Let’s start with the name. Ragam means diversity in Indonesian. We talked to the founder of Ragam Foundation, Nick, to find out more.
Why did you choose the word Ragam?
The whole purpose of Ragam Foundation is to be diverse, which is reflected in everything we do. From the people we help,and those who help us,to the programs we set up in order to provide this help.If anyone ever has an idea of how they want to contribute and support, they can sit with me and we’ll discuss a program you have in mind or an idea. And I’ll connect you with the people or with communities as many. This is why we have so many different programs as well.
The whole purpose of Ragam Foundation is to be diverse, which is reflected in everything we do. From the people we help, and those who help us, to the programs we set up in order to provide this help. If anyone ever has an idea of how they want to contribute and support, they can sit with me and we’ll discuss a program you have in mind or an idea. And I’ll connect you with the people or with communities as many. This is why we have so many different programs as well.
What are Ragam Foundatin’s main programs?
We have the kitchen, which is cooking five days a week, the main one. I call it the heart because it’s my background – I love food. Without food and without a full stomach, you cannot learn, you cannot work; it’s the basics. Beyond that, we have water filter programs.
We collaborated with Terra Water and Social Impakt to distribute many water filters for free to communities in need. We also have a garden program with one of our own farms in Kerobokan. That’s opening the first of December – we’re going to open it officially – and we are growing vegetables organically, with all the vegetables coming here to cook and then going back out to the community.
We’re the facilitators of goodwill.
Eventually, this garden will also be like a learning center where people can just learn about organic farming and be in touch with nature. Then the creative program, where we teach women how to make teddy bears, and some of the volunteers make teddy bears at home in their spare time. They give us the bears, and then those bears we get for free again. I would say the whole purpose is to help everyone, not only those who need help but also those who want to help. It’s supposed to be a nice, seamless place. We’re the facilitators of goodwill.
There are so many people who need something as basic as food. What kind of people do you usually help with the food?
I always say there’s a difference between helping someone and impacting someone. For instance, if I give you one meal, and then I don’t see you again for a month because I continue giving different people different meals every day, I helped you that one day. But my impact on your life is zero, and this is something I’ve thought about a lot. So, we do our food distributions in two different ways. One is the Broncos package meals; those usually go out to day workers.
I always say there’s a difference between helping someone and impacting someone.
A big demographic that’s often overlooked in charities is men. But men are the ones who are earning money for the families most of the time here, right, so it’s to support them. Construction workers might earn 50,000 per day for a 10–12-hour day. If they need to eat two meals, let’s say that’s 5,000 to 10,000, which is already 20% of their income just for food for themselves. So, these are the kinds of people that are effective in terms of giving meals. If you give it to the men, they’ll save the money instead of spending it on themselves and will be able to bring more money home to the family for other things.
That does sound effective, but it doesn’t sound sustainable to me. No one will ever say no to a free food supply, especially being on the verge of poverty, right?
When it comes to meals, we pick specific communities. One of them was a community in Denpasar. For the first eight months we were open, we sent food for them every two days, and we sent quite a lot of food. There was enough food for them to eat for lunch and then also save for dinner. So, we did that for eight months. After eight months, they basically told us: “We don’t need support anymore.”
Because they managed to save money by not having to buy food. It was a huge moment because we came there with food, and then there was one lady who took charge of everything, and she just told us, “Thank you so much, but this is okay, this is the last time. Please find a different community you can support in the same way because we’re okay now.”
Why did you create Ragam Foundation and what keeps you going?
I’ve always wanted to help people since I was young. I had everything I could have wanted, a very comfortable life. I was going to the international school and seeing kids my age on the streets having to beg. It impacted me so much. I remember that I always wanted to help. I helped orphanages, helped at disabled centers, and went into construction sites as well. I wanted to understand what it was like for the men there.
Ragam was born from all these experiences I had through life and the strong need to help and set up something open for everyone.
You can come here and not feel pressured, and you can come here and just be like, “Okay, nice. How can I help?”
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