Recycled paper salvages street children's hopes

Recycled paper salvages street children's hopes

By Tjahjono Ep and A. Wisnuhardana

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Street children's life is tough indeed. They
must struggle to survive every single day. Very often, they have
to play cat and mouse with the police who view them as criminals.

It was this sort of life that Dodo, 18, lived for four years
until he found employment. Now Dodo and several other ex-street
kids do not have to rely on people on the street to survive.

Under the guidance of Harso, 29, and Sandy Sanjaya, 27, two
Gadjah Mada University students, the children started a business
in 1997. They recycle paper and turn it into greeting cards, note
pads, photograph and painting frames and souvenirs.

Harso and Sandy were inspired by a 1997 exhibition of recycled
paper products organized by Syantikara, a Catholic dormitory for
female students in Yogyakarta. The children underwent intensive
training at Street Children University in Ploso village, Sleman,
just north of Yogyakarta.

Harso said the efforts to help street children actually began
in 1992, when eight of them were recruited to make and sell ice
cream. The project was not successful. They were then trained in
a home industry, making bronze bracelets and leather goods.
Again, the venture ended in failure.

Harso said the failures were understandable because the
children had no entrepreneurial spirit and marketing skills.

"Doing business often bored them. They found it hard to resist
the temptation of going back to the street and becoming street
singers and so forth. They liked it better because working on the
streets does not require skill and hard work," he said.

This bitter fact led him to the conclusion that continuity of
production and good marketing strategy was vital. The children
had to be convinced that doing business was better than living on
the street.

So Harso and Sandy decided to rent a house in Pakem village,
about 18 kilometers north of Yogyakarta to base their activity.

The children were trained how to produce high quality goods.
They were taught discipline, waking up at 8 a.m. to start work at
10 a.m. Initially, this was something extremely hard to do
because the children were used to hitting the street late in the
morning.

Then the working conditions were adjusted to the needs of
street children: working to blaring music with everybody allowed
to smoke when they liked.

"Otherwise, no one was willing to work," recalled Sandy, a
student of geophysics.

Harso and Sandy explored ways to make the products
competitive. They learned about similar products from Bandung and
Jakarta.

"Products from Bandung are better designed, but in terms of
uniqueness, ours are better," Sandy said.

The business is growing. To cope with the rising demand they
established a venture called Semesta Recycling.

The equipment they use for recycling used paper consists of
screens, guillotines and a pulp machine.

Most of the used paper is obtained free of charge from
campuses and individuals. About 30 percent of the used paper is
bought from other street children.

Using appropriate technology, the production process is
relatively simple. Two kilograms of scrap paper is soaked in
water, without chemical substances, for a day. Then the paper is
turned into pulp using a blender (the one usually used to make
fruit juice). The pulp is next screened. To obtain the desired
paper sheets, foam is spread on the screen containing the pulp.
The paper sheets on the foam are then taken off and dried.

Formerly, eight people -- seven street children and one local
resident -- worked at the "production house" as they like to call
the venture. Now there are only five, after three quit to start
their own paper recycling business or work for another company.

"Our target is to provide employment for all street children,"
said Harso. "They have to be provided with skills so that they
can be productive."

Each of the five people now working with Semesta Recycling
earns between Rp 6,000 and Rp 7,000 per day. Their products cost
between Rp 800 and Rp 30,000.

"Shops that sell our products rake in more profits than we
do," said Sandy. "An upscale hotel in Yogyakarta gains a profit
of up to Rp 3,500 a piece, while Semesta Recycling only makes
between Rp 500 and Rp 1,000."

Sandy said Semesta Recycling is yet to improve the design
component to be more competitive.

Street children at the venture said they hoped people buy
their products because of the quality of the goods, rather than
because people feel sorry for them.

"We don't need empathy," said an employee, Dewo. "Look at the
quality of our products."

Semesta Recycling products have reached other cities including
Bandung, Jakarta and Semarang. Some transactions occur at its e-
mail address -- sandy_sj@hotmail.com.

"We are busy finding a place in town where we can display our
products so that they are known to a wider public," Harso said.

Semesta Recycling has boosted its production volume and took
part in a Singapore expo earlier this year.

"Increasing (our volume) and exporting products overseas will
need a lot of capital, but we will do it," Sandy said.

In the rented humble house that also serves as their workshop,
the street children are reorganizing their life. Their efforts
are showing signs of success.