CHAPTER 22 – Humanitarian Guerrilla
One afternoon in a rented house in Jl. Bonang, Central Jakarta, I was visiting with Father Sandyawan Sumardi, the driving force behind the Jaringan Relawan Kemanusiaan (Humanitarian Volunteer Network/JRK)..
Father Sandy looked cheerful as he recounted stories related to JRK’s programs in Aceh.
“Father looks more cheerful than when we last met at the end of last year,” I said. The soft-spoken 47- year-old man gave a carefree laugh. “Yes…it was chaotic then. I could not eat, did not sleep well.” Now, why sound like a broken-hearted man?
Father Sandy was not exaggerating. At the end of last December, when news of the earthquake and the tsunami was far from clear, I stopped by the JRK Ciliwung workshop in Bukit Duri, East Jakarta. Hundreds of people were busy at the workshop located along a riverbank. Nearly all of them brought supplies for Aceh and Nias. Hundreds of sacks and boxes containing medicines, instant food and all kinds of used clothes piled up in a matter of seconds.
Wartawan Tempo sejak 1998. Menjelajah berbagai desk, antara lain ekonomi, nasional, kesehatan, sains, gaya hidup, dan investigasi. Sejak Januari 2009 ditugasi menjadi Direktur Eksekutif Institut Tempo, sebuah lembaga yang dicita-citakan menjadi pusat pengembangan jurnalistik di Indonesia. Lulusan Fakultas Biologi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, tahun 1996. Setelah lulus kuliah, bergabung dengan Majalah Warta Ekonomi (1996) sebagai staf riset dan kemudian menjadi reporter di majalah Panji Masyarakat (1997).