Duo look after Jakarta's poor<\/p>\n
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
They serve as a surrogate father and mother for the destitute
\nchildren studying in their Sanggar Akar schools.<\/p>\n
Karyanto, or Karyo, one of the founders of Sanggar Akar, acts
\nas the father, and Juprianto, or Jupri, the school's executive
\ndirector, as the mother -- despite his being a man.<\/p>\n
\"We both live here (in the school compound). We need to be
\nthere whenever they (the children) need us, 24 hours a day,\"
\nJuprianto said.<\/p>\n
Pride and hope were evident in Juprianto's eyes and voice as
\nthe 35-year-old took The Jakarta Post on a guided tour of the
\nschool for deprived children.<\/p>\n
\"This building was built by the children. They pieced it
\ntogether with bits and pieces of wood and poured the cement
\nfoundation themselves,\" Juprianto said proudly of the two-story
\nbuilding, which houses a classroom, computer room and staff room.<\/p>\n
The hall-like classroom was bare of tables and chairs.
\nInstead, the wood floor was covered with multicolored thatched
\nmats, with several cushions thrown about.<\/p>\n
Sanggar Akar is a non-profit community-based school
\nestablished in 1994 and dedicated to providing the deprived
\nchildren of Greater Jakarta an education.<\/p>\n
Children who find their way to Sanggar Akar are mostly
\ndestitute, including street children and scavengers, as well as
\nthe children of the very poor.<\/p>\n
At least 800 children of all ages have studied at Sanggar
\nAkar's schools, including at the main school in Cipinang Melayu,
\nEast Jakarta, and the branch schools in Penas Lama, the
\nJatinegara train station, Duren Sawit and Cawang, all in East
\nJakarta, and Cakung, North Jakarta, and Bantar Gebang, Bekasi.<\/p>\n
Sanggar Akar first began as the children advocacy wing of
\nFather Sandyawan Sumardi's Jakarta Social Institute.<\/p>\n
Sanggar Akar soon became self-sufficient thanks to donations,
\nas well as from sales of the children's products, such as
\nrecycled-paper handicrafts and silk-screen printed T-shirts, and
\nbooks and newsletters.<\/p>\n
Sanggar's approach to educating deprived children is simple:
\nteach them to be independent and self-confident, and build their
\ncharacter; and to do this both Karyo and Jupri are prepared to
\ndedicate their entire lives to the children.<\/p>\n
\"The key to educating these children is intensity. The
\nintensity of contact with them will lead them talk to us, and
\nfrom there we build a trust. So I try to be there for them as
\nmuch as possible,\" the 38-year-old Karyo said.<\/p>\n
As well as practical lessons such as cooking, creating
\nhandicrafts from recycled paper, theater and raising livestock,
\nthe school also provides formal lessons in history, English,
\nliterature, music, painting and sculpting.<\/p>\n
The school has recruited many volunteer teachers, including
\nsome from formal schools such as the Jakarta Institute of Arts
\nand the LIA private English language school.<\/p>\n
\"The curriculum is wholly up to the children. They decide what
\nthey are interested in. We don't spoon-feed them like in regular
\nschools,\" Juprianto said, explaining that in this way the
\nchildren's interest in the lessons was maintained because they
\nfelt the importance of the lessons.<\/p>\n
Smaller children are taught how to read and write, and learn
\nbasic mathematics, as well as \"how to speak\".<\/p>\n
\"Deprived children are often reluctant to speak out. They are
\ninwardly shy and wary of strangers,\" Juprianto said, explaining
\nthat lessons in speaking were really aimed at getting children to
\nspeak their minds and to give them the courage to speak in
\npublic.<\/p>\n
Jupri and Karyo often get the children to act in plays.<\/p>\n
Recently, Sanggar Akar staged a play called Kaleng Rombeng
\n(Tattered Tin) at Graha Bakti Budaya in Taman Ismail Marzuki,
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Karyo said his interest in children came from his desire to
\nchange the world for the better.<\/p>\n
\"But for people of my age it is too late to do something so
\nmeaningful. So I rest my hopes with these children,\" the
\ngraceful, easygoing man, said.<\/p>\n
Before establishing Sanggar Akar, Karyo often mingled with
\nstreet children and became acquainted with them.<\/p>\n
\"I found out that these children are segregated by their
\nprofessions, whether scavengers or beggars or whatever, and I
\nwanted them all to have a safe place to play and get to know one
\nanother,\" Karyo said, explaining the reason behind the
\nestablishment of Sanggar Akar.<\/p>\n
Karyo met Jupri in 1997, when the latter joined Sanggar.<\/p>\n
Jupri, a seminary dropout, said he joined Sanggar Akar because
\nhe wanted to be close to the poor.<\/p>\n
He decided to quit the seminary and turn his attention to the
\npoor after reading a quote from Mother Theresa in a magazine. The
\nquote basically said that many people can talk about the poor,
\nbut only a few can talk to them.<\/p>\n
\"Not long after I dropped out of school and I joined Sanggar
\nAkar to be able to 'talk' to the poor.<\/p>\n
\"If I had become a priest, I might just be another of those
\npeople who are against the poor, against street children. I'd be
\nmoralizing to them instead of helping them,\" Jupri said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/duo-look-after-jakartas-poor-1447893297",
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