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.