Street children live hard life with laughter, jokes

By Hera Diani

JAKARTA (JP): If you are riding on a bus, you might encounter young street poets. They can recite romantic poetry or make you laugh with funny pantun (traditional poetry).

One such street poet is Januari, 21. He said he had a collection of over 100 pantun and poetry of his own composition.

Check out one of them: Jangan suka makan kuaci/Kuaci itu makanan kampret/Jangan suka godain banci/Banci itu teteknya karet.

Free translation: Never try to eat watermelon seeds as only bats eat them/Do not try to seduce transvestites as their breasts are made of rubber.

"I have another one," Januari said, and then recited one about his willingness to die as long as he can have a Batak (an ethnic group from Tapanuli, North Sumatra) girl.

"Because Batak girls are pretty," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday at the Setia Kawan shelter for street children in Pademangan, North Jakarta.

The shelter has been Januari's home for the past several months. He is an orphan, and has been living on the streets and earning money as a street singer/poet since he left elementary school.

He said he had taken driving lessons and hoped to get a job as a taxi driver soon.

But at 21, Januari is neither a child nor a teenager.

"Eighteen is the maximum age for street children who are allowed to stay here. But we have been tolerating people up to 21 years of age," said Ari Widianto, one of eight social workers at the shelter.

He said since the shelter was opened last October, there had been around 160 street children who had used the facility. But presently only 15 to 20 children actually live in the small house.

"Those who live here are homeless, orphans or whose parents live in other cities or provinces," Ari said.

The shelter is the third established by the Sekar Foundation, which was once run by the now defunct City Social Affairs office. The other two shelters are located in Tanjung Priok, also in North Jakarta.

It is among 26 shelters in the city which are funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"We have several programs here, depending on the children," Ari said.

Street children who have parents and go to school are given scholarships worth Rp 35,000 per child a month, and this is limited to 80 children.

"The homeless or orphans can go to school too, but most of them don't want to. So, we pay for their vocational training like driving and repairing cars or air conditioners," Ari said, saying that the number that can be afforded such training is limited to 40 children.

ADB gives the city's shelters some Rp 313 million annually (US$28,454), which is given every three months.

"The problem is the fund often arrives late. So we have to use our own money first. It's hard now because we have to pay for their tuition and state final exam fee, even though officially there is no fee for the exams. However, some schools still charge a fee," Ari said.

Ari said it was most difficult to teach street children discipline or even to shower.

"Sometimes we have to pour water over them to make them take a shower. But later, they start to realize it," Ari said.

Another problem is teaching them the dangers of consuming alcohol, he added.

"They often came home drunk and play with sharp weapons. We sometimes hand them over to the police, who will beat them up so that they will learn a lesson," Ari said.

There are an estimated 50,000 children in the capital who are categorized as street children, based on a study by Atmajaya University in 1999.

They are all below 16 years, and earning money as candy vendors, street singers, car cleaners, shoe shiners and beggars.

Some 300 street children use the shelters in the city, but only about 100 of them actually live in the 40 or so shelters available.

You will notice that the children at the Setia Kawan shelter, who are mostly about 13 to 15 years old, look thin and smaller than their age. However, they talk and joke like adults, and even smoke kretek (clove) cigarettes.

But when one of them played a Sherina (child singer) tape, everyone sang and danced around the living room, which had blue walls and blue carpeting.

As the clock struck 3:30 p.m., one of them shouted, "Dora Emon!" and turned on the television to watch the popular Japanese animation.

All of them then sat around to watch the show, without even blinking their eyes and with their mouths slightly open. Some children were still puffing on their cigarettes.

"It's very funny," Nur, 13, commented.

Guess, they are children after all.