This is one of the very first ethnographic articles I ever wrote, and which went on to thoroughly influence how I went about the rest of my career. Street kids trained me in ethnographic analysis, patience, trust, and how to combine advocacy with research. In short, if you are not giving back something to the … More The Family of GIRLI: the Homeless Children of Yogyakarta
Published in the Jakarta Post 15 Sept 09 (the follow-up piece on my mom’s death this year to come, when I get the courage to post it) My dilemma is one shared by so many. When I first moved to Indonesia almost 30 years ago, I already knew this moment would come. It was so … More Becoming Javanese – How an American in Java Accepts her Fate
The Gift Aru has held a special place for me ever since reading Alfred Wallace’s book On the Natural History of the Aru Islands many years ago. When this particular opportunity to actually go there came up, I couldn’t resist. I knew Aru would not be the romantic, exotic place I had read about so … More Short Story: The Gift: Postcard from Pulau Aru
Ever since the front room of our small boarding house (kos) came available, and thus given over to the two sons of the house, Kangmas and Dhimas, a demon took over with shocking speed and accuracy. While freedom meant being only some 10 feet away from the main house, the physical distance was compounded by … More Merdeka (Freedom: a true story on drug use in Jogjakarta)
Nobody speeds through the dusty streets of Dili, the taxi driver, named Arulio, tells me in his Portuguese accented Indonesian. This is because the Timorese have not been driving for long and few feel comfortable enough behind the wheel of these bulky machines. Plus, he continues, “The new government keeps changing the road directions. Yesterday … More Short Story: Tales from Timor Leste (2003)
This is an absolutely, 100% true story. This happened to me. It was winter, 1975. I was living in the student dorms in downtown Philadelphia as a freshman at the University of the Arts (still the Philadelphia College of Art back then). It was winter break so my room-mate, Dierdre, a tall, bleached-blonde, Ukrainian-Amazon with … More Short story: Demonology 101 – Flirting with Steven King
The Jakarta Post | Sun, 03/08/2009 8:54 AM | Headlines The ad grabbed my attention in a way almost none ever do here. The TV commercial told a fascinating story. It opened with a young boy and girl, both handsome, both in high school uniforms, but clearly poor, living in a slum area that … More By the way: If white is might, stop watching your TV!
The Disaster of Development: How Women’s “Empowerment” Projects are Damaging Indonesian Smallholder Farming, Rural Families, and the Environment[1] Laine Berman, PhD Abstract: Ecofeminism, or ecological feminism, is based on a belief that the social mentality that leads to the domination and oppression of women is directly connected to the social mentality that leads to … More The Disaster of Development: How Women’s “Empowerment” Projects are Damaging Indonesian Smallholder Farming, Rural Families, and the Environment
Published in Inside Indonesia No 75, 2003 Laine Berman Faisal and Jhoni came to Athonk’s tattoo studio with a small picture and a lot of hope. It was their own design. They had both tried kicking their putauw (street grade heroin) habits through a variety of rehabilitation programs. All failed. Now, they were trying something … More From Jungkies to Jihad: Drug Use in Indonesia
Published in the Jakarta Post 16 & 23 January 2005 (keeping with the drug theme – I wrote this story based on actual experience in 2004….) by Laine Berman Darkness falls quickly in Indonesia. Crisp cerulean skies turn grey, then green. The green lingers for a bit, turns the color of aged bronze, then the … More Short Story: As Darkness Falls
