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Home
improvement by Chris Soebroto, PLAN International Indonesia |
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What!? That's right. Families don't want a beautiful house. That's dangerous they say, because beautiful houses attract thieves and burglars. Entering their shaky home it is obvious that the family is not poor: tv set, nice furniture, books, magazines, motorbike in the back yard, VCD player. Instead of beautifying their house the families in the island of Sumbawa prefer to send their kids to school and to buy more land or cattle. In Timor many families are reluctant to improve their homes for a different reason. They explain that they are part of a very extensive family and that one person's assets are the assets of the entire family. If one relative has a debt the entire family shares the debt. So, they say, it is better not to become too wealthy, because then we have to share it with everybody and my wealth is used to pay off the debts of relatives. |
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For more information, email Chris Soebroto - soebrotc@plan.geis.com |