Give An Education To A Trash Picker's Child

All of us at XSProject Indonesia would like to express our gratitude and a BIG THANK YOU to the GlobalGiving community for your support of our programs in 2018. Generous and thoughtful donors have contributed to our social programs for the health and well-being of trash pickers and their families, and to the better education for a better future for their children.  

Health is still the major issue for the Cirendeu Community of about 100 families of trash pickers with a total of about 80 children under XSProject-XSEducation Scholarship Program.

When XSProject was thinking what more we can do, we received the good news of being nominated as Project of the Month. We have been wanting to have a Community Home Care where a doctor and a nurse come for regular visits to the community. They would not only check adults and children who are sick, but also encourage and teach the community the importance of prevention and early treatment. Due to either lack of knowledge or money, too often community members wait too long to seek treatment until they are really sick. XSProject will continue to provide health education and health awareness to the adults while we make sure that the children receive proper immunization and general health check up in the coming year. 

Providing new skills for the moms is also what we have been trying to do. Living in poverty for many generations with no adequate education, many women trash pickers don’t have the skills to do more for themselves. It may also be a lack of opportunity to learn, so we will continue to offer them and show them so they would want to improve themselves.

XSProject is very proud to have 6 students now attending college.  Coming from many generations of trash pickers, attending college seemed like an impossible dream.  But now their hopes have now been fulfilled. Their desires to further their education, despite all the difficulties they are facing, inspires other younger children at the community that they  too can now have the chance to dream big.

Your donation to XSProject through GlobalGiving has a direct impact on making this happen. XSProject helps the children to aim to have a better life not just for themselves but also for their parents. Showing and providing more opportunities and new experiences outside the world they are living in will give more reasons to work hard in school and to be hungry for more knowledge.

We hope you will continue to support our work in the trash picker community. You are making the difference for them.

We are very grateful and we thank you all so much.

Following up our report on April 2018 with title ‘the Graduation and a Future of Possibilities.

 The 3 students’ hope for the chance of attend college in September has now been fulfilled. 

 Here is the story of two of the students. Rustandi is studying Management and Ardiansyah is studying Industrial Engineering.

 Rustandi (nickname Tandti) and Ardiansyah (nickname Ardi) have started their college year last month, after going through back and forth decisions, and passing the entry tests, they finally got accepted.   Coming from many generations of trash pickers and trying to compete with more than 800.000 students for places in 85 colleges with 1 chair for 15 applicants, their chances were quite slim.

 When we asked Ardi why he wanted to continue his study, he said: “My teacher said to me:   ‘Ardi, if you have an opportunity to receive help to pay your school, keep going, continue to study, you will have a better future.”

 Ardi’s father had passed away when he had just started his first year in high school. His mother never worked before and now she had to raise her son and 2 daughters.  Being a single parent, Ardi’s mother never dreamed Ardi could continue his study at college.

 At first, Ardi’s mom told him not to continue school because she was afraid of not being able to support financially. But Ardy kept showing his enthusiasm and his determination not to stop. Finding the right school and going through the registration process and entry tests almost discouraged him and his mother. When all had settled down Ardi said: “I am going to continue my study until I finish.  I don’t want to disappoint the donors, my mom and my sisters. I want to make the most of this opportunity as I can.”

 Tandi’s road going to the college world is about the same as Ardi.   In the beginning, Tandi did not want to go to college. He just wanted to find a job, any job.

 Tandi is the second of five children. His father has been in and out of prison and left Tandi’s mother with their young children.  Tandi is very close to his mother so he wanted to just work and help his mother.   Pena his mother kept encouraging him.  She said to him:  “If you continue study, you will have more friends, you will have more knowledge. If you work now, what kind of job will you have? With such a small salary, how will you help your mother, your sisters, and yourself?”

 He had a lot to think about, and couple days later, he said: “I want to continue my study and learn more about management. I want to prove to myself that after graduate I can help my mother and help my sisters go to college.”

 Help us ensure that the children and the adults in our community can have a better life by giving them a better education.   We want to empower the trash picker’s children and make them believe that they can have a better future and that they can move away from the dump site into a better life.

 Your continuous donations through Global Giving will continue to help Ardi’s and Tandi’s dream become a reality.