Street kids exchange tales of woe at camp

JAKARTA (JP): Wounds from scavenging and abuse by officials were among stories revealed on the second day of a jamboree for urban poor children.

The 200 participants at the three-day camp in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta include street children, scavengers, and children living under the threat of floods or eviction.

Children from the city's garbage disposal site in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, said Saturday that nails, open cans and other sharp objects are daily hazards with which they have to contend.

Their drawings revealed mounds of garbage surrounded by both small and larger figures armed with tools and baskets on top of the trash, on trucks and near cranes.

"Even if you wear sandals or shoes the nails pierce right through," said Hesty. Her friend revealed a long gash under his foot.

"If there is any wind there is a very strong smell which makes us sick," she said, while her friends climbed the low trees near their tents.

The 17 scavengers, including a few of their younger siblings, were the luckier ones chosen for the camp from around 40 youngsters working in Bantar Gebang.

The rest did not get permission to attend from their parents, who feared both for their children's safety and the loss of family income.

Organizers from the Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ), a non- governmental organization dedicated to urban issues, said the Bantar Gebang children are the most shy group compared to other working children they have contact with.

"Unlike street children, scavengers just live and work around the site with little outside contact," said Jos, an ISJ volunteer.

Work-related risks also include breathing difficulties and other ailments, Anton Prajasto, the chairman of the organizing committee said.

"They have to race with the garbage disposal vehicles and cranes. Once one of them got hurt as the driver didn't see him," he said.

Although shy, like the other children the scavengers draw spiritedly on banners and large sheets of paper.

Meanwhile other children talked more freely in the noisy morning sessions. Street singers from the Kampung Rambutan inter- city bus terminal in East Jakarta said officials treat them "like animals," driving them away and beating them.

"We ask that we can work without being disturbed, because we want to earn money decently rather than stealing," a singer, Agus, said.

The children also exchanged tips on how to survive.

Bardi, who said he and his neighbors in Cakung, East Jakarta often face forced evictions, said working children and others like himself must always use their heads to survive, particularly when confronted by officials.

"Don't use your muscles," he said. "We must also have solidarity," he added.

Bardi had earlier disclosed that his neighbors had felt fooled by a Non-Governmental Organization which had claimed to help them fight an eviction.

"You should have checked their credentials," another child, Henny, said. She also suggested seeking help from councilors or legislators.

The display at the camp site included handicrafts made mostly by Jatinegara vendors.

Chizuyo Inoue, a Japanese nun who has worked with the children for the last five years, said the young workers have yet to show constant interest in the neatly made notepads and other crafts.

"They are real street children," she said, pointing to their impatience to earn money. The handicraft-making also includes practice in reading and writing through written instructions and writing up sales reports, she said.

"They can count cleverly, but even 10-year-olds write numbers back to front," the nun said. (anr)