YOU are the KEY

Helping his mother in the stall, selling phone credits, all the way to driving a motorcycle taxi,  Ruyani had done it all.

In terms of income, he felt that what he earned was enough. The alumnus of MAN Cikarang high school graduated in 2007 was not able to freely move like other youth. The story began after Ruyani graduated high school. His mother asked him to get some guava fruit growing at his house. "I fell from a height of about 5 meters, because of my carelessness. I fell and landed sitting down, so my hip bones cracked," Ruyani recalled the event back in 2007.

After the incident, I was taken to the hospital. "From the x-rays, I knew that my hip bones were broken. It should be operated," said Ruyani. "But, because it was expensive, I did not do it. My dad had no money, so I just underwent treatments with traditional medicine and had my hip massaged," he added.

Time passed, and months later, Ruyani did not show any sign of recovering. "After three months with no progress, I finally stopped the treatment," he said.  Because of his frequent pain, Ruyani ended up staying more at home. But he really wanted to work. Fortunately, his mother had a small shop in the house that sold fried food and snacks. "I helped keep the shop with my brother from 2007 to 2012," he said. Bright hope began to appear when his father finally approved his sister's suggestion for Ruyani to be operated on. "After surgery in March 2012, I felt much better, even though my posture was still not perfect," he said.

Learning new things will not go in vain, someday it will be useful for our lives

"My brother was working so hard, and saved Rp500.000 ($38) my brother gave this to me to set up a small business selling phone credits. Then, I made a small kiosk with my father near my house. After that, I was given capital of Rp300.000 from my father," Ruyani continued.

Looking for New Things

Although his income was enough to live, Ruyani was not satisfied. Something was troubling him. He wanted to go back to school. Around the year end of 2013, Ruyani's dream came true thanks to Rumah Belajar Samsung managed by Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB). "Once Rumah Belajar Samsung was established in 2013, there was a social gathering. The goal was to invite teenagers and young people to attend courses in Rumah Belajar. But I ended up learning about Rumah Belajar Samsung from my friend, Buchori. He was the one who asked me to study in Rumah Belajar," Ruyani recounted his introduction to Rumah Belajar. After being informed, the ninth child of 12 siblings from H Abdul Choer and the late Hj Nurjanah enrolled himself in Rumah Belajar. "I am the second generation to study there. The courses started from May to September 2014," he said.

The reason to join the course was to utilize vocational skills to become more independent. "There were mobile repair service as well as home appliances repair courses for refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. In addition, there were computer network service and computer network courses," said the single man whose hobby is fishing. "But, I chose to learn about mobile phones, because I already had a little bit of experience. When I was working at the phone credit kiosk, I learned about mobile phones from Google," Ruyani explained.

Eager to study, he enthusiastically participated in the course. There was not the slightest intention of skipping his classes. Ruyani absorbed all the knowledge gained from his teachers in Rumah Belajar. "Actually, the schedule was only twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, from 1pm to 5pm; four hours in each meeting. But, I came to Rumah Belajar almost every day," said the man who was born on August 24, 1989. "I really did not want to miss a lesson. Instead, I just wanted to quickly master the science of mobile phone repair services and deepened or repeated the lessons that had been given. So I never skipped classes," he explained. 

Armed with knowledge from Rumah Belajar, Ruyani felt a tremendous change in his life. "I felt that I learned so much from Rumah Belajar. What did not exist in Google, I got the answer from my teachers in Rumah Belajar," he stated "In my experience, basic knowledge could be learned from Google. But, if you wanted to excel, you must take on some courses," he continued.

Ruyani added that interest and seriousness were crucial. "In my first course, we were a group of 25 people; 60 percent male, and 40 percent female," he said, 

"I still have many dreams, like adding more counters, so I can accommodate Rumah Belajar graduates who are still unemployed."

Ruyani loved the way the course was not just all theory, but hands on. "In practice, we were challenged to disassemble mobile phones. Of course, I was nervous. I was worried that the mobile phone would be broken, while they were not even mine," he said with a smile. "Yes, you must be brave. My teacher also said, 'it's okay, if we don’t try, we will never know." And so I was confident to practice. But, I broke two mobile phones in the process, "he admitted. 

"I believe, mother would be happy if she was here to see me now," 

Now Ruyani opens a mobile phone repair service near his house, in addition to selling phone credits. Of course his income is much higher than when he was just starting out. He can save some money, buy a motorcycle, and help his family. "I still want to open more counters in order to help my friends from Rumah Belajar," he said wisely. "In addition, I will follow the home appliance course to add knowledge and open up a new business," said Ruyani with great enthusiasm. Ruyani only has one regret. He said with great sadness showing in his eyes "My mother passed away in 2009, so she cannot see me who is already independent. However, I believe, mother would be happy if she was here to see me now," he said.

Today, hundreds of thousands of bright and very capable young Indonesians face many hurdles just getting through each day, with your help, support and donations, we can help change many more lives like Ruyani. your support is vital to these young people. 

Help us to help them, Donate now, and become "An ANGEL of CHANGE''