Impoverished kids step out on National Children's Day

JAKARTA (JP): About 500 children from 26 slum areas in the capital celebrated National Children's Day on Friday in a lively parade along city streets, and with a minimum of assistance from adults.

They sang songs as they marched about four kilometers from the Proclamation Monument in Central Jakarta, along Jl. Diponegoro, Jl. Salemba and back to the starting point. Motorists and passersby good-naturedly waited for them to pass.

Musical accompaniment was provided by a performance on an accompanying truck.

Puji, an activist from the event organizer the Friendship of Marginalized Indonesian Children (PAPI), said the children were from slums such as Bantar Gebang in Bekasi, Pulogadung and Jatinegara in East Jakarta, and Depok on Jakarta's outskirts.

Sandyawan Sumardi, a Catholic priest and rights activist, said children were often victims of political violence.

"But these children still managed to organize this parade." He said it reflected a resilience which should help the country lift itself out of the debilitating crisis.

Another activist, Karlina Leksono, also mingled with the children, who were accompanied by adults from their neighborhoods, or activists serving as their mentors.

One of the children, Fitri, read a speech in which she appealed for concern for marginalized minors nationwide, including ones sheltered in refugee centers. She also called for a stop to city officials' mistreatment of street children.

The children will take part in a painting contest at Cafe Tenda Semanggi on Saturday.

In other cities, protests involving street children also marked the day.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, about 200 street children staged a demonstration in front of the auditorium of state radio network RRI.

Waving banners and singing songs on children's rights, the protesters -- coordinated by 12 non-governmental organizations in the city -- demanded that the government show more concern for poor and abandoned children.

Separately, a group of Chinese-Indonesian children distributed school supplies.

In Yogyakarta, a street children's protest was held, with about 200 participants singing and dancing their afternoon away in the local legislative building.

The group demanded that legislators fight for children's rights.

Before entering the building, the children went for a traditional horse-drawn carriage andong ride from Bulaksumur traffic circle. They distributed human rights leaflets along the roads.

In Semarang, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) representative for Indonesia and Malaysia Stephen J. Woodhouse said 10 million children across the country were undernourished.

He said it translated into 5,000 of every 12,500 babies born here would be intellectually deficient and suffer from compromised immune systems.

Many children in Central Java have marasmus kwashiorkor, a form of severe malnutrition with symptoms including distended bellies.

"Up to July this year, we've recorded 1,998 under-fives suffering from marasmus kwashiorkor here, and 40 of them have died," Woodhouse said.

Unicef has established various food supplement programs, relying on financial assistance from countries such as the Netherlands, Australia, the United States and Britain. (edt/har/swa/05/27)