had an aspiration to post weekly (I hope it will last!). I couldn't do it on April though, as I had to prepare for my national examinations which would take place on early May. I finally had more time to blog in June, during the holidays.There were many events that I hadn’t blogged about and so, for the next couple of blogs it will be a trip back to the past.

I participated in 3 big music events during November – December 2017. The first one was from October 30th to November the 1st. It was called "Bimbingan Teknis Akutalisasi Potensi Anak Melalui Media Musik Dan Dongeng" which is shortened to "Bimtek." The second event was my music school’s year-end performance and the third event was a music competition.

Bimtek was held by kemendikbud (Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan), Indonesia's ministry of education. They picked teenagers under the age of 18 from each province of Indonesia who have interest in music and storytelling to create positive music and stories for other kids and teenagers. This year, there were around 87 participants from 47 provinces. I was the representative from Banten for the music part.

It was supposed to be interesting meeting teenagers from almost all over Indonesia, but I found that it's not exactly easy to make new acquaintances. On my first day there in the morning, after registering myself, I was asked to wait with the others in the dining area. As I entered the area, I saw some of the other participants sitting in small groups. I didn't know which group to join as I don’t know anybody so I sat on an empty table.

I took out my math exercises to work on, hoping that no one will come up to me and talk; but at the same time I'd like to make friends with the others. Half an hour later 2 older girls came up to me and asked if the seat in front of me is empty. I said yes. After introducing ourselves, the two girls talked to each other while I continued with my maths. They went to the same college and chatted about people they know, their college, common interests, etc. I tried to join in the conversation, but I didn't find anything that I can relate to, so I just stayed quiet. Now that I think about it, I think I didn't put enough effort into trying to make a decent conversation.

Long before this event, one of the event organiser put the participants and mentors into a Whatsapp group. My mom informed that she was to be put into the group in my place because there's something wrong with my Whatsapp. Neither my Mom nor I checked the group frequently, so I thought that the other participants weren't talking much.

2 tables on my left one of the small groups became bigger as more participants arrived. At a glance, they were talking and laughing as if they already knew each other. I thought that the participants made another Whatsapp group without the adults, just for themselves. As my mom already informed the group the event organisers made that she was representing me, I thought that they didn't invite me into the group because of that. This made me think that the group 2 tables on my left already knew each other and were talking like close friends. This made me felt left out.

I paid more attention when more participants arrived to the 2 tables on my left. That table is the most crowded one now. They introduced themselves and get to know each other as if they never met before. This made me doubt my theory before about how they looked so friendly to each other.

I wanted to get to know them, but isn't it weird when the girl who's been sitting 2 tables away from you since before suddenly come up and introduce herself at that time? Why didn't she make friends since before. So I decided not to do it. 

As it got closer to lunch some of the people from other groups (including that group 2 tables away from me) came to my table to introduce themselves. It was nice meeting them.

After lunch the participants were asked to meet up in a ballroom. The MCs there asked where we came from. "Who's from Kalimantan? Who's from Sumatra?" When they asked which participant came from Jawa Barat and which came from Banten I was confused. So I just raised my hand when they asked the participants from Jawa Barat :p. I come from Banten anyway.

They then asked all of use to stand up and introduce ourselves to each other. I just stayed next to my seat while I introduce myself to any random person that would shake my hand. The Mcs encouraged us not to just introduce ourselves near our seats, but to move further into the crowd. I'm afraid I didn't get too far :p.

The MCs then called those who think they can remember at least 15 people to come up to the front and say their names. Well, I definitely didn't remember anyone that I met in that room. 4 people went up though. I recognized them from the place where we waited before and I guessed that they remember at least 14 because they already get to know at least 14 people there. There are more than 14 people in that 2 tables on my left.

When we were dismissed we were offered refreshments. We were asked to meet up again later in the evening. The music section were to meet up in that same ballroom, while the storytelling section are to meetup somewhere else. With that much amount of spare time, I decided to take my card to my room and take a rest there. 

