The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Tue, May 21 2013
Novita sat quietly in the front row of hundreds of children gathered under the elevated toll road in Jelambar, Grogol, West Jakarta, on Monday.
The 9-year-old girl fixed her gaze on Seto Mulyadi, who was performing a magic show for the children to commemorate National Awakening Day, which falls on May 20.
“Voila!” said the advisory board member of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA), as he pulled a plastic flower out of the hat after he threw a ball of paper inside first.
“Yes, my children, we should always remember to throw the garbage in the bin,” he said.
The event was organized by a non-profit foundation specializing the education of street children, Yayasan Nanda Dian Nusantara, chaired by Roostien Ilyas.
It started with flag-hoisting ceremony as the children sang the national anthem and was followed by a string of performances, including karate and dance shows by the children.
“The event was held to familiarize the children with their civil rights and to uphold their nationalism. We want them to be aware that they are an important part of the nation,” Roostien said.
She said that street children had been marginalized by both the government and society and had limited access to education and healthcare.
“More than 90 percent of 7,000 street children in the city don’t even have birth certificates,” she added.
She said that street children also could be found around Pasar Induk Kramat Jati wholesale market in East Jakarta, a scavengers’ settlement in Ciputat, South Jakarta, and behind the Sang Timur school in Slipi, West Jakarta.
Indra Hastono, 36, the coordinator for education programs with the foundation, said that giving scholarships or providing free tuition was not the answer to the problem.
“We cannot only give them money and think that our job is done. It will not help changing their point of view on the importance of education,” said the former thug who joined the foundation in 1998.
He said that with the right educational approach, street children could achieve more.
Roostien said that the government has an obligation to provide the children with legal documents so that they can enjoy a formal education, as they have been rejected at schools because they don’t have birth certificates.
“We just want to call upon the city administration to pay concern to this matter and find a solution to this condition. There are many homeless children living the city and they deserve better future,” she said.
“I want to be a doctor,” Novita whispered to her mother, Isah, 38, when asked what she wanted to be in the future.
The second child of the scavenger family said that her baby sister often fell sick.
“I want to help curing her disease so that mom doesn’t have to spend a lot for medicine,” said the third-grader.
di 21 mei 2013 - 20:35