Who wants to be a pilot?

A native of Jogjakarta, Captain Budiharja Soehardi - or Budi to his friends - is a 54-year-old veteran pilot with Singapore Airlines (SIA). He was a little tired when we met — understandably so as he had just returned from Jogjakarta, where he was coordinating efforts to help Mount Merapi’s victims.

“My family home is 28km from the volcano and was covered in ash when I left it yesterday,” he explained.

“There are 200,000 people affected in the area. So I have tried to organise the delivery of emergency supplies like masks, food, blankets and milk powder. We bought the supplies and I trucked in the stuff myself.”

These ad hoc efforts are completely separate from his main charitable work - the Roslin Orphanage in West Timor. Budi and his wife, Peggy, 49, started the orphanage in 2002 after watching a TV programme on the plight of refugees fleeing from the civil strife in East Timor.

The couple were planning a holiday, but instead went to see what could be done. They ended up renting a property and opening an orphanage which they have since expanded to five buildings. The couple also purchased 14 hectares of undeveloped land which they have turned into two farms.

Just as well then that Budi says his family is “completely involved” in his charity work. After all, his wages support the yayasan (Indonesian for “foundation”).

“My wife manages the orphanage and the farms in West Timor,” he says, “Our three kids - two daughters, 21 and 19, and a son, 14 - never miss spending their holidays helping out at the orphanage.”

The Budi family has called Singapore home since July 1998, when he joined SIA. Budi previously flew for Garuda and Korean Airlines.

Before Roslin was established, Budi was already informally sponsoring education for needy children since 1988; he has seen over 31 children all the way to university.

At Roslin, none of the children are put up for adoption, although he gets many requests.

Roslin currently has 73 children under its care, ranging from a five month-old baby to a 21-year-old now in medical school. But most of the children are under 10. “I am really proud of them, especially when they do well in school,” he says, sounding like a typical Asian parent. The orphanage is set to grow with the completion of a girls’ dormitory and with another 18 children joining it soon.

Don't wait to give

Budi’s reason for his hand-to-pocket charity work is simple: “Don’t wait to give. The need is now. Give what you can to those in need. It may be money, goods, time, effort… It may be just a smile or compliment that you can afford right now, but give it freely and God will find a way for it to be used well.”

He recounts: “A few years ago, we were supposed to see a baby for the orphanage. We finished work at about 3am, and thought we would wait until the morning to see this child. When we got there in the morning, the child had died. So now I don’t wait at all, I leave most things in God’s hands and just act.”

Which was what the affable pilot did when late in 2009, he was informed of pending job cuts as part of SIA’s budget cuts.

It was a nerve-wrecking five months as he prepared to leave Singapore.

As he said in his blog: “It was not easy to deal with what we have been through. The moment [you are told] your only source of income… will not be available for you any more, it becomes a real challenge in life… but the beautiful life must be continued.”

It was on one of his last few flights to the United States that he received the news that the company had decided to renew his contract for another three years.

The self-sufficiency of his foundation coupled with constant need for funds is like a mantra whenever he talks about Roslin. Budi says: “As we grow, we remain self-suffi cient. Most of the funding comes from my wages.

With wife Peggy (second from right), and their children at the CNN Heroes 2009 awards ceremony in Los Angeles

"We are purely a home. We want the kids to be educated, and then return to their relatives and villages. They owe us nothing. We want to raise them to compete in the modern world."

“But we had a very good harvest from our farm in 2008, with 15 tonnes of rice, and sold the surplus to support the orphanage. We aim to clear 10 hectares which are still undeveloped. We also run a bed and breakfast homestay which we use to train some of our kids in hospitality and tourism.

“We aim in the future to run more community services, like a kindergarten, schools and learning centres. The older children help to cook and do chores.”

His gratitude to donors makes up the other part of the mantra. “We are blessed with having strong Singaporean supporters,” he says. The publicity he received from his CNN nomination brought in many helpers and donors. In addition, Budi is a member of the Rotary Club in Singapore which helped to provide for two libraries.

He says: “We spend about US$6,000 to US$7,000 in monthly bills and each new building - be it a farm shed or a new dormitory — costs from between US$20,000 to US$40,000. This doesn’t include anything for emergencies, new projects or even the start of every school year. We don’t market or canvass for funds.”

On top of wondering where the next need will arise or how it will be met, Budi also leads a punishing schedule. His job takes up about two weeks in a month, and he gets three to five days in Singapore between flights. That is when he travels to West Timor and other places in Indonesia to keep an eye on projects.

He says: “Yayasan Kasih Roslin goes where we can help. We appreciate everything people offer us.”

Occasionally, donations are particularly timely. Until recently, water had to be trucked to the orphanage, a costly exercise. Then someone came forward and paid for an artesian well, which would have cost US$20,000 to $30,000 to drill. We had been worrying about how to pay for the next few months’ water supplies,” says Budi. “What we do is very small. What God does for us is much more.”

* This article was written by Guy Hoh and first published in Singapore Magazine (Jan-Mar 2011 issue).

Visit Yayasan Kasih Roslin at www.roslinorphanage.org