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n an attempt to keep children off the streets and save them from possible exploitation and trafficking, Sahabat Anak, an NGO dedicated to children’s issues, is working to provide various forms of informal education.

“Sahabat Anak aims to keep the children from returning to the streets,” Dewi Tri Kusumah, who teaches painting in Sahabat Anak Manggarai, said on the sideline of an event showcasing the children’s artworks on Saturday held in Central Jakarta.

Besides Manggarai in South Jakarta, Sahabat Anak also provides free informal education for marginalized children in other parts of the capital, such as Gambir and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, Grogol and Bojong Indah in West Jakarta as well as Cijantung and West Cakung in East Jakarta.

“We also try to get dropouts to return to schools,” Dewi said, adding that the organization also provides scholarships.

In 2015, Sahabat Anak Manggarai started non-academic classes, giving poor children access to the arts and sports.

Around 180 children currently attend Sahabat Anak Manggarai classes every week, according to the head of Sahabat Anak Manggarai, Vania Obertin.

She went on to say that most are of elementary school age or younger. The number of active students shrinks drastically when they reach the age when they are supposed to start high school. Many might feel like they are too mature to follow such classes, Vania said.

“Actually, we opened the art classes to attract older children. With these arts classes, they can engage in more positive activities,” she added.

Brawls are common in this part of the city, which is why the volunteers occasionally insert moral messages in their classes to warn the children against taking part in street fights and putting their lives at risk.

Sahabat Anak Manggarai, run by about 30 active volunteers who work there mostly as teachers, holds the classes in two locations in the area. “The children mostly walk to attend our classes,” Vania said.

Every Sunday, the children can attend academic tutoring or classes in the arts, such as painting, dance, handicraft and music.

“[The classes] aim to give the children opportunities and the freedom to create and develop themselves through creating artworks and cultural performances,” Vania said.

On Saturday’s event, the children were not only able to showcase their artworks and paintings, but also dance performances and photographs made by street children from the Manggarai area.

Sahabat Anak also facilitates with marketing-curated artworks through online store tokome.id.

The Social Affairs Ministry recorded 33,400 street children throughout Indonesia in 2015, with Jakarta having the highest number of more than 7,000, followed by West Java and Central Java, with some 5,000 children. (stu)