I shared a room with 2 other girls. One of them is Kak Ulfi, the girl who shared the table with me before in the dining area, and another one is a year younger than me. They both said that it took a long time for them to get their cards, because the queue was crazy. That made me realise that I wasn't supposed to take the card before the mentors tell us too, but anyway....

When evening came, we met up in the ballroom as scheduled. Somehow, I felt that the atmosphere was tense. It could be because I feel pressured around new people. I sat next to Ike, one of my roomates, who's a year younger than me, and some friends that I made during dinnertime. I found out that Ike and me liked several similar things, and we had fun talking about them.

The mentors broke the ice by singing us a fun song. They then asked us to sing along. At first everyone's singing was rather quiet and shy, but then it got louder, and those with guitars played along (we were allowed to bring our portable instruments, and I brought my flute). The atmosphere became more fun and friendly. 

We were then put into groups, and were asked to make a yell-yell for our group. They asked us to agree on a time and place tomorrow to make the yell-yell. Tonight will be useless to make one, as everyone were definitely tired. After introducing ourselves to each other and asked for contacts, we decided on 7.30 a.m. at the canteen to make our yell-yell.

The next morning, I woke up the latest out of the three . My consequence was: everyone bathed before me. While waiting, I prepared all my things so that after I bath, all I have to do is pick them up and go. I wanted to be on time because I'm afraid that my teammates would find me irresponsible. As I bathed the last, I had less time than the others to bathe if I want to meet up on time. 

My bath was really rushed as my roomates bathed longer than I expected. I still reached the canteen on time though. However, I was disappointed when I reached the canteen. I tried to find my teammates who I thought were already sitting somewhere in a group, as it's 7:30 already. I was even about to skip my breakfast as my consequence for waking up late, but I couldn't find my group anywhere.

I then saw one of my teammates still eating and chatting with her friends. I was surprised, and rather hurt. Her actions showed that she was irresponsible; she didn't respect the other group members who might had met up and were waiting for her. I found out later though, that others did the same like her. I didn't dare speak to her because I didn't really know her. I thought I still had time while waiting for them to finish theirs, so I followed Ike to take my breakfast and sit with her and some friends. I didn't eat much as I was afraid that my teammates will soon call me to gather up; my table is next to one of them. I had a little chat with my table mates and one of them asked me the languages that I could speak. She then asked me to say some English words while she recorded me. What should I say? As I had no idea of what to say, I just answered some of their questions in English. I felt I had done a poor job in showing my English, but anyway. That was one of the most awkward breakfast time in my life.

After I finished breakfast, I tried to find another of my teammate, as my next table teammate seemed busy chatting. I tried to find the one whom I thought was pretty friendly. I did met her, and we found a table for our discussion later. Our other teammates came after a while, and so the meeting started.

In my opinion, the meeting didn't go well. First, we forgot that we had to make a yell-yell, and instead made a song that kind of introduces our group. Not all of us are active in making the song; most of us just looked confused but they tried to get involved.

As most of us were late when starting the meeting, when we reached the ballroom at a scheduled time our song wasn't finished. Luckily we got a fifteen or 20 minute extra to finish it.

To break the ice (again) among us, the mentors had organised a game. We were to stand in a circle, and a person in the middle of the circle was to say a particular thing that some of us had. Those who had it were to move to any space in front of that person. The last one who didn't get any space was to replace the person in the middle. It was fun.

After each group performed their song (unfortunately, the others also made my group's mistake) and the mentor pointing out our mistake, we were asked to sit in a circle. One of our mentors performed a song that she composed when she was younger. Our mentors also asked one of the participants to perform a song that he made in his native language. All the songs performed had meaningful meanings behind them. 

We were then regrouped and this was where the fun starts! We were going to make a song.

I'm going to continue next week as this took so long to write. 

Interview with Bu Ismawanty of Shelter Melati Part 3 (last part)

After learning the history of Shelter Melati from interviewing Ibu Isma on December 2017, I then asked about how she usually rescues dogs on the street. It's easy to differentiate between dogs that were abandoned and the ones that strayed from their homes; just look at their condition. An abandoned dog is usually in a sorry state, while dogs that strayed from their homes are usually in good conditions.

