JP\/3\/Salim\/<\/p>\n
No worries, no future - the life of a street child in Jakarta<\/p>\n
Text and photo
\nBy David Zweifler -- 10pts Metrolight l\/c<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Salim is a 14-year-old boy who is living a
\nteenagers dream; he's in the big city, earns more money than his
\nfather, rooms with his friends, isn't going to school, and stays
\nout as late as he wants.<\/p>\n
Salim is a lucky guy -- especially because he has managed to
\navoid arrest, deportation or imprisonment by city officials, and
\nhad two friends help him pay for medical treatment, without which
\nhe would have been crippled.<\/p>\n
Salim came to Jakarta two and a half years ago with a cousin,
\nwho disappeared 10 months ago without a trace. His story is
\nfairly typical of urbanization in developing countries; his
\nfather is an underemployed, subsistence farmer who could not
\nafford to send him to school, who lives in a regency with few
\ncapital resources. Before, Salim lived on a tiny rice farm with
\nhis parents, three brothers and a sister.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't like my friends there and there was nothing for me
\nto do. So I left.\" he explained.<\/p>\n
Salim said that his parents didn't tell him to leave, but they
\nwere not angry when he made his decision. Certainly, they were
\nnot angered by the savings he started sending back every month or
\nso, or the gifts at Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
Salim works at one of Jakarta's more successful clubs as a
\nparkir, a person who directs traffic and flags down taxi's for
\ncustomers in exchange for tips from the driver. He works from ten
\no'clock at night to four or five in the morning. He says that on
\na good night he can make as much as Rp 20,000 (US$ 9.30) but on
\nother nights he can make as little as four thousand ($2.0).
\nRegardless, the senior taxi-boss on the block takes 15 percent as
\nhis cut which, under the circumstances, he thinks is fair.<\/p>\n
To be truthful, he has fared quite well in Jakarta. He is
\nearing what is considered to be a good wage and is also fortunate
\nnot to have ended up in one of the more unsavory professions
\nwhich, according to Unicef data, are more likely to exploit
\nchildren who are living illegally in Jakarta. Being a parkir is
\ncertainly much better than being a beggar, shoe-shine,
\nprostitute, garbage collector, beggar or pickpocket.<\/p>\n
Salim is one of Jakarta's children working in the \"informal
\nsector.\" This, Jakarta's grey economy, is the only gainful
\nemployment available for non-residents and children because of
\nthe difficulties of getting a job in the legitimate sector. To
\nget a job in factory, department store or office requires
\nresidency papers from the city administration, a \"good conduct\"
\nletter from city police, letters of reference from two tiers of
\nneighborhood officials and, for more skilled jobs, a high school
\ndiploma.<\/p>\n
Neither the government, the International Labor Organization
\n(ILO) or Unicef has exact figures on how many Salim's there are
\non the streets of Jakarta. Obviously, it is very difficult to
\ntrack numbers in the grey economy, especially for children.
\nBecause these jobs are not \"official,\" they are not included in
\nthe government's standard labor reports. Because they are not
\novertly \"illegal\" no estimates can be made from police arrest
\nreports.<\/p>\n
However, Unicef estimates that the number of children working
\nin the informal sector alone may be as high as 2.8 million. A
\nrepresentative from the ILO has said that \"child workers are
\nstatistically hidden even in the formal sector.\" At any rate,
\nthey are not hidden on the streets of Jakarta. If you're curious,
\nyou might want to try and count for yourself the next time you're
\nat a club, major intersection, marketplace, or bus terminal.
\nThey're all too easy to find.<\/p>\n
Russian roulette<\/p>\n
For the children working in the informal sector, especially
\nthose who are illegal residents and without parental support,
\nillness and injury is a dangerous game. There is no insurance for
\nthese children or standard system of medical care for the poor.
