Outside looking in

These guys live in a community above a swamp – reclaimed land that soon enough will be bulldozed over for the ever-expanding malls in Jakarta. Concrete moves like glaciers here; reshaping the land and devastating everything in its path.Read more

United Nations brochure – my photos

A nice fellow from the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) emailed me asking for permission to use some of my photos for their project. A couple of my photos were used. Here’s a link to the full brochure. This particular photo was taken in front of my work place after the floods in Jakarta last month. The three white dudes are my coworkers/friends. I’m very pleased that something positive came out of me wading around in that filthRead more

Circus on wheels

Colorful contraptions like this patrol the streets of Jakarta, hoping to attract the wide-eyed children who are drawn to it with awe. As the driver pedals, the ‘vehicles’ rhythmically bounce up and down in tune with the birthday techno music pumping out of the bike’s roof. Street life is never dull in Jakarta. Cipulir, JakartaRead more

Further perspectives on the flooding (via Ian's blog)

My friend, Ian, has shared his flooding experience on his blog. He had a bit of a different situation than I did, as he waited around another day before leaving Kelapa Gading – in the relative safety of a military truck versus the manure hauler we cruised in. Several of our friends houses and cars were damaged and we were inconvenienced somewhat but 1000’s of people lost everything – and as is typical in the developing world – it isRead more