Thursday, November 6, 2008 -

One of our volunteers, Grace Hermawan (32), Degree in Social Science from Australia, is developing a new plan for a Drop-in Centre in Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia. This house will help some 1000 street children and their families. The staff at the Drop-in Centre will also support and facilitate various types of education. We asked Grace to explain to you what this project is all about.

Yayasan Peduli Anak is proposing to expand its street children’s shelter to include a Drop-in Centre, to address the needs of children living and/or working on the streets but living at home. The need for a Drop-in Centre to meet the needs of street children and families, particularly relating to the education, was established through research conducted, by the Foundation, in 2006 which indicated that of the children interviewed who worked on the streets the majority of them lived at home. In addition 94% of these children did not attend school, and those that did were at a high risk of dropping out due financial difficulties.

These children fall through the gaps in service as they are not eligible for existing shelter provisions because they live at home. Regardless, these children spend the majority of their lives on the street, working to support themselves and/or supplement their families’ income and are vulnerable to abuse, neglect, exploitation and missed opportunity.

The primary purpose of the Drop-in Centre will be to provide a safe environment for children and young people, living and/or working on the streets, to develop caring relationships with adult mentors, participate in activities that stimulate creativity and increase self-esteem and receive support in issues affecting their lives particularly relating to their education and living situation.

The Drop-in Centre will also have the capacity to ensure the protection of street children by working with their families in reintegrating them back into school and/or a unit of care. The project recognizes the family care unit as key to enabling the child a brighter future and will therefore work closely with them in identifying and addressing economic difficulties so to alleviate the child’s need to work on the street and therefore be able to return to school.

The Drop-in Centre will be a place for children and young people to visit freely, they will be able to decide on their level of participation in activities and will be encouraged to have input into the physical and social environment of the centre. The Drop-in Centre will be a space created by young people for young people.

We are currently in the process of writing a funding proposal for the Drop-in Centre and collaborating with local government and non-government organizations in exploring partnership opportunities. We are also currently meeting with children on the street and getting their input and ideas into the development and implementation of activities at the Centre.

In addition to seeking interest from potential donors we have already begun liaising with a number of philanthropic organizations who have expressed interest in providing financial support to the project. These organizations are excited about the expansion of Yayasan Peduli Anak into an area where the needs of the child will be identified and addressed in partnership with families, the educational department as well as other non-government and government organizations.

In order to make a real impact on the lives and education of street children the program is requesting funds from donors for a period of 3 years. After this period a full evaluation of the program will be conducted and depending on its impact Yayasan Peduli Anak will assess its capacity for additional funding and perhaps the potential for a similar initiative in another area dependent on need.

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