KDM - helping Indonesia's street children

On Saturday, Chris and I went with 4 other teachers and 4 of Chris' Global Perspectives' students to visit KDM. KDM is a ministry that has been working to get children off the streets of Indonesia for 40 years. They have a program consisting of several different steps, starting with getting them off the street, and hopefully ending with job internships. We learned a lot, and wish we would have known about it sooner! We hope to get involved again, and maybe take some groups of students out during our missions and service week next year. 

These little guys were our tour guides around the complex

nifty system: you do your business, and then pedal until it's gone. . .

dorm room

some nice porcelain planters

Kindy classroom

the boys showing Jeremy (chris's student) some artwork

happiness :)

future service project?

kids playing a form of  jump rope

little cutie

They had stations set up where the kids would teach us about the recycling projects they work on.

Chris and I got a chance to play some futsal with them. That was a sweaty decision.

After lunch, they treated us to an angklung performance. The angklung is a traditional Javanese instrument made of bamboo which is shaken to produce sound.

Then they did a choreographed dance for us. 

And then gave us a chance to play the angklungs after a quick lesson from the kids.

The kids were much better than us :)

It was such a great day! I found myself forgetting that these kids had been taken straight from the streets of Jakarta, and had no family. . . because they were such great hosts, well behaved, and all around sweet kids. There's another site that houses the kids that have more recently been saved off the streets. They have to go through a program to help them adapt before coming to this place where they start school and learning specific skills. . . computers, art, cooking, etc. 

It was an encouraging day, but still saddening to think about the reality that faces so many kids who are still out there. Here's a small section from KDM's website that explains the issue:

Street Children

Children choose the streets as a place to make money and get attention, but they have no direction, goals or hopes.

They rely on natural instinct and desire, lack discipline and have no consideration for risk or danger. This makes them particularly vulnerable to daily abuse, whether it is physical, psychological or even sexual.

Over time street children become traumatized and and develop behavioral problems, such as hyperactivity and lack of concentration.

But there is also the draw of money, children can earn Rp 30,000 – 70,000 a day on the street, or even more. This pays for bad habits such as smoking, glue sniffing or even drugs.

KDM can offer these children a future away from all this, and it begins with meeting one of KDM’s rescue teams.

We'll let you know of any further interaction we have with this program! Hopefully we'll have lots of opportunities next year!