THE HIDDEN CHILDREN

When I was involved with the child worker’s lives (those working for sugar plantations and the scavenger children), I felt there was a large gap in our economy. If we look at the bigger picture, Indonesia has a lot of natural resources to be able to cover the needs of its people, and to help them prosper, the child worker is a part of life that is hidden by government and by politics. While we complain for our secondary needs, there are numerous people who are fighting with hunger. Education is only a dream for them, not a part of their lives. They can not read nor write even when they get elderly.

The child worker really has no dreams. They are alive with nothing to achieve. They are satisfied if they can help provide financially for their parents needs. Life is very difficult for them, and their destiny can not easily be changed. Every morning, the scavenger child goes to the dumping area and they collect garbage to recycle for a living. The child workers at sugar plantations, labor long and hard. Like a grown up, they work cutting the sugar cane and they throw out the grace all day long.

The child worker’s life is different from the common child’s. They are more mature than others their age. We can see this in their behavior, their mind set and their habits. They are thinking about and talking about what elderly do. Most are teenagers, but they have to cover the financial needs of their families (food and housing). All child workers have boy friends or girl friends. These relationships are not like other teenagers. They are smoker and drug users; they are also into pornography and immoral music. All of this is to artificially bring them to another mental place, giving them a false sense of happiness, so they can forget their poverty. They do not know nor care whether it will destroy their lives. They are only trying to get a little happiness. They have never tried to have a dream, like other children. Reality and burdens of their lives push away their dreams. When I was with them, I felt very sad. They told me how happy they are when they are in another world (while the drugs are in their bodies). When “high”, they can go wherever they want. Many try not to be awake for their whole life. Some only feel alive when they look at immoral photographs. They are like the grass which was never planted. No one takes care of them.

When I was teaching them how to write and read, they did not think it was important. Their parents did not support or motivate their children to learn. They were not interested in studies after working until evening. It is my hope that they will read and write someday. They thought that my desires for their lives are only dreams. They believe that poverty is their destiny. One night I went to their place to teach but no one came to learn. I felt hopeless. I tried to meet with a child and even talked to their parents, but they were unaware.

I often told the child workers that their destiny could be changed if they wanted to fight to change. They could get a better job if they have skill and there are many people who would help them. The most important part is their own desire to learn. The child worker problem is not only about food. They always get treated with violence by their supervisors. The young girls, who work at the sugar plantations, often get sexually molested by their supervisors. A constant danger for the scavenger child is when a driver is throwing the garbage; they can be injured or even buried. Some of these children have died this way.

Actually, the government and society know about the life of child worker, but they pretend not to know. Some time I think that we keep them in their poverty so we can keep our projects going.

The scavenger child and their parent sell the things and that they can get to collectors. These are businessmen who control the prices and keep them down. While these parents owe a lot of debt to these collectors.

The child workers and their parents, working on the sugar plantations, are paid very low wages and without any housing. They work daily and the job is seasonal. In the harvest season, all family members have to work hard for entire day, to make their living until the next season. This payment system is set up by management to keep these workers in poverty (both the child workers and their parents). They are never given a chance to better their economic condition. From childhood and parenthood they are kept in this system.

If we look at he child worker’s life, can we say that Indonesia is a country for freedom? The child worker’s life represents slavery in Indonesia. We could get involved our selves, in the lives of these who are kept in poverty, and we could reach out them, starting with one child.