Pansophia Indonesia Foundation Brings Hope of a Better Future to Indonesian Kids
At the age of 5, Budi should be in preschool. But he spends his days with his older siblings and their friends, who often cut class to beg and busk on the streets near their slum neighborhood in Tambora, West Jakarta.
With the money they make, they often buy cigarettes and alcohol, and even give it to Budi, laughing as he coughs after taking a drag.
“And the words that come out from their little mouths often make an adult blush,” says Ellen Yewunokas, the principal of Cahaya Permata Indonesia, a preschool built by the Pansophia Indonesia Foundation in Tambora. “Without any positive intervention, it takes no imagination to see that Budi might end up like his siblings or even worse in the not-so-distant future.”
Ellen is one of 40 teachers employed by the foundation to educate children between the ages of 2 and 5 years from underprivileged backgrounds.
“We seek to transform the kids’ future through education,” she says.
Ellen, 26, is in charge of 120 kids at the Tambora school, as well as 40 other children at another preschool in Jatinegara, East Jakarta. The foundation has seven preschools in the Greater Jakarta and in Manado, North Sulawesi.
“Our foundation focuses on kids between 2 and 5 years old because this is considered the golden age in the kids’ lives,” Ellen says. “During this period, the kids’ brain development is at its most rapid and lays the foundation for their intelligence and character.”
The preschools offer one-hour classes for children between the ages of 2 and 3, and two-hour lessons for the older kids.
“The lessons are mainly aimed to build a strong, positive character within the kids,” Ellen says. “We teach them to respect others, as well as simple math and language skills.”
But for children like Budi, surrounded by bad influences and largely neglected by an absentee father and a mother who works all day and has three other children to look after, an hour a day in class is not enough to counter the negativity.
“That’s why we always invite the parents to a PTA meeting once a month, so that we can communicate with them what we’re teaching their kids and how they can help to instill the same good values at home,” Ellen says. “But the funny thing is that sometimes it’s the kids themselves who remind the parents if they use bad language at home.”
The school charges a token fee of Rp 15,000 ($1.10) per month per child, but Ellen says it can be waived for parents who cannot afford to pay.
It also provides healthy meals and milk for the students, and Ellen says the kids usually change for the better after a year there.
“They usually have better manners and use much better language,” she says. “I’m so happy to be able to make a difference in their lives.”
All wisdom
The Pansophia Indonesia Foundation was set up by Jakarta residents Regina Magda Hutagalung, Millie Stephanie and Mayke Sumarauw in 2009.
“Pansophia is Greek for ‘all wisdom,’” says Henky Prasetyo, the foundation’s head of education. “Our goal is to educate young kids so that they will have the wisdom to lead better lives in the future.”
Today, the foundation educates more than 1,400 kids from underprivileged families in Jakarta and Manado.
Besides its preschools in the two cities, the foundation also works closely with the Tunggadewi Foundation at the latter’s learning centers in Dadap, Tangerang, and Marunda, North Jakarta.
The Tunggadewi Foundation, which focuses on education and disaster relief, was founded by Annisa Pohan, the daughter-in-law of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in Jakarta in early 2009.
“We offer libraries and computers at these learning centers, so that kids can come and learn in their spare time, instead of roaming the streets and getting exposed to dangers,” Henky says.
The Pansophia Indonesia foundation plans to expand its services to other parts of Indonesia soon.
“We plan to open preschools in slum areas in Bedugul [in Bali] and Bangka-Belitung province in December this year,” Henky says.
To help achieve its goals, the foundation welcomes contributions from the public. Starting from Rp 300,000 a month, donors can “adopt” or support a child’s education through the foundation.
“We will send updates of the child that donors have adopted via e-mail each month,” Henky says.
The foundation is also looking for volunteer teachers and mentors as it takes in more students.
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For more information on how to get involved, visit pansophiaindonesia.org.