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In Menteng Atas slum, education a top priority
Most children in Kampung Menteng Atas attend school with the support of their parents and other assistance, despite the majority of the residents working as scavengers with an average monthly income of Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2 million.
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An elderly couple sorts scavenged items they have collected in Bangka, South Jakarta on July 19, 2019. They raise an average daily income of Rp 50.000 (US$3.80) from scavenging waste. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)
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t a glance, the neighborhood of Menteng Atas in Setiabudi, South Jakarta looks like an average slum area in a big city where the residents primarily work as scavengers and live in poverty.
In fact, most residents have managed to enroll their children at elementary or even secondary school One such resident is Surtini, 44, a housewife. Although her husband earns money as a scavenger, they have sent two of their three children to vocational schools.
With their two children now living separately, Surtini is now enrolling the third, youngest child at the privately run Sahaja Kindergarten nearby. She plans to send her youngest child to university later.
For her, child education is a top priority, regardless of her family’s financial situation. “I want the younger generation to grow and be better people than I was,” she said.
Surtini said there were two kids that grew up in the neighborhood that now attended college despite their family’s financial struggle.
“So I believe we can do the same as well.”
Most children in Kampung Menteng Atas attend school with the support of their parents and other assistance, despite the majority of the residents working as scavengers with an average monthly income of Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2 million.
