A team of workers from Indonesian charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi partner with SEEDs members to run a community centre in one of the most densely populated areas of Jakarta. Regular programs include various educational and recreational activities for children, a savings group for people living informally by the railway, and a medical advice service.

Recently the team held a highly successful community day, drawing in a wider group of people than the regular programs currently reach. There was a cooking competition for the men, watched by a whole crowd enthusiastically waiting for the judges to give their verdict on which ‘nasi goreng’ (fried rice) was the best. There was both a quiz and a colouring competition for the children, an information-sharing session for pregnant women, and a community rubbish pick-up specifically involving the children who attend the centre’s programs.

One team member made a wonderful display showcasing the charities’ spheres of activity, and overall aims. An additional highlight was the involvement of a group of new volunteers who have shown interest in the charity over the last few months. The team has put some thought into how to develop a good volunteer program, and some initial training to a specific group has already been given. Some of these volunteers will now become regular contributors to the programs running in the community centre.

This community day reflected SEEDS’ desire to work for change and to inspire others to work for change in the poor communities where we work across South East Asia. An overview of SEEDS’ work with Yayasan Pendar Pagi in Jakarta is available at https://seedssg.com/work/community-dev/urban-poor/

SEEDs partner charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi (YPP) works to support street children in Pekanbaru, Indonesia. One of these children is Robin. He is 10 years old and comes from a family of 12 children. His mother has been married twice but both husbands have left her and the children so they moved to Pekanbaru in 2013 from the neighbouring province of West Sumatra to find work. Even in the city Robin’s mother has found it impossible to fully provide for all her children alone. This desperate situation forced the children onto the streets to beg.

Yayasan Pendar Pagi provides basic lessons to street children in Pekanbaru twice a week, and Robin started to join these lessons shortly after arriving in 2013. He was able to learn reading, writing and counting. As one of the YPP social workers supported the family they were able to make the commitment for Robin to attend school. Our social worker met with one of the local schools to help get Robin enrolled, and the principal agreed to accept him on trial in July 2015. Unfortunately Robin struggled with his behaviour and became angry very easily, sometimes hitting other children when bothered by them. The Principal called the social worker and gave Robin a warning that he could be expelled from the school. With support however the situation improved considerably, and Robin worked hard at school. He recently did really well in his end of semester exams, obtaining 100% for counting and memorising of the alphabet.

Projects like these working personally at the grass roots with some of the poorest children, supporting them within their family context over a long period can make a huge difference in their educational outcomes, leading to possibilities of finding secure work when they graduate from school, and whole families moving out of poverty. SEEDs partnership with this local charity aims to help individual families experience these changes for themselves.