Give An Education To A Trash Picker's Child

Rizal is one of the 75 students who are in XSProject’s XSEducation program. In July, he entered Middle School (7^th grade).

Before XSProject came to the garbage dump, the few children of trash pickers who went to school did not have good grades, so when they graduated from elementary school they could not go on to public middle school. Now, with the support of XSProject and their moms, students like Rizal, have higher expectations for themselves, strive to get good grades and work hard to be able to attend the public middle school.

It’s difficult to get accepted  into Jakarta’s public schools. Seating is limited and students must have very good grades to be accepted. Parents rush to school the minute they learn that registration is open, to register their children for the new school year.

When Rizal’s mother, Mis, learned that the middle school registration was open, she and another mother, Ida, went quickly to the school to register their sons. When they arrived, the school staff  told them they needed to pay IDR 600,000 ($50) that day or their sons would not get registered.

They didn't have the money that day and were very worried and disappointed. They called their friend Wati,  who works with XSProject. Wati took them money from XSProject and Rizal and Ida’s son, Bachrudin, were soon successfully registered for the year.

When Mis and Ida returned home, XSProject General Manager, Retno Hapsari was waiting for them. They had not remembered that XSProject already promised to pay for all the children’s education, even in public middle school. When Mis heard this from Retno, she broke down to tears, sobbing as if a burden had lifted off her shoulders. She kept saying thank you and that she didn’t know what would have happened if there was no XSProject to help.

This is a simple but often repeated story of how much these mothers want their children to get an education so they can have a better life. In this case, it had a happy ending.

But the real story begins and ends with the generosity of GlobalGiving donors. There never would have been a story about how determined Rizal’s mother was to get him registered if it had not been for one donor’s $50 contribution to XSProject. Such a simple action made a profound difference. That donation changed Rizal and his family’s life.