Morbid gift highlights plight of street kids

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.