GIVING BACK: HELPING YOUTH FIND JOBS

Suddenly the month of February is  upon us. So I wanted to share with you another great giving back idea. 

If you are reading this, you are most probably someone who has a decent, comfortable life, and that is because either you work, or your husband works or your parents work. Work, and the money that you receive from that work, is what keeps us all able to lead a comfortable life, put our children to school, feed our family and pay for medical expenses.

Unfortunately it's not always that easy. In Indonesia, 60% of youths aged 16 to 24 are unemployed, and this is greatly due to a lack of skills. Youths are competing against each other on the job market, and if you are not able to present a university degree or a skill of some sort, it is very difficult to obtain a job. In areas such as Cipanas where we find families struggling to get by, finishing High School or even Junior High School, is already a struggle. But how can they change their fate if they don't have anything to offer to the job market? That's where a Vocational Training Center is needed; a place where youths can obtain skills such as computer, English, sewing, hospitality skills that will give them an upper hand when looking for a job.

2 students role-playing during English class

Computer class, often taught by peers

A sewing class, where students learn to sew using recycled materials

Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM) opened a Vocational Training Center (VTC) in Cipanas around 3 years ago, and since then most of the graduates who have also graduated from High School, have found a job. Unfortunately, a VTC like this is not sustainable. It's almost impossible for YUM to ask a fee to those coming in for classes, since they come from very disadvantaged families. That's why constant support and funding is necessary. It's an amazing project and I can see just how great they're doing and how motivated they are. Go here to read their stories and see what the Sewing class have been creating.

If this is the sort of project you would like to help, this is another project where YUM is working together with GlobalGiving so you can donate via their website: Provide Skills For Indonesian Unemployed Youths (or you can go directly by clicking on the widget on my right sidebar)

GIVING BACK: INSPIRE KIDS WITH BOOKS

I've been thinking about my second project recommendation and it has to be about books! Amal has been reading non-stop for the past 2 weeks, and it came so sudden.... Before that, he would only look at books with images! And I can see how much he's enjoying it, how he starts imagining what he's reading and I'm so happy that he's finally opened that part of life where children are able to roam free with imagination just by reading a book...

I remember when I was 7 and I had just moved to Boston with my family, and my mother took me and my brother to the public library. I was hooked! I couldn't stop reading, I even read at night (in secret) with a small night light. I was devouring Judy Blume, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and even until this day, I feel so happy curled up reading a book.... and every child should feel that way!

That's why I feel it's so important to give that opportunity to every child. Unfortunately in Indonesia, reading is not part of the culture, especially in the rural areas. Besides that, buying a book is not an option if you live on less than $2 (Rp. 19,000) a day. That's why in Bukit Batu, Central Kalimantan, Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM) created a community library where now more than 500 visitors come every month to check out the books, and also participate in other educational activities such as the English Club, arts and crafts, watching movies, dance classes, etc. It's not just a place to borrow books, but it's become an educational facility.

If you want to help this project, YUM is working with GlobalGiving, a philanthropic site, to receive donations from all over the world. Here's the link: Help Promote Good Reading Habits in Kalimantan 

There are many other organizations who work in this direction and with the same goal such as Yayasan Pustaka Kelana (which my mother and aunt founded by the way), "Drive Books, Not Cars", Taman Bacaan Pelangi, and countless others...

So if you're a book worm like I am, and you realize just how precious a book is (and a library), try to find out how you can help, either by donating money or books or your time at a nearby library for disadvantaged kids :)

GIVING BACK: SPONSOR A CHILD

Ok so here's my first recommendation for you to start the year by giving back.

Did you know that over a quarter of a million poor primary age children in Indonesia aren't going to school even though it's supposedly free? And did you know that only 55% of poor children complete junior high (SMP)? That means, almost half of the these children have to start working or getting married at age 14-15!!
I bet you didn't know that...

Now, there are many organizations who help kids find sponsors, and Yayasan Usaha Mulia is one of them. But you can start even closer to home, with your staff's own children, or the children of the person collecting your garbage or the security guy in your compound. It really isn't much money at all; I'll give you an example. At YUM, our Sponsorship Program helps primary school children and secondary school children. For primary school children, we ask donors for Rp. 1,500,000 per year and for secondary school, we ask Rp. 2,500,000. Now, this may seem a little more than you expected, but we deal with children from a very poor background, so besides the school fee, we also give for books, uniform, exam costs, extracurricular, transport, bi-annual medical check-ups and bi-monthly parenting and health workshops for the parents. We also have a full-time staff who monitors these kids and makes sure they stay in school...
Now think about it, if you think in terms of monthly cost, it's only between Rp.130,000 and Rp. 200,000 approximately.... Come on, that's one meal at a nice restaurant or a t-shirt :)

I myself started sponsoring a girl last year, together with my aunt and uncle from France, and added another little kid a few months ago. I'm happy to know they can stay in school and hopefully one day, acquire some skills to be able to find a decent job and live a decent, happy life.

One more thing I'd like to add and this is really important: once you start sponsoring a child, think about seeing through until the end of his or her studies. It's great to help for a full year, but it's a dreadful feeling for the child to know that her or his sponsor has dropped him/her and the child doesn't know whether he/she can stay in school...

Read Kukywa's story about sponsoring a child on her blog :)

2013 RESOLUTIONS

I'm not a regular resolutions-maker but at work today, I had a light bulb moment. I was thinking how I am aware of so many great social projects that people could help with, and why not share it with my family and friends. I know I've been sharing once in a while already, but I think I'll make it this year's resolution to share more.

So let's start this year thinking about this quote:

Stand by for the next few days and weeks for links to amazing projects you can help with :)