Morbid gift highlights plight of street kids
By Hera Diani
JAKARTA (JP): What kind of gift does a minister usually get? A gold wristwatch? Leather wallet? Jewel-studded pen?
It was none of the above that Minister of Health and Social Welfare Achmad Sujudi received at his office on Monday.
Instead, it was an amputated rotten hand, soaked in a small jar.
The hand belonged to Achmad Sofyan, 13, or Pian as he is known to his friends, a street kid who lives at the Lingkar Selatan shelter in Depok.
The shelter is run by students of the University of Indonesia (UI) and nearby Gunadarma University, the Social and Political Sciences Institute, National University and Pancasila University.
Pian lost his hand in a tragic accident when he carelessly rode atop an electric train and got an enormous electric shock.
Kardinal B.R., a UI polytechnic graduate who works as a volunteer at the shelter, complained of the tardy medical treatment Pian received since his accident because he was a street kid.
"It wasn't until a week later that Pian received surgery. He didn't even get first aid when he got to hospital. That's because he's a street kid," Kardinal told The Jakarta Post.
Pian has been living at the shelter since leaving his grandmother's house a couple years ago. His mother works as a housekeeper in Saudia Arabia.
Recounting the fate that befell the young boy, Kardinal said that Pian was having fun with his friends near the shelter in Margonda, Depok, when he climbed atop a train.
He experienced the electric shock at nearby Pondok Cina train station and his left hand was badly injured.
Pian was then rushed to Bakti Yuda hospital. Kardinal claimed that the hospital did little for the boy.
"At least they could've performed first aid but they didn't do anything," Kardinal said.
Locals then took him to Depok police station. But even there he seemed to attract little attention and wasn't taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta until later in the afternoon.
Kardinal said that Pian again became bogged down in routine hospital administrative requirements.
Kardinal lamented the service given saying that medical staff seemed more interested "about Pian's legal status and were too busy with complicated (administrative) procedures."
Eventually Pian did get some treatment.
"But the hospital refused to operate on him or amputate him. They kept going on about the complicated administrative procedures, the shelter's legal status, who's going to pay."
After some searching by students and volunteers running the shelter, they were able to locate Pian's stepfather who signed the necessary papers and release forms for Pian to be operated on three days later.
Pian is still recovering in hospital.
"So, here we are, presenting Pian's hand," said Kardinal who led a group which included some 50 street children to the ministry of health office on Monday.
"We demand the government provide free schooling, free health services and protection for street children," he remarked while adding that the shelter is also looking for donors to help pay for Pian's surgery which cost some Rp 10 million (US$1,050).
The significance of their visit was not lost on the young street children from Menteng, Central Jakarta; Blok M, South Jakarta, Depok and Bogor.
"We're here for Pian. We want him to get well," Dayat, 11, one of the street kids said.
Unfortunately the minister was not present. They were eventually met by his staff who said that they would inform the minister about the matter.
Before leaving a hospital's patient uniform was burnt.
Shelters
As many as 50,000 children in the capital are categorized as street children based on a 1999 Atmajaya University study. They are all below 16-years-old, toiling as candy sellers, car cleaners, shoe-shiners and beggars to make money.
An estimated 300 street children use shelters sparsely dotted around the city.
But only 100 actually live in the 40 or so shelters available.
Despite article 34 of the 1945 Constitution stating that "poor and destitute children shall be cared for by the state" there is still too much that needs to be done.
The predicament of street kids was also highlighted separately by the executive director of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) Arist Merdeka Sirait who said Pian's case is another example of the government's failure to protect children's interests.
"Health services are a childrens' fundamental right that should be fulfilled by government. Especially since the government ratified the United Nations' Convention on Children's Rights," he told the Post over the telephone.
According to Arist, the now defunct Ministry of Social Affairs used to implement a system whereby street children got health cards for free services in local health clinics.
"But that's only for minor illnesses like flu. And it was usually through a complicated procedure. While for major illnesses or injury there's nothing," he said.
The government, Arist charged, also sees shelters merely as a project funded by international funding institutions.
"When the funds are used up, so do the programs," he said, adding that there are some 14 shelter programs across the country run by the government.
The program has been implemented through picking up street children and taking them to shelters where they receive money to buy food and are allowed to stay at the shelter. However, no counseling, education or training programs are provided.
"The government should use a more humane approach instead of a criminal approach. Street children are only perceived as something that should be banished. While in actual fact, they are victims that should be helped," he added.