\nThey are often afraid to obtain medical care because of their
\nquestionable legal status and financial conditions. Whenever they
\nget sick or hurt, they are forced to play a game of Russian
\nroulette with their health, hoping that the illness will simply
\ngo away.<\/p>\n
Salim played and almost lost.<\/p>\n
In July of 1993 Salim was riding on the back of a motorcycle
\nwith a friend when a car cut them off and they were both sent to
\nthe pavement. Salim gashed the back of his hand and ended up
\ngoing to a cheap medical clinic. They stitched up the wound
\nwithout anesthetic and put a bandage over it.<\/p>\n
The poor quality of his treatment combined with Salim's
\nignorance of follow-up care caused the gash to become infected.<\/p>\n
Fortunately Salim had come to be friends with two expatriate
\nEnglish teachers named Kurt Kahler and Jamie Graham who were
\nregular customers at the bar where he worked. Kahler noticed that
\nSalim had been wearing his bandage for more than a week and
\ninquired about what it was for.<\/p>\n
\"We noticed that his hand was bandaged and I asked him what
\nhad happened. He told me that he had fallen off a motorcycle.
\nWhen we came back a week later and noticed he was still wearing
\nthe same bandage. I asked him how his hand was and he told me it
\nwas sore and he couldn't move it,\" Kahler said.<\/p>\n
Eventually, they asked Salim to show them the cut so they
\ncould see how the wound was progressing.<\/p>\n
When they removed the bandage they discovered that the wound
\nwas gangrenous, so much so that they thought Salim could
\ncertainly lose his hand. They rushed Salim to the clinic of a
\ndoctor who was a friend of Kahler's family, where the cut was
\ndisinfected and re-stitched. Ultimately, the infection destroyed
\nso much tissue in Salim's hand and wrist that he required plastic
\nsurgery to prevent permanent deformity and paralysis.<\/p>\n
The cost of the operation for Salim should have been
\napproximately Rp 1.5 million - certainly more money than Salim
\ncould ever afford to pay on his own. Luckily, Kahler and Graham
\npaid the Rp 500,000 for the anesthesiologist. The surgeon donated
\nhis services, a bed, food and medicine for free.<\/p>\n
Kahler found two factors regarding the accident particularly
\nfrustrating.<\/p>\n
First, there were no options for Salim in his current
\nsituation. He had no choice but to find some \"rich\" person to
\nhelp him. If he didn't find a patron, Salim might have lost his
\nhand or worse.<\/p>\n
Secondly, Salim's injuries did not have to be as serious as
\nthey were. If Salim had the support apparatus available to most
\nIndonesian children -- parents, school, and community -- then his
\nwound might have been treated when it was still just a cut, and
\nbefore it reached a crisis threshold.<\/p>\n
Lost childhood<\/p>\n
While Salim may be doing well compared to other illegal
\nimmigrant children, he has many needs as a child that will never
\nbe fulfilled. He has the good fortune of having two, relatively
\nwell-off, expatriate friends, but he does not have the
\nsupervision of his family. He is definitely a street-smart youth,
\nbut he is not equipped with a real education. He has a very
\nstrong work ethic, but he does not have the same level of
\nmaturity as his peers. These limitations do not seem to be of
\ngreat consequence now, not to Salim at any rate. However, they
\nwill prove to be a greater and greater liability as he grows
\nolder.<\/p>\n
But Salim isn't upset about his situation, Quite the contrary,
\nhe is in love with his job and his exciting lifestyle.<\/p>\n
The last time I saw Salim, it was while he was working. I
\nasked him if he was happy now that he was living in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"It's more fun here in Jakarta,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Do you ever wish you were back with your parents?\" I asked.
\nHe would not answer but I pushed him for a reply.<\/p>\n
\"No. No,\" He said, then paused. \"Tidak tauh. I don't know.\"<\/p>\n
Salim may or may not think he is living the ideal childhood,
\none without financial or parental limits. But it's clear he is
\nnot having a real childhood, one that teaches him about life and
\nsocial interaction and responsibility. The saddest part about him
\nand all the other Salims is they are losing their youth, and,
\nultimately, their adulthood as well.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp3salim-1447899208",
"image": ""
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