Hertauli Harianja provides beauty classes for children in poverty to help them achieve a brighter future. 

For many underprivileged children, education is still far from accessible. In Medan, Hertauli Harianja tries to be part of the solution by providing access to education in beauty skills.

“There are many unlucky children out there whose futures are in threat of being lost if no one cares about them,” the 37-year-old woman told The Jakarta Post in mid-May.

Extreme poverty makes it impossible for Indonesian children to access a decent life and education. According to the UNICEF report, “COVID-19 and children in Indonesia” released in May 2020, as much as 10 percent of Indonesia's population lived in extreme poverty in 2019. In the same month, that percentage increased to 13 percent in children and adolescents. 

The report also notes that nine out of every 10 children are deprived of at least one dimension of child welfare: access to education, housing, food, water, sanitation and child protection.

Hertauli notices this situation happening right around her, not only in big cities but also in rural areas. She sees firsthand how children from villages, who are unable to continue their education, are forced to leave their hometowns and look for opportunities as migrant workers. There are also some children in the city who are forced to become scavengers and take to the streets.

“I experienced it myself in 2013. There was a girl from my hometown who dropped out of school and tried to become a migrant worker. I tried to stop her and advised her to take salon courses. Now she is working at a salon and makes a living from that job," she said.

That event inspired Hertauli to establish a training center that became Zoe Beauty School in 2017. She also started conducting social programs for children who have lost access to education.

"After that, an idea came to me: Why don’t I set up a salon and a beauty school to help children or teenagers who can't afford [to go to school] and want to work," said Hertauli, who has an educational background in accounting, not beauty.

Driven by the desire to become an entrepreneur as well as to carry out social activities, Hertauli left her job at a non-governmental organization (NGO) where she had worked for more than 10 years. She used her savings to set up a beauty school, recruited a number of teachers and collaborated with vocational training centers for competency exams and certification.

"My experience working in an NGO has also encouraged me [to conduct] social activities. I try to apply [the knowledge] in this business, so it's not only profitable, but also social," said the fellow Women's Leadership of Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, 2019.

Changing lives

One sunny day, four months ago, while driving around Jl Sunggal in Medan, Hertauli coincidentally saw two underage sisters, walking and looking for recyclable waste. She didn't have time to say hello at the time, but she remembered the girls' faces.

A few days later, she crossed the same road and got out of her vehicle after seeing those children again. While buying a drink, she greeted the two and asked whether they had left school to become scavengers. The children nodded. Their mother could only afford to send them to the first grade of elementary school. They became scavengers to help their mother.

When Hertauli asked one of the sisters if she would like to learn hairdressing skills, the other answered that it was impossible because they had no money. Hertauli continued saying that if both of them wanted to learn, she would shoulder the cost. She left her business card and asked them to come to her beauty school if interested.

A few days later, the sisters came with their mother and asked if Hertauli really wanted to help them. After that meeting, the sisters agreed to take a beauty course at the beauty school Hertauli manages.

“If you look at the photos, who would believe these [two] children have dropped out of school and used to work as scavengers? In reality, these children are no longer in school, they only had time to go to the first grade of elementary school,” she explained, while showing a photo of the sisters to the Post.

After more than three months of salon courses, the sisters are now taking exams to achieve certificates of competence. When they pass, they will be prepared for an internship at Hertauli’s salon and ready to work.

“At least both of them already have the expertise, and hopefully they can work later. I hope that later they will also be able to continue their studies and no longer [work as] scavengers,” said Hertauli.

For a better future

In the last five years, almost 200 students have taken beauty courses at Hertauli’s salon. At least 30 percent of them are underprivileged girls whom Hertauli supported to give hope of a better future.

There are students who are fully funded, while some are supported by discounted course fees. There are also those who pay the course fees after working in the salon that Hertauli manages.

Hertauli applies a cross-subsidy system to pay for the courses of underprivileged children. "I set aside profits from the salon and courses to fund the course fees of the underprivileged girls," she said.

Several girls who have taken the courses are now starting to work and earning better incomes.

"Now of course my income is better," said Swanta Silaban, a 22-year-old female student who now works in a salon run by Hertauli. She used to get paid compensation on the back of the deducted course fees she paid after work.

"It's really helpful because now I'm no longer working in a bakery, which was very tiring," said Swanta, who can only attend high school.

For Hertauli, what she is doing is still very small in scope. However, if more people follow suit, Indonesian children’s future will be brighter.

“We can't just rely on the government to solve this [social] issue [including unemployment]. If more people get involved, more children from poor families will have the opportunity to change their future for the better,” she said.

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