Give An Education To A Trash Picker's Child

Ten years ago, XSProject’s vision was to send every trash pickers child to school. In those early days it was a struggle to convince the parents that the children should not be picking trash from the streets and that, with an education, the generational cycle of trash picking could be broken and the entire family would benefit.

It started with a simple kindergarten located at the Cirendeu garbage dump in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was a small room inside a building where the trash was sorted, baled and stored until the recycle trucks could pick it up. In those days, volunteer mothers from the international schools in Jakarta would come to play with the children and read to them.

Some of the children went to school when their parents could afford to pay and as long as the child was not sick. These students did not attend on a regular basis, so their grades were poor and most dropped out to return to picking trash with their parents.

A very different picture of XSProject’s education program exists today. This year, more than 75 students are enrolled in Jakarta’s public school system, from elementary through college. Most of the middle and high school students have been in our program since the beginning. By providing social services, the students receive nutritional meals, regular health checkups, vaccinations and vision exams. They are eager to learn, to get good grades and make their families proud.

Last year, XSProject added three young women enrolled in our XSCollege Scholarship program to the teaching staff at the recently built community building at the dump. They tutor 10 students in grades 2, 4 and 5 and use creative games and puzzles that challenge the children to work together to solve problems.

Learning basic math, algebra and weights and measures are the hardest for elementary students. The teachers and tutors give extra attention to these subjects and encourage all the kids to work in teams to get the answers. Now, they look forward to doing their homework together under the guidance of the tutors.

The students just brought home their report cards. Where last semester they received “D’s”, this semester, the report cards are filled with B’s!  The kids are so excited and motivated.  

To the GlobalGiving donors who have supported our XSEducation program: We thank you and want you to know that your contributions have made this possible. We have a long way to go and we hope we can continue to count on your support.