The first thing to be done after rescuing a dog is to bring it to a vet immediately. The vet will give it a full check-up, which includes a blood test, a distemper and parvo test (this is required, as distemper and parvo are deadly and they can spread easily to other dogs). Generally, the rescued dogs will need to stay in the vet clinic until it is completely healthy, vaccinated and spayed/neutered. It is unethicalto house a sick dog together with the other dogs in the shelter.

When a dog reaches the shelter, Bu Isma will first put it in a cage by itself. Then she will put the cage into a bigger house cage with a group of dogs so they can get to know each other safely. It's dangerous to put the newcomer with the other dogs immediately, for various reasons.

First of all, there’s a hierarchy in a pack of dogs. The lowest rank is omega and the highest rank is the alpha. Omegas are the most submissive dogs, while alphas are natural leaders. No two alphas can be put together, as they will fight for the leader position. If the newcomer is an alpha, there will most certainly be a fight between it with the existing alpha. Sometimes, the newcomer isn’t able to socialise with the group even though it's not an alpha because it had previously experienced a big trauma which made him insecure with other dogs.

Once the newcomer gets along with the pack, it will be released from its individual cage into the house cage. Someone will still watch over the dog's interactions with the others. If everything is alright, the dog will stay with that pack. There are some dogs that don't get along with all the other dogs and need to be caged individually. Most of these are alpha dogs. They take much longer to place than non-alpha dogs.

Bu Isma has 9 kennel boys to look after the dogs. A kennel boy is responsible for several cages of dogs. Their responsibilities are to feed the dogs, clean the cage, watch out for the dogs’ health and interactions. The dogs are fed dog food in the morning and cooked meals for dinner. Visiting hours are arranged according to a certain time, to avoid distraction for the dogs during feeding hours. The dogs are usually very excited when there are visitors and won’t focus on their food.

The kennel boys with Bu Isma.

A kennel boy cooking.

With the daily caring for the dogs taken care of by the kennel boys, Bu Isma focuses on rescuing dogs and taking care of the dogs’ other welfare, such as bringing the dogs that need special attention to the grooming centre or to the vet. She would also process dog adoption application. This includes conducting a survey of the people who wants to adopt dog and matching their personalities to the most suitable dogs. Many dogs that were rescued had bad experiences in the past, and they can be traumatic. Bu Isma wants the dogs to have a forever home, where they will be loved and cared for well. This not only means giving the dog healthy food, attention, and vet visits when they're sick; but also giving enough space depending on the dog's body size. The bigger the dog, the more space they need. To reduce the risk of repeating the dogs' sad past, Bu Isma has to check the capability and readiness of the adopter. One of the things she does when surveying an adopter is conducting an interview. She also surveys the house to check if it's safe for the dog and if the space qualifies the amount of space the dog takes. Once she finds a suitable adopter, she will send the dog there. The adopter has to report the dog's condition regularly to Bu Isma. 

Bu Isma shows her dogs only through facebook and instagram. She rarely joins dog events as her shelter is always busy. Joining events like those means she has to be there throughout the whole event, and she has no one to help her. If any of you can help Bu Isma promote her dogs so they can get adopted, or help her in any way, just send her a message through her instagram or facebook! She will be more than happy, as her shelter is overcrowded already.

You can help Bu Isma in a lot of ways, such as donating or adopting. If you like a particular dog in the shelter, but can't adopt it, you can be an OTA (Orang Tua Asuh). An OTA pays for a dog's expenses every month. The expense for every dog is the same, big or small. 

Bu Isma hopes that in the future, the ratio of rescued dogs versus adopted dogs will be more balanced. Currently, the number of dogs that she rescued is more than the number of dogs adopted out. Just for example, recently, 2 purebred dogs were adopted from her, while 11 mongrels arrived. Once a mongrel enters the shelter, it's hard for them to get adopted out, as people prefer purebred ones.

You can follow Bu Isma and her dogs through her instagram and facebook.

