Street urchins display expressions, skill at TIM<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of street children from across the city
\nare now joining a series of programs in a \"Week of Awareness
\nTowards Street Children\" being held at the Taman Ismail Marzuki
\nArts Center.<\/p>\n
The four-day festival, which was opened by Deputy Governor for
\nSocial Welfare H. Museno, features shoeshine and drawing contests
\nas well as a handicraft exhibition. The event will last until
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
\"They are also free to do their usual work, such as shining
\nshoes,\" said organizer Rama Chandra of project RESCUE-Indonesia,
\nyesterday. He added that 250 children, as well as a number of
\nadult street-workers, will participate in the event.<\/p>\n
The child participants are those who already have frequent
\ncontact with a number of non-governmental organizations working
\nfor the welfare of street children, including the Foundation for
\nthe Welfare of Indonesian Children (YKAI).<\/p>\n
YKAI's chairperson Lily Rilantono, who is also the chairperson
\nof the festival organizing committee, said that films on street
\nchildren here and in other countries were are also shown at the
\nmain gallery of the arts center.<\/p>\n
Museno said that more than 50,000 children in the city,
\n30,000 of them street and neglected children, need financial aid
\nto receive an education and a decent life.<\/p>\n
\"We have repeatedly called on the public to help raise the
\nstandard of living of these children...we can only provide Rp
\n40,000 (US$18.39) in assistance per child annually, for only
\n2,000 children,\" Museno said.<\/p>\n
However, a caretaker of a neighborhood group working for the
\nwelfare of poor families and street children said the number of
\nstreet children is estimated to be much higher than the official
\nfigure released by the city administration.<\/p>\n
\"In the 95 hectares area of Manggarai, South Jakarta, alone
\nthere are 75 street children that we know of,\" said Abdillah of
\nthe Proyek Gema Mandiri.<\/p>\n
A YKAI employee said earlier that their research team found
\n100 children in the few first days of observation around the
\nJatinegara market, railway station and Kampung Melayu bus
\nterminal, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Policy<\/p>\n
Museno stressed that in helping such children, the municipal
\nadministration always adhere to the existing rules.<\/p>\n
\"We have rounded up and arrested street children for their own
\ngood, not for ill-will,\" Museno said.<\/p>\n
In a related development researcher Arum Kusumanegara of the
\nYKAI pointed out the absence of specific policies for street
\nchildren for the city administration, a statement confirmed by
\nthe City Office for Social Welfare.<\/p>\n
The office's deputy head, Abdulrahman Gani Hatta, said that
\nthe city administration does not have a policy for street
\nchildren as they are not in the category of \"neglected children.\"<\/p>\n
Social worker Abdillah pointed out that although a street
\nchild can earn Rp 5,000 ($2.30) a day, this is enough only for
\nmeals \"Some of them spend the money to help their parents or for
\nleisure activities, such as gambling and playing computer games
\nat amusement centers,\" Abdillah said.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta mission director of the United States Agency for
\nInternational Development (USAID), Charles Wedn, told the seminar
\nthere are around 100 million children across the world who work
\nand live in urban streets.<\/p>\n
\"The work of street children is often risky,\" Wedn said.(anr)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/street-urchins-display-expressions-skill-at-tim-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }