Street kids get break on mountain outing
Street kids get break on mountain outing
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In the chill mountain air, Zainal, 13, discussed strategy with 14
friends, all hoping to win an agility game. They formed a circle
and gave a victory shout. Then Zainal ran as an opponent chased
him. He laughed out loud although he was caught and his team
lost, because another game was just beginning.
Zainal was "relaxing" earlier this week in Cibodas, West Java,
some 90 kilometers from the capital, together with about 300
other street children aged eight to 16 from Jakarta.
They were on a three-day trip organized by the Bina Anak
Pertiwi Foundation and supported by the Ministry of National
Education and PT Astra Otoparts Tbk.
The foundation is a center and a place of refuge for street
and abandoned children.
"I'm very happy to be a part of this trip again. I can make
new friends and forget work for a while," Zainal said, fixing his
glasses.
This is his third foundation-organized trip.
"I love it and that's why I always say yes if the foundation
asks me. It would be better though if it wasn't held during
Ramadhan. We'd have more times to eat then," he told The Jakarta
Post giggling.
Zainal is a street musician who works with two of his friends
aboard the Bogor-Kota trains from after school until dusk.
His father is an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver and his mother
takes odd sewing jobs.
"I want to be a singer one day. I want to meet Joshua and
Sherina," said the boy, referring to child stars. He also writes
songs and is a fan of folk singer Iwan Fals and pop icon Chrisye.
The foundation began holding this annual free-of-charge trip
in 1999.
"The idea of this trip is that these kids barely have time to
relax, let alone to express themselves. That's why we decided to
do something outdoors for them," said Ahmad Zayyadi, head of the
foundation.
Some of the children taking part in the trip this year are
beggars, vendors and street musicians. Some go to regular schools
while many attend NGO-sponsored "open-air schools".
The children are split into groups and watched over by
mentors, who are themselves former street children who now have
jobs or are attending college on scholarship.
"This year's theme is how to provide them with a figure to
emulate. That's why we're using the figure of the Prophet
Muhammad because he's a central character in Islam," Ahmad said.
The trip was designed with a number of games, punctuated by
discussions about the purpose of the games.
"Basically, the games are expected to teach them about
freedom, being supportive and decision making," Ahmad said.
He acknowledged though that three days was not long enough to
instill all these positive messages to the children.
"They just want to have fun and be away from their stressful
lives on the streets.
"The trip itself is just an introduction to other things in
life besides street life. The rest depends on the follow-up
activities of their sponsor foundations," Ahmad said.
He said that what street children needed was attention and
acknowledgement of their existence.
"We want to give them attention and show them that they
deserve a break just like everybody else," he said.