You can read Part 1 and 2 here. You can also read my writing of my visit to the shelter here.

Interview With Bu Ismawanty of Shelter Melati Part 2

Have you ever seen this video? That's a video of Hope, one of Bu Isma's rescued huskies. Hope was rescued on 13 July 2017, in a wretched condition. He was locked in a very small cage which was covered by a tarpaulin on the 4th floor of a rich person's mansion. When he was rescued, he was full of sickness and had malnutrition.

Hope was reported by his owner's relatives to Bu Isma on the fasting days of June 2017. His name wasn't Hope then, it was Demon. He was reported to be in a bad condition. In the photo that was sent to Bu Isma, Demon's case doesn't seem urgent. He was tied and his skin was full of skin disease, but he still could stand up. 

Bu Isma said that Demon's condition wasn't too bad, so she didn't rescue him. In addition to that, she was busy. Even if she rescued him from that place, there wouldn’t be a clinic available for him to undergo the medical evaluation and treatment that all rescued dogs must undergo before they are brought to the shelter;  as Demon was reported on the days leading up to the Idul Fitri holidays. Most of the vet clinics would be fully occupied with healthy pets, as their families were away on vacation.

Bu Isma told the informer to ask Demon's owners to bring him to the vet, as he only had skin disease. But the informer told her that Demon's owners didn't want to bring him to the vet because they're really stingy. They also complained that they bought Demon for a really expensive price, so why did he get sick? Well!

After the fasting month, close to the Idul Fitri holidays, Demon's informer pleaded with Bu Isma to rescue Demon as he couldn't stand anymore. He also kept on vomiting green stuff. The informer also reported that the owners rarely fed him because they were lazy to climb to the 4th floor, even though they had servants who could've fed him.

After the Idul Fitri holidays, Bu Isma contacted Dr. Magda Rumawas, a vet who often helps her with her rescued dogs. She asked Dr. Magda if she should rescue Demon, as all vet clinics were full. Dr. Mag said that she will provide space.

So off went Bu Isma to Demon's house. Demon's owners are a couple who had servants, and the house was big and grand. The whole house wasn't used though; the upper floors were only for the clothesline. When Bu Isma arrived at the 4th floor, she was confused as she couldn't see Demon. "Where's Demon?" she asked. The owner then opened a tarpaulin which revealed a really sorrowful sight:

There wasn't food at all. Even the water was outside of the locked cage. He was really scrawny, his skin full with wounds and holes, and had dirt in his eyes. He was even chained to the cage, even though he's already inside it. Demon couldn't stand at all because he was in the cage for too long. The small cage prevented him from standing correctly; he had to bend his body and legs. A lack of exercise made the muscles in his legs weak, causing his legs to have no power to support his body and stand straight.

Bu Isma was infuriated. When she was about to lift Demon up, the owners asked for a compensation from her, as they bought Demon expensively. Bu Isma raged at them saying that theywere outrageous. They had broken a lot of rules about animal rights and they could be sent to jail. "Okay, how much do you want? I have brought my lawyer. If you want to ask for your compensation, you can negotiate it with my lawyer! But afterwards, you are going to jail!"

Demon's owners became frightened. Bu Isma immediately wrapped him in a sack that she found there and tried to carry him. Even though Demon was very light, Bu Isma wasn't strong enough to carry him as she was shaking so much from anger. She immediately brought Demon to Dr. Mag's clinic where he was infused and treated. His name was changed to Hope.

The next day when Bu Isma visited Hope he was doing well. He had found his appetite. But after that she became really busy so she didn't visit him for a long time. One day Dr. Mag messaged Bu Isma, telling her not to hope too much for Hope, because his condition was really unstable. His infuse couldn't get in and he didn't want to eat. He was moody all the time, as if he felt he wasn't loved at all. 

Bu Isma's friend asked someone who could do AnimalTalk (or BodyTalk) with dogs to communicate with Hope. AnimalTalk is a method to communicate with animals telepathically. Telepathy deals with speaking directly to the mind without using external communication such as body language and words.We can convey and receive feelings, images, intentions, etcetera directly mind to mind.

