Kids
Kids are fun, kids are inspiring; they are brave and ruthless, creative and direct; kids are optimistic no matter what. They can tell you more about a country then anyone else. If this is true everywhere in the world it is even more so in Indonesia. In a country troubled with religious intolerance and economic disasters kids are contagiously joyful. In some less spoiled areas as soon as they see you they will run to cheer you with their ever ready " halloo mister ". To be fair it is quite hard to be an "halloo mister" in Indonesia. In fact after few days of thousand halloo only the irresistible power of their smile will give you the strength to smile back. The following pictures were taken here and there in Sulawesi, Flores and Lombok.
Kids can play anywhere, anytime and under any circumstances. I don't want to sound moralistic but I'm always impressed by the ability of kids in poor countries to be happy with nothing. Recently i've seen a fantastic reportage on The National Geographic about kids in Africa and their toys made out of all sorts of crap - a broken shoe, a plasic bag, wire and rope, empty matches boxes. Those toys are a masterpice of ingenuity and joy. Looking at some overspoiled kid in my country I feel sad. I wander, where did we go wrong?
These kids above and below left have chosen the most unlikely playground - the kids' cemetery, where new born babies would be buried in the trees if they'd die still young. You can see the little graves up in the tree. Now I'm sure that they knew what that place was all about but I guess that to them there is nothing as far as the idea of death.
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