Give An Education To A Trash Picker's Child

This is the time of year XSProject begins planning the next school year for the children of Jakarta’s trash picker community.

The 2016/2017 year begins July 1. There will be 51 Elementary School, 17 Middle School and 12 Vocational/High School students. We are also welcoming 18 children into XSProject’s Kindergarten class. That’s a total of 98 students. Wow!

XSProject provides each child with six new school uniforms (one for each day), new shoes and socks, backpacks filled with school supplies and even new underwear! These are the necessities that their parents cannot afford to provide and why so many children of poverty never go to school in Indonesia even though school is “free”.

Not long ago, we realized that, while XSProject can provide what the children need to attend school, the greatest need is to assure these young people are healthy and able to follow the lessons. This means health check-ups, dental  and vision exams.  Because of their poor diets, and living conditions, most of the children already have cavities, hearing and vision difficulties before the First Grade..

In January, XSProject, with the help of Miss Vicky, our beloved Kindergarten teacher, took eight children to get eye exams.  Of the eight, five of the children need eyeglasses. The eye doctor also suggested that all (98) children should begin taking vitamin supplements containing antioxidants, Vitamin C, E, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids to support eye health.

XSProject already treats all the children for intestinal worms such as round, tape, toxacara and threadworms on a regular basis. Even though Miss Vicky continually instructs all the children about hygiene, when your home is on a garbage dump, it’s impossible to stay healthy.

A week after the eye exams, XSProject gathered all the children and mothers to hear Miss Vicky explain why and how to take both the vision and intestinal worm medications. To get everyone started, she personally administered the first doses to each and every child and told them to bring back the empty bottles to her so she can give them more.

GlobalGiving donors have been instrumental in helping XSProject make these programs possible. If you would like to be part of our XSProject community and help, a $30 donation will buy prescription eyeglasses for 2 students and a $25 donation will supply both vision and intestinal worm medications for 2 students.  

It takes a lot of love and care to break the generational cycle of trash picking. XSProject does this one child at a time.