That person said that Hope conveyed that he didn't want to get well, he didn’t want to live anymore. He felt grateful that Bu Isma rescued him, but after he was rescued he was just left here. He saw no difference between here and back home. He felt abandoned in both places.

According to what they’ve learnt from his replies, Dr. Mag asked Bu Isma to visit Hope with praises and a happy face. Although Bu Isma felt sad every time she visited Hope, seeing his poor condition, she put on a happy face for him and often praised him."Wow, you're so handsome Hope, you're so cool! Please get well soon, so that I can bring you home!"

These seemingly small and insignificant gestures and words really made a great difference. The infuse then could get in well and Hope started to eat. With numerous visits and help from Bu Isma and donators, Hope fully recovered. He is a really handsome dog now!

Hope is just one example of the many dogs who had similar fates like him. You can help fund the other dogs' lives in Bu Isma's shelter, like how Hope's donators helped fund Hope's life.

You can follow the dogs in Shelter Melati through their instagram and facebook.

Part 3 will be the last part! Wait for it next week!

You can read Part 1 here and my visit to the shelter here.

Sorry for late post *facepalm* I broke my promise.

Interview With Bu Ismawanty of Shelter Melati Part 1

Last December, I visited Shelter Melati, an animal shelter founded by Ismawanty Mima. During that visit, I interviewed Bu Isma. I wanted to hear her story about how she founded the shelter, and how she manages it now. I hope that by writing it in my blog, more people may know about animal shelters and may give them a helping hand.

Shelter Melati has been operating for nine and a half years. It all started when Bu Isma was on the road to the mall with her youngest daughter. She was stuck in a traffic jam, and there was a Shihtzu standing on the side of the road, staring at every vehicle passing by. When Bu Isma passed it, her youngest daughter opened the window and greeted it. The dog followed Bu Isma's car after that, even when the car was running fast. Feeling sorry for it, they opened the car door and the dog immediately jumped inside. It was really drained and fell asleep immediately.

They didn't go to the mall in the end. They just drove around confused about what they should do with the dog. They couldn't bring it home, as Bu Isma's husband didn't want dogs at home, so it ended up in a pet shop. Bu Isma paid for a month's boarding, where it will be fed and groomed routinely.

A month's boarding stretched to 6 months. Bu Isma couldn't just leave the dog in the pet shop its whole life so she decided to bring him home and hid it in their upper floor guestroom. The dog wasn't discovered by Bu Isma's husband for 2 days, as it obeyed Bu Isma's warning not to bark. But the dog couldn't live in a room all alone with no one to accompany him, so on the 3rd day, the secret was out. Bu Isma had just left the room after feeding it, and it barked. Bu Isma's husband happened to be at home on that fateful day.

Her husband was really surprised to hear barking sound inside of his house and immediately searched for the dog. When he opened the door of the room where the dog was hidden, the dog happily went out of the room with its tail wagging. Bu Isma's husband was flabbergasted and ran back downstairs shouting "Dog, dog, there's a dog!" with the Shihtzu on his heels. The dog was smart though, and when Bu Isma's husband shouted "Sit, sit, sit!"; the dog sat down. After much explaining by Bu Isma and her youngest daughter, Bu Isma's husband relented and allowed the Shihtzu to stay if it obeyed the boundaries and rules that he set up. They decided to name that Shihtzu, Cirita. Cirita becomes the family's much beloved pet; it was even loved by Bu Isma's husband in the end.

However, Bu Isma couldn't bear to see dogs in sad conditions and continued to take in stray dogs. They all stayed in her garage, and they kept on adding up to a total of 15 dogs. Until her husband couldn't bear it anymore.

One day, her husband asked her, "Do you pick me or your dogs?" Her answer had to be given at the latest on the following day. If she picked her husband, all the dogs must go; and if she wanted to keep the dogs, her husband will leave. At that time, Bu Isma didn't know anything about animal shelters nor about dog lovers' groups; where she could ask for help. It was a really difficult question.

