I heard about this place
through my fiancé. She told me about a friend of hers who was teaching
Maths to kids orphaned in the Ambon disturbances of a few years back.
Intrigued I nagged her to take me there and so one Saturday we turned
off a main road in Bintaro, West Jakarta and bounced our way down a
narrow, pot holed track through a kampong, past a mosque.
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Contact Details:
|
Nonya
Stien Hitipeuw |
|
Yayasan
Kasih Orang Tua |
|
Jalan
Kampung Pondok Jaya No 49 |
|
Rt 004 RW
01 Desa Pondok Jaya |
|
Bintaro |
|
Jakarta
Selatan |
|
Tel -
+62-21-745-6180 |
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Yayasan Kasih Orang Tua
was established over 100 years ago and, as the name suggests, looks
after aged people who have been deserted by their families. A few months
back Nonya Stien Hitipeuw, the Director of the Yayasan, heard about some
children living rough in the jungles of Ambon, her home island. She went
to investigate and found about 35 of them living rough. Thinking they
would be company for her elderly friends she brought them to Jakarta and
set about trying to give them some of the things children aged between 7
and 14 should be getting. TLC, education, discipline, regular food, that
sort of stuff.
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It seems the children
were as intrigued by me as I was by them, they turned out in force to
welcome me and sang a couple of songs in my honour. To show my gratitude
I declined to sing any in return! I was then introduced to the older
inhabitants who seemed just as delighted to see me as the kids. One dear
old lady tried speaking to me in Dutch. I understand what she was asking
but could only reply in German which she couldn't understand. One old oy
with good English sang me a song, in both Indonesian and English which
was nice of him and again the least I could do was not sing one back.
The children spend time
at a local school where they do the normal things but what would be
great is if people could come along and give them English classes. It
doesn't have to be anything overly structured, just something which
involves them yelling a lot and running around. I was the first white
person they'd ever seen and some were quite nervous at first. I took
some photos of them and showed them on the camera what they looked like
which intrigued them.
If anyone is interested
in giving up some time for these kids then please contact Stien above
directly. She would be more than happy to hear from you and to give you
more information. It would be best if you had an Indonesian speaker with
you because although she speaks some English, finding the place could be
a nightmare.
Coming soon ... a
student's own story about his time in Jakarta. I don't have the nerve to
ask about their memories of home. I'm no trauma specialist but I can
imagine the tears would outweigh the laughs. By visiting them you can
change the balance! |
