(Courtesy of Zae Hanan)
Low-income children may miss the chance to do well in school, but some programs go to the neighborhoods where they live to build their self-esteem and impart basic life skills.
Children crowd around and raise their hands excitedly, waiting to be called on to answer questions. It’s the fun and games part of a training organized for them in the park near where they live.
“I know the answer, I know the answer. Let me come to the front!” shouted a boy when the trainer posed the question, what was the capital of West Java?
“It’s fun doing this on my day off. We haven’t had anything like this here before,” said another child, Gaby.
Gaby, dozens of other children her age and several people living in the slums near Kuningan, South Jakarta, took part in a session of Training on the Street designed by a motivational speaker to teach through games and interactive play.
Zae Hanan, the trainer, said the topic of the training was about life dreams on the one hand and manners on the other.
“Many children here are so talented, but sometimes they just don’t realize it or ignore it because they discount themselves. They give up on their dreams,” he said.
By learning through games, the children are not bored and quickly learn the ideas and get a boost of self-confidence. These trainings seek to increase the confidence that children from low-income families have in themselves.
Once they gained confidence, Zae said, he hoped they could make whatever dreams they had come true.
“I want to be a successful doctor when I grow up, so I can make my parents happy,” fifth grader Gaby said timidly.
She always tried her best to master all subjects that could help her achieve her dream. She said mathematics was her favorite subject.
Apart from encouraging children to keep reaching for their dreams, the training also taught the children about manners.
“Many of these children never learn the basics about how to behave, so I always use this opportunity to show them a few things. The easiest one is to get them used to saying thank you after receiving something,” he said.
During the one-hour training, Zae always asked the children who got token gifts after answering his questions to say thank you.
Training in the street program was set up in 2007 and intended for people from low-income neighborhood to participate in learning activities through seminars, workshops or trainings.
The targets are 3 in 1 jockeys, street singers, street hawkers, transvestites, high school and elementary school dropouts and the many other poor people who make a limited living on the street. Training topics vary, ranging from dream planning, manners, and even self-motivation.