In the end, Bu Isma chose her dogs over her husband. Based on her logic, her husband could take care and fend for himself, while the dogs can't as they're already depedent on her. Domesticated dogs will definitely be confused if they were left on their own, especially on the street. They would not know how to find food and they might be hit by vehicles. A lot of people in Indonesia still don't tolerate dogs too, so they might be abused or persecuted.

On the day that she gave that answer, her husband just walked away from the house without taking anything with him. However, Bu Isma wasn't too concerned financially because she still have her house, cars, and money in the bank. Her children generally respected her decision and didn't get involved in their parents' matter. However, her eldest daughter did question why she picked her dogs over her husband.

After that tough decision, instead of focusing on her own life; Bu Isma rescued more and more dogs until the number rocketed up to around 120 dogs. At that time she didn't know about donations that people could give her so she paid all the expenses purely with her own money. Since she no longer worked, she didn't have substantial income but the expenses to feed and maintain the well-being of her rescued dogs are great.

Her monetary condition became so bad that once she only had Rp. 10.000,- in her wallet. She had to choose between feeding herself or the dogs. She chose to feed the latter but could only afford to buy them rice, which was not even enough.

Fortunately, she was then discovered by several dog lovers'. They donated dog foods and introduced her to vets who could help her. One of the vets asked her to make an account in social media so she could tell the public, especially dog lovers, about her condition and they might help her. Bu Isma didn't know anything about social media though, let alone make an account on one of them. Eventually, someone helped her make a Facebook account and taught her how to use it.

Then came a problem: her neighbours complained about her many dogs. They felt that their lives were disturbed by the dogs. Some didn't like dogs, some were disturbed by the noises, and some by the smell. Bu Isma was forced to leave the neighbourhood in 3x24 hours. She had nowhere to go. Confused, Bu Isma posted on Facebook about her situation.

Fortunately, a Facebook follower contacted her and lent a 4.000 m2 land in Pondok cabe. The area is generally deserted so no one will be disturbed by the dogs there. However, at first, there was nothing at the land, except for a building and a rambutan farm. Luckily, a lot of animal lovers, especially dog lovers, helped with the shelter's establishment. One of them was the famous writer Alberthiene Endah.

No one in her family supported her though, except her mom and daughters.

It was June 2017, when someone reported about her relative's Husky who wasn't cared for. In the photos that the person sent, the Husky did looked uncared for, but his life wasn't in danger. Bu Isma decided not to rescue him, as she already had a lot on her hands. In addition to that, something happened that distracted her completely from that Husky.

On July 2017, the shelter caught fire. It happened at 00:30 a.m. The shelter was using a large amount of electricity power and they were unaware that the cable in the main house was actually outdated. The cable wasn't strong enough to withhold the immense power of the electricity and had a short circuit. It burst into flames.

It was past midnight and the shelter was far from other residents, so it was hard for them to find people to help them. Coincidently, a taxi was driving past the shelter,and they asked him for help. He immediately called the police and firefighters. He went in and somehow he managed to take the generator out, which was very heavy. The fire might have been uncontrollable if it wasn't taken out.

Bu Isma was sleeping at her daughter's house when she was notified of her shelter's fire. She immediately went there with a motorbike, and when she reached the shelter, the police was already there. She desperately and hysterically tried to get inside, wanting to save the dogs; but the police detained her from getting in. There were some kennel boys who were brave enough to go in and get the dogs out.

There were dogs that were just neutered/spayed inside the house, house cages around the main building with lots and lots of dogs, and 6 individual cages around the house cages. The kennel boys were confused about how to open the cages and lead all of them out to safety. There were some dogs that panicked so that instead of going out, they went in. A total of 26 dogs died. it was a great loss, and was a very hard and sad time for Bu Isma. With the help of donators, they were able to rebuilt the shelter and go on operating as usual.

Interviewing Bu Isma.

You can follow Bu Isma's instagram and facebook to keep up with the dogs she had rescued.

Part 2 will tell about the rescue of one of Bu Isma's dogs. Wait for it next week!

While waiting, you can read my visit to the shelter here.

