The Charity Filling School Bags to Fill Up Classrooms
The Jakarta-based Sahabat Anak foundation is on a mission to champion children’s rights – one school bag at a time. Sahabat Anak has launched the “A Bag for a Friend (Tas Untuk Sahabat)” campaign aimed at distributing at least 1,000 school bags full of school supplies to marginalized children in the remote regions of Indonesia.
The campaign comes at an important time. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Indonesia ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The right to education is enshrined in the CRC: every child has the right to an education, primary education must be free and secondary education must be available for every child. Indonesia has made considerable progress toward achieving universal primary level education. But there is a long way to go.
According to the 2010 national census there were still 3.5 million eligible children not attending primary school and an estimated 2.7 million children were involved some form of child labor.
Marginalized children experience many economic and social barriers to education — and their families’ economic situation is often a major obstacle. Parents of marginalized children frequently have to choose between buying school supplies or food to feed the family. Education may be free and conveniently located, but small costs can create large barriers.
Sahabat Anak believes that such barriers are surmountable and can be addressed by people and communities who care. The foundation has long recognized the role that communities play in upholding children’s rights, and have been providing schooling and tutoring to marginalized children in Jakarta since 1997.
With the A Bag for a Friend campaign, Sahabat Anak is broadening its focus by reaching out to children in remote areas of Indonesia.
Lina Tjindra, a board member of Sahabat Anak, explains the philosophy behind A Bag for a Friend: “This campaign is about more than just giving and sharing. It’s a campaign to drive people to care for needy children in remote islands and neglected areas. Those children are also part of this nation. Those children also have rights which need to be fulfilled.” Sahabat Anak believes small actions can go a long way towards helping children get access to an education. A school bag full of school supplies might be just what is needed to assist a family in sending their child to the nearest school.
It is easy for companies, organizations and members of the public to get involved in the A Bag for a Friend campaign. For each donation of Rp 100,000 ($7.70) a child will receive a backpack filled with two notebooks, two pencils, two pens, two erasers, two sharpeners and a pencil case. A Rp 10 Million donation package is available to companies looking to make a bigger difference as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Donations can be transferred into the following bank account: BCA Kalimalang Jakarta 230-344-4432, Account name: Yay Komunitas Sahabat Anak Jkt. Donors are asked to add a nominal amount of 15 rupiahs into their donation for administration purposes.
Find out more about the work of Sahabat Anak on their website: sahabatanak.org, blog: www.thevoiceofsahabatanak.wordpress.com, or follow them on Twitter, @sahabatanak.
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