Learning House helps residents out of economic problems

Learning House helps residents out of economic problems

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tucked away in a narrow alley behind the Proclamation Monument
park in Pegangsaan, Central Jakarta, stands a freshly painted
house with a sign out front that reads: "Learning House of the
Proclamation Community."

The cheerful-looking house, with green walls and a red door,
was officially opened by the World Conscience Foundation and GE
Consumer Finance on Saturday.

At the house, residents can learn how to grow fruit in pots,
cultivate medicinal plants, utilize garbage for compost and even
breed worms.

There will also be lessons on silk-screening and creating
oshibana (dry flower arrangements), as well as a regular aerobics
class for women.

"There has to be an economic dimension in the approach to
community development," said Imam Prasodjo, the chairperson of
the World Conscience Foundation. "People here have huge economic
problems."

The Learning House will serve as a community center for some
1,600 poor families, who mostly survive by working as low-paid
laborers, drivers or by running small kiosks. The area around the
center also suffers from the blight of drug dealing.

It is hoped that the house will teach residents new ways to
earn money.

For example, a packet of 80 worms can be sold for Rp 5,000 (54
US cents), and a handmade card adorned with oshibana can be sold
for up to Rp 10,000.

The foundation began teaching oshibana to women in the area
two years ago. Rosnetty Danil, the head of the group, said they
have exported cards to Canada, Australia, Germany and the
Netherlands.

"We are now working on an order of 700 cards from the United
States," she said proudly. The wild flowers used for the cards,
she said, grow on the side of the street and in gutters.

Of the 40 housewives who originally began learning the craft
in a six-month course over two years ago, only six remain.
However, inspired by the success of this group, many more women
have enrolled in the oshibana course now being taught at the
Learning House.

Children can read books in the house's modest library. At
least 220 students, from elementary school to high school, will
be able to take extra lessons in English, mathematics and
computer science at the community center, as well as music and
dance lessons.

The Learning House will be funded by GE Consumer Finance for
the next two years. "We will review the program every six
months," said Ani Rahardjo, manager of corporate citizenship Asia
for the company.

Imam welcomed the assistance from the business community.
"Many people (in the local community) have the initiative, but
they need the support of other parties."

The government, according to Imam, does not need to provide
funds, but should encourage the private sector to set up similar
programs throughout the country. "This (empowerment) is not only
the task of the government."

Aside from funds, employees organized in GE Elfun, GE Consumer
Finance's volunteer club, will help teach children in the area on
Saturdays and Sundays. Volunteers, mostly university students,
will work with the children on weekdays.