YOU are the KEY

The Light of the Family

Throughout the journey of one’s life to success, it could be smooth sailing or rocky with many obstacles. The key is to never give up.

At first, everything went so well. Roro grew up as she should as a teenager of her age, went to school with joy, and enjoyed spending time with her family. Although very humble, Irwan Ferry, her father, could afford to provide for his little family. Besides, two of the older kids were already married, so Irwan’s responsibility was left for Roro and her younger sibling. But then in 2007, Irwan who worked as a driver at an expedition company was laid off. Roro, who at that time was still in her first year of senior high, was haunted with nightmares.

School fees could be earned. The problem was the cost of transportation. Soon, Roro often could not go to school because they had no fare. Sad? Of course. But Roro showed that a spirit made of steel would beat every obstacle. There was no room for the word ‘surrender’ in the dictionary of her life. She immediately found a way to continue to go to school. It was then that a neighbor informed her about Rumah Belajar Duri Kepa that YCAB Foundation established. Incidentally, the neighbor also went to school there.

"I thought, it didn’t not matter if I continued school with package C. That's better than dropping out of school,” Roro said. In 2008, Roro came out of high school and got accepted as a student in Rumah Belajar Duri Kepa. She finished the educational level of SMU (high school) in two years. “I learned a lot of positive things from Rumah Belajar,” Roro added. One of which was when the school held art performances. Without hesitation, the girl who was born on April 8, 1992 participated as a committee member. She recruited students to join dance and drama groups.

Packet C Diploma will never hinder someone’s success

“It was the first time that Rumah Belajar held art performances and a play. Incidentally, I majored in theater at the vocational school. My ideas concerning the play got positive feedback from my peers,” she recalled with a smile. Roro felt proud to be a part of Rumah Belajar. The spirit of her friends from Rumah Belajar gave her the strength to continue to learn and work. Roro met a lot of friends with the same background as hers, and she thought that their passion to advance was extraordinary. They became her encouragement and they challenged her to be better every day.

Becoming A College Student

After graduating from Rumah Belajar in 2010, the desire to learn was still burning in Roro’s heart. She delayed her college enrollment because she wanted to pay for her own tuition. “So, first, I had to start saving up,” Roro said. Veronica Colondam, the CEO/Founder of YCAB Foundation offered Roro work at Beauty Inc. – one of YCAB’s business units – in North Kedoya, West Jakarta, working as a therapist. Roro accepted the offer. Her job was handling spa services; using the expertise she had learned from a course at Rumah Belajar. Rated on her good performance, Roro got a chance to join internal training on treating clients for facials. Later, she was trained to help doctors to do eye treatments, as well as body slimming. Roro was very happy for the opportunity and to earn the trust. She admitted that initially it was uncomfortable to serve the clients.

 As time went by, I felt that there was a change. Now, I am very happy having to take care of our clients’ skin," she continued. Working in the salon, Roro managed to save to finance her study. Now she is a student majoring in Information Systems, at the College of Information and Computer Management TMIK Indonesia in Jakarta. She became really busy. On Mondays to Fridays, from 9am to 5pm, Roro works, and then at 7pm she goes to college. "The dream to pay for my own college tuition has finally come true," said Roro. Going to school and working at the same time was not an excuse for Roro to study half-heartedly. Her grades were satisfactory. “Mrs. Veronica advised me to enroll in the YCAB Scholarship Program, because of my good grades. I managed to earn a scholarship,” said Roro proudly.

In her final semester now, she must complete a final project. The task demands not only analysis of a research topic, but also to create a program. She chose to develop a client data program for the beauty clinic where she is working. With the project, Roro hopes to contribute to the success of Beauty Inc. “At that time, clients’ data was still recorded manually. With the client data management program, searching for clients’ information would be easier and could significantly shorten the administrative process. This included the making of a membership card with barcodes, and it has been running smoothly and successfully,” Roro said.

The spirit of learning and work is gained from Rumah Belajar.YCAB Foundation.

Family First

Roro does not want her success in the future to be enjoyed alone, she wants to share it with her family. In fact, most of her salary is given to her mother for daily necessities. “I remember in the past, we used to have potluck. When we had no money, we only ate with sambal (chili), but the rice was warm,” she recalled the events years ago. “I’m very grateful now that if my mom wants to eat something, I can buy it for her. My salary is not very high, but enough to help my parents,” Roro added.

Roro has tried to push her brother in order to have the same work spirit as herself. “My younger brother has graduated from high school but has not gone to college. However, I don’t want to pay for his college tuition because I also want him to try and learn from the struggle of making money,” she said ending the conversation.