Open house for street children

Open house for street children

SEMARANG (Antara): "My father is dead. My mother left for Malaysia to work when I was asleep. I waited for her return, but in vain. Finally, I went to Jakarta with some friends," said 12- year-old Wawan quietly, telling some of his life experiences while fiddling with some paper.

Two months ago, Wawan left his hometown of Semarang, Central Java for Jakarta. He has since been hawking tissue paper and shining shoes at the Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta.

For a few days now, Wawan has been visiting an "open house" which provides a resting place for street children owned by the Social Ministry in the Kelapa Gading area in North Jakarta.

"It is good to sleep there. There is nobody to disturb you like at the terminal," said Wawan.

Asep, 17, the oldest inhabitant of the open house, which was established in April 1997, has the same impression.

This young man from Tasikmalaya, West Java started working as a windshield cleaner at the Pulogadung bus terminal after his parents divorced.

"In fact, I have two fathers and three mothers," said Asep who wants to become a driver.

Asep, who used to live at the terminal, now likes to stay at the open house which is close to his work place.

He works at the terminal from morning until noon. After a short rest at the house, he usually returns to work until 5 p.m.

The house apparently gives these street children a feeling of safety. At the very least, it provides some comfort and rest after work.

The open house is part of a pilot project to assist street children, and is a cooperative effort between the Social Ministry and a United Nations development program.

In Jakarta, the cooperation has resulted in two open houses, the Setia Kawan I in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta and the Setia Kawan II in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

More open houses have been erected outside of Jakarta in Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and Medan.

The United Nations has provided US$243,000 to fund the pilot project until 2000, while the Indonesian government has allocated Rp 300 million.

"Later on the Indonesian government will continue the project," said Emiliana Andriani, assistant to the street children project.

Socialize

The open houses are meant to help street children socialize like other children of their age.

"We teach them to take baths regularly, to play together and to participate in kampung activities," said leader of the Setia Kawan II open house, Tata Sudrajat.

The Setia Kawan II open house employs, apart from Tata Sudrajat, four social workers, one administration employee and one group leader.

The 40 square meter house consists of a living room, a bathroom, three bedrooms and one prayer room.

"The street children are free to leave and to enter the house," said Tata. "They can sleep, take a bath and watch TV, but they are not given food in order to prevent them being lazy to work."

The main objectives of the open house, according to Tatat, are to return children to their parents if possible, to have them attend school and to change their work into something more permanent.

"For this purpose we teach them a few general subjects. They also get the opportunity to follow courses, and, if needed, they can get some capital," he said.

Currently officials estimate there are 50,000 street children in big cities across the country who are subject to influences such as smoking, hard liquor, drugs, sex, gambling and fights.

The goal of the open houses is for them to serve as a transition to quit street life. Regardless of such an ambitious sounding goal, at least at these houses the children have a chance to sample some of the atmosphere of home.