Workshop for poor children at Cibubur

JAKARTA (JP): Some 450 poor children are participating in an annual three-day Camp for the Rags workshop at the Cibubur Camping Site in East Jakarta, that began on Monday.

Unlike their contemporaries from more privileged families, these kids did not arrive at the camp ground wearing boots and heavily-laden backpacks. They wore nothing special for the occasion, just their daily "uniforms" -- shabby clothes.

The children, aged between five and 12 years old, came from many slum areas in the capital and neighboring towns to take part in the program, the ninth since its inception in 1991.

"Here, the kids will learn how to develop solidarity among themselves," Heru Yuli Pambudi, told The Jakarta Post at the camp ground on Tuesday. Heru is a 15-year-old elementary school dropout and also head of the organizing committee.

He said the children, mostly scavengers and street kids, were from slum areas of Cakung, Klender, and Rawa Panjang in East Jakarta, Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta, Bantar Gebang dump site in Bekasi, and other impoverished areas around Greater Jakarta.

In the camp, the children learn will act in a drama, learn to participate in a discussion group, to organize a street parade, to make speeches, to draw, and to compose stories based on their daily activities.

The children from Cakung expressed their thoughts and feelings with drawings and writings, which they displayed in front of their tents.

One of the children drew an individual from the City Public Order Agency wearing a scary robot-like outfit and wrote the word 'kantib' at the bottom of the paper, referring to the popular name of the agency's personnel.

The girl lives in a hut near an authorized dump site at Cakung. The hut, built on state property, was once destroyed by personnel from the agency.

"My mother uses the word kantib to make my little sister do what my mom tells her to do," said 12-year-old Qoriah, while explaining that she makes a living by collecting metals, such as iron and aluminum, from piles at the dump site.

Qoriah's sister, Juleha, 10, said she could make Rp 1,000 (11 US cents) every day from collecting iron, which she gives to her parents.

"People burn the garbage so my friends and I have to wait for the fire to go out before scrapping the iron," said Juleha, explaining that she did the job after returning home from her school at State Cakung Barat Elementary School.

Feri, a 10-year-old from the Bantar Gebang dump site, wrote, "... I know garbage is dirty and smelly, but my mother can buy me clothes and food with it. I want to be an engineer when I grow up."

Bantar Gebang kids

While other kids from other areas decorated their tents with leaves and flowers, Bantar Gebang kids decorated theirs with used plastic cans and other junk.

Tati, 12, looking very proud of her handiwork -- a necklace of junk assembled with a piece of plastic rope -- dared her friends to put it on.

Nobody wanted to, so she chased them between the tents.

"Wear it... Hey wear it... it looks good," Tati yelled.

The camp was organized by poor children grouped under the Akar Workshop for Impoverished Children, which was established by the Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ) in 1994.

Ivonne Therik, 34, head of the children avocation bureau at ISJ said it was during the camping program that the children were usually willing to express their hopes.

"Last night, the children staged a play -- a dialog between a child and his father. In one line of the dialog, the father said 'You should not go to school, you must work!' and the kid replied 'But I can study and work as well, Pa'," Ivonne said.

She said the money to finance the camp out, some Rp 21 million (approximately $2,500), was worth the benefit that the children gained.

"This camp has been held since 1991, and the children who participated in previous camps are now the organizers," Ivonne said.

A 15-year-old, serving as public relations official for the workshop, Komala Sari, said most of the money for the workshop was provided by ISJ, but children also raised funds by singing at cafes and hotels.

"We ngamen (sang) at Borobudur Hotel (in Central Jakarta) and Kalibata Cafe (in East Jakarta) once," Komala said.

Ivonne said the campers also paid Rp 2,500 each to help fund the event.

While the children were enthusiastically following the program, some street vendors looked bored waiting for the children to buy their snacks and drinks.

One vendor said she did not know that the participants were poor children who might not be able to afford to buy snacks.

After the Post told her that, the woman said she was thinking of moving to another area in the camp ground. (08)