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.