Street children need more than shelter
Street children need more than shelter
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
"I want to be a bus conductor and open my own five-and-dime store
with my savings," said Edi, 13, who spends most of his day
busking from bus to bus trying to collect change from passengers.
Edi says he can collect almost Rp 100,000 (US$11.76) a day.
After four years of saving up, he feels certain he can open a
shop one day. But even if he can make enough money by busking, he
has an ambition to make a better life for himself.
His friends express similar hopes -- all street children in
Rawa Sari, East Jakarta.
"I want to be a teacher, but my dad wants me to be a
policewoman," said Titi Rahayu, 11, who usually spends her
mornings and afternoons busking on buses.
The other boys and girls in the room teased each other as they
described their goals. "Of course I can be a teacher, because I
go to school," she retorted, annoyed.
Five street children -- Saniah, 13, Yuliana, 15, Masiri, 11,
Titi Rahayu, 11, Iwan, 15 and Edi, 13 -- had gathered on Thursday
morning at the house of Azwina Aziz Miraza, head of the Yayasan
Cahaya Hati Bangsa (YCHB), to learn something new.
"Today, they will learn basic budgeting and how to use money,
so they can make a profit," said Azwina.
The YCHB is a foundation that concentrates its activities on
empowering street children and achieves its aim by providing
children with practical skills, such as baking and traditional
tie-dyeing (jumputan).
Azwina hopes the skills training program can boost the
children's self-esteem so people will not look down on them.
As the Idul Fitri holiday drew near, the YCHB taught the
children how to make cookies, so "They can learn to stand on
their own, making cookies and then selling them".
Azwina admitted that the children still needed more practice
to master the baking of cookies. "That's why we haven't sold the
cookies, because they didn't really make them, I did."
"I don't want to capitalize on their poverty," said Azwina,
who is adamant about not labeling the cookies "Made by Street
Children", because this would be tantamount to exploiting them.
She emphasized that the main idea of the program was to show
them a better way of life. "We give them skills, assist them
during the learning process until they understand."
However, the activities arranged for the street children are
still sporadic, because they have no regular place to meet and
learn.
The street children need an activity center where they can
learn to improve their creativity, a place with books that will
open their minds and sharpen their insights.
The foundation, together with the Indonesian Journalists
Association, is developing a plan to build Taman Peduli Bangsa
(Care About the Nation Park) in five areas of Jakarta.
The parks will have a 60-square-meter library, a herbal
medicine park, a playground and a petting zoo.
"The government has approved the allocation of funds for the
parks, which should be disbursed next year. So, the children have
to wait before they have a place of their own and learn to become
whatever they want to be," Azwina said.