Of Children in The Streets

Several times I’ve observed some children who sing in the bus mixing some Christian and Muslim songs in their play list. I wonder if this is a street smart trick to broaden their target market or somebody teaches those poor kids random songs with them oblivious about the true meaning of the lyrics.

Anyway, I have a mixed feeling to see children wandering around dangerous places at night and hop from bus to bus earning cool cash instead of studying for school. Obviously, earning some fifty thousands a day is far more attractive than reciting names of national heroes or counting obscure algebra formulas. However these children probably do not realize that they are losing their golden period in life.

After watching some documentaries and observing around all these years I can conclude that most of the kids are not doing it for food or books. Instead, they spend their money for glue to sniff, cigarettes, and some kop a feel from cash strapped hookers on the street. It broke our hearts to see two underage girls squatting and smoking under the Casablanca fly-over the other night.

The documentaries also show that almost always there’s an adult behind these kids activities, a Fagin-like character from Oliver Twist, who end up with larger portion of income from these innocent lads. There have been accounts of child kidnapping, and later on exploited as beggars and performers in the street. And I figure it’s not too hard to sway some of the other youngsters from low income family to go and work for them. Such is the lure of green and the unattractiveness of school curriculums

On the other hand, we’ve got our National Education Department incapable of providing cheap and affordable education despite having been allocated around twenty percent of our national budget. Where were all that money spent is a different issue altogether. 1,200,000 students all over Indonesia stopped their education because they could no longer afford it.

The question now is; what can we do as an average Joe? I realize it could be hard to resist reaching for our pocket when some doe eyed little children staring at you asking for some spare change. However, I would suggest there are other and probably more effective ways to help without encouraging them to be on the street.

I guess it’s supply and demand, when fewer people handing them easy money, there won’t be as many Fagins roaming about the place. They’d probably be back hoodwinking adults in no time, but that’s relatively better than abusing naive little children.

Becoming foster parents is one of the better ways to contribute. People can do it directly by adopting child from a poor family, or, indirectly by donating some amount regularly to several noted organizations specialized in helping educations for unfortunate children. Alternatively, we can also look at our surroundings, the janitors and the office helpers. We usually help them when the holiday is near, such as Lebaran or Christmas, but I’m guessing they also need us most when the new school year begins.

So instead of me overburdening my waist with carbohydrates, I reckon once a week reducing two intakes of those tasty J.Co plus Breadtalk and assign them to better causes. Once every semester we’d take a look at their school results and with regular talks to their father we’d know the progress they’ve been doing over the years.

In Indonesia there are several organizations working to bridge the donators and the families in need of education fund. Some are focusing on children in the streets of Jakarta, providing community schools and temporary home stay, such as Dilts Foundation. The others are stressing their effort in poorer and under-developed provinces of the country, like GN-OTA for one, while YCAB mainly deals with adolescents struggling against drugs and narcotics. I have several friends who can find more lucrative jobs anywhere else but dedicate their skills for YCAB promoting drug free culture amongst teenagers.

There are various other groups with similar noble deeds, nevertheless it’s always better to pick one with better track records, accountability in audits, and complete information. Here are some of the recommended organizations out there:

• GN-OTA (Gerakan Nasional Orang Tua Asuh)
  Bimantara Lama Building 5th Floor.
  Jl. Kebon Sirih No. 17-19
  Jakarta 10340
  Phone: +62 21 390 0900
• Dilts Foundation
  Jl. Swadaya I No. 11, Pejaten Timur
  Pasar Minggu
  Jakarta 12510
  Phone: +62 21 780 5134
• YCAB (Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa)
  Jl. Surya Mandala I No. 8D
  Jakarta 11520
  Phone: +62 21 5835 5000
• Annisa Indonesia
  Jl. Cigalontang No. 10
  Singaparna, Tasikmalaya
  Phone: +62 265 546 240
• Sampoerna Foundation
  (Although please note that Sampoerna is a Tobacco Company, which presumably could have ulterior motives, this is entirely up to your judgment call)
  Sampoerna Strategic Square
  Tower A 27th Floor.
  Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav.45
  Jakarta 12930
  Phone: +62 21 577 2340
• Update courtesy of Mbak Katadia:
  Mandalawangi
• Update courtesy of Leyla:
  ACT
  Phone: +62 21 741 7782
  BCA Account: 6760302021