Twins shine a light under Pluit flyover<\/p>\n
By Joko E.H. Anwar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It was Tuesday afternoon under the Jembatan Tiga
\nflyover in Pluit, North Jakarta. A group of some 70 children,
\nmostly shoeless and wearing shabby clothes, were seen waiting
\nimpatiently for something.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, the kids -- aged between four and 15 --
\nsuddenly exclaimed joyfully:<\/p>\n
\"Ibu Kembar (Mrs. Twins) is here... Ibu Kembar is here!\"<\/p>\n
They were referring to two identical twins, who had just
\narrived in a gray metallic Opel Blazer jeep, parked some 25
\nmeters away.<\/p>\n
Three of the children ran toward the two women to help unload
\ntwo boxes of instant noodles from the car.<\/p>\n
The other boys and girls ran into a six-by-five meters shack,
\nto wait for the twins.<\/p>\n
The shack, made mostly of plywood and absent a roof, is a
\nschool. Two cloth sheets posted on an outside wall identify it as
\nsuch -- \"Kartini emergency school, Under Jembatan Tiga (Flyover)
\nPluit\".<\/p>\n
The children, who live with their poor families in shabby huts
\nunder the flyover, were waiting for class.<\/p>\n
The twins, Rossy Admiral and Rian Faisal, 51, who founded the
\nschool two years ago, are the only teachers the school has.<\/p>\n
\"We call it an emergency school because we don't know a more
\nproper name for it,\" Rian told The Jakarta Post at the site.<\/p>\n
According to her, there are about 150 kids already registered
\nat the free school, which serves the children every day.<\/p>\n
Several pairs of desks and chairs are placed outside the
\nclassroom to accommodate the students.<\/p>\n
While some of the children sat in the classroom with their
\nnotebooks ready, other students had to sit outside.<\/p>\n
\"The room is too small (for all the children to study inside),
\nso once a child can read and write, he or she has to study
\noutside,\" Rossy explained.<\/p>\n
In a few minutes, the children, were busy with assignments
\ngiven by the twin teachers.<\/p>\n
Students inside the room were assigned to draw 11 flags on
\ntheir books while those outside were doing simple calculations.<\/p>\n
Enthusiast<\/p>\n
Rossy and Rian said that the subjects given to the poor
\nJembatan Tiga children included reading, writing, simple math,
\nBahasa Indonesia, religion and ethics.<\/p>\n
Despite the seemingly inadequate facility, the students looked
\nvery enthusiastic in class.<\/p>\n
A four year old boy tugged Rossy's pants and asked, \"Ma'am,
\nhow many is eleven?\"<\/p>\n
\"Eleven is the sum of all of your fingers on your hands plus
\none of your toes, honey,\" Rossy replied.<\/p>\n
Parents of the children, who have been living under the
\nflyover for years, said they were very thankful for the presence
\nof the school.<\/p>\n
\"My six year old daughter can now write and count,\" Ipah, 35,
\nsaid proudly.<\/p>\n
Daspiah, 40, whose two daughters, nine and six years of age,
\nattend the emergency school, said the twin teachers also provide
\nthe children with books and pencils plus some food for free.<\/p>\n
\"Mrs. Twins often give the children milk and instant noodles,\"
\nDaspiah added.<\/p>\n
Daspiah, who claimed to be a widow, said she made a living by
\nselling cilok (boiled dough shaped like a meatball) in front of
\nthe classroom. She said she could earn Rp 4,000 a day.<\/p>\n
According to Daspiah, most of the people there make a living
\nas scavengers, construction workers, and preman (thugs).<\/p>\n
Rian recalled that she and her twin sister had to make a
\ncautious approach when they first wanted to build the school.<\/p>\n
\"First we just sat down with the kids and talked. Then we sang
\ntogether. The next day we brought milk, and the next day we
\nbrought pencils, note books, and asked the children to draw. Then
\nwe asked them if they wanted to go to school and they said
\n'yes',\" Rian said.<\/p>\n
Rian, whose late husband passed away 11 years ago was a navy
\nadmiral, and Rossy, the wife of a gynecologist, said that they
\nrun the school with their own money.<\/p>\n
\"There is not much we can do but somebody has to give these
\nchildren education, otherwise in 10 years we'll have a lost
\ngeneration,\" Rian said.<\/p>\n
A local resident, Rusman, 56, who claimed to have been living
\nfor 15 years under the freeway said that even if someone in his
\nneighborhood could afford to put their children into a proper
\nschool, they would face problems with the registration process.<\/p>\n
\"A child is required to show a family card and their parents'
\nID card to register at a proper school and none of the people
\nhere has those documents,\" Rusman said.<\/p>\n
\"We already asked the head of subdistrict to assure our
\nresident status so we can get ID cards and family cards, but he
\nhas never given us a reply,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people from all over the country leave their
\nhometowns to earn money in the capital. Many of them end up
\nliving in slum areas such as under bridges, flyovers and along
\nriverbanks.<\/p>\n
Rian said that she and her twin sister also run eight similar
\nschools on the bank of Sunter river in North Jakarta, near the
\nrailway track at Senen in Central Jakarta, at the Bantar Gebang
\ndump site in Bekasi, and five other locations in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"We leave our house at six in the morning every day and return
\nhome in the afternoon,\" Rian said.<\/p>\n
Rian said that they also conduct sewing courses for women in
\npoor neighborhoods such as at Pulo Gadung in North Jakarta and
\nPasar Rebo in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"It's exhausting, but we'll continue doing this as long as we
\nlive,\" Rian said and went inside the classroom to check on her
\nstudents.(08)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/twins-shine-a-light-under-pluit-flyover-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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