Street kids exchange tales of woe at camp
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)