Give An Education To A Trash Picker's Child

Encouraging the middle and high school students from Jakarta’s trash picker community to think about a future away from the garbage dump is an important part of the work XSProject does. We do this by partnering with volunteer organizations around Jakarta to present students with opportunities to learn a variety of skills that they might want to pursue after graduation.

In February, the Fashion Rationale Club, a group of young designers and sewers from the Jakarta International School, invited six XSProject middle school students to help them prepare for their annual fund raising fashion show.

The group meets every Wednesday afternoon from 3-4 PM to make the outfits that they will model at the fashion show. Since it’s every young girl’s dream to “walk the runway”, you can just imagine the level of excitement when they get together to learn about design, fashion and sewing. Each XSProject student is teamed up with a student from the Fashion Rationale Club. Under the scrutiny of professional seamstresses, they learned how to adjust patterns for a perfect fit, do handwork and learn how to use the sewing machines. Their first completed project was a skirt which they are proudly displaying in this report.

The group will continue to meet weekly, learning more techniques and completing more garments, leading up to the fashion show in the spring. Each model will wear what she has made. After the show she can take her garments home.

Leading up to the fashion show, you will see and hear more about our students, Fitriani, Ipah, Rani, Maisaroh, Fitriyah and Putri. They are learning about the fashion industry in Indonesia as well as the techniques involved in garment making. They are really enjoying the process of making clothes of their own. You can just see their pride and confidence as they share their first effort with us in these pictures.

XSProject is founded on the principle that giving opportunities that help open doors to a better life is the way out of poverty. Without your donations, XSProject could not have sent these young women to school and they would never have had this opportunity and experience. Thank you XSProject donors. We hope you enjoyed learning about our students. Please share your comments with us. If you want to send words of encouragement to the girls, we will forward your messages.