My Visit to Shelter Melati

I had read these dogs' stories, seen their pictures, thought about ways to help them, and shared their biography, but I had never met any of them. No matter their size, their breed, they all ended up in this place; where they hope they won't stay for long. This encouraged me to visit an animal shelter to meet those abandoned that crave lots of love and attention. They may not be able to speak like us, but their hopeful eyes communicate their desire to be loved.

I chose to visit Shelter Melati because I had met the founder, Bu Ismawanty Mima, several times during weekly dog lovers’ meet up at The Breeze, BSD City, Tangerang. I also interviewed her so that I can share the stories about how she founded and managed her shelter. I hope that by sharing the knowledge, more people may know about animal shelters and could help by donating, adopting, fostering, etc.

After making an appointment, we decided on the last days of December (I forgot precisely when, as it's been a long time) and off I went to Pondok Cabe, Pamulang, Tangerang Selatan, a place really, really far from home. I’m not allowed to tell the address of the shelter to deter those who want to abandon their dogs there (if you want to visit you can direct message Bu Isma for an appointment through her instagram @ismawantymima or her facebook ).

Bu Isma found and rescued the abandoned dogs mostly through reports from various people. She would receive calls and messages from various sources, and will save those with certain circumstances (such as a dog in critical condition, a lost dog, etc). She cannot save all the dogs because her shelter is already overpopulated.

We were welcomed by the kennel boys there, and greeted tremendously by excited barks. A lot of the dogs jumped in their cages, their tails wagging. My first impression of the shelter was that it was pretty neat. It’s actually quite spacious. There was a building presumably for workers to rest. It was surrounded by many open spaces and house cages of the dogs.

In front of one of the house cage, there were two smaller cages. They held a medium sized dog with a bowl of dog food that scattered around in the cage. In front of the other house cage there was a brown husky called Molly with ropes tied around the lock of the cage. Even though the ropes had been tied tightly, she still could escape by biting and chewing at the ropes. She does it everytime guests come to visit, as she wants to play with them. Huskies are masters of escaping.

The house cages and the two dogs in front of it

Some of the dogs in one of the house cages.

In front of the building, there is a medium sized yard with trees. There were several cages there with dogs that hadn't been vaccinated so they couldn't join the others yet.

I met a lot of dogs at the shelter. One of them was a pitbull named Lady. Pitbulls are known for their fierce temperament, but Lady here is a really sweet dog. At first, I was a bit afraid to pet her, but after letting her sniff my hand, she seemed fine and so I petted her.

Next to Lady's cage is a gate leading deeper into the shelter. Several dogs were individually caged on the yard and on the porch of the main building. I've got nothing to say about the interior of the building because there was nothing in there. I went straight to the back of the building, passing several fenced areas filled with dogs. I had to quickly follow Bu Isma though, so I didn't have time to go to each area. The first thing I saw in the backyard was this husky called Asa being bathed:

He was really excited and kept on asking to play, but I couldn't stay there for long because there were others that I hadn't met yet.

Down from where Asa was being bathed, there was a wooden cage on stilts full of huskies and a golden. The last time I asked Bu Isma there were around 12 huskies. It had been a while though since then, and she had rescued some more these past months of 2018. 

It was a really joyous moment for me, hugging and patting each of them. There was especially this one golden that kept on asking for pats even when the huskies had calmed down. 

On both sides of the wooden cage on stilts there were house cages filled with more dogs. Some were put together while others are caged individually.

The dog here is caged individually.

When we left the backyard to return to our car, most of the dogs became silent with sad and questioning eyes. "You're not bringing us back home?"

I know that the photos of the dogs here aren't really clear, but I hope that the photos show that not all dogs in shelters are sick and old, as they had been cared for by Bu Isma until they return to their healthy self. Many of the dogs here are still relatively young. It is also not a sad place. Yes, they feel heartbroken when they were abandoned, but they will always show a happy and grateful smile to those who take care of them, and a little visit from you will definitely brighten their day up! 

   

Bu Isma's interview will follow next week.