Regular school in Indonesia costs a lot of money. For many families the school fee is a big, often too heavy burden.
Yayasan Cipta Mandiri (YCM) tries to help children of as many families as it can. YCM is for children between 10 and 23 years old who come from poor families but really want to learn and 'go a step further'.
Starting from a small house with a few children, YCM has grown a lot. Today, thanks to the invaluable
support of well-wishers, YCM has its own place and works with 145 active students.
The students learn about the English language, computers, general knowledge and sewing skills.
YCM helps some families to pay the regular school fees at the public schools. YCM also pays for transport
and provides food for those who cannot afford to buy some food. At the same time, the students
are taught to live in a self-reliant manner. For instance, in the YCM kitchen, the students can
cook together and have to clean up themselves.
The Lives We touch!
Who are the children or youth we work with? What does our work mean to them? You can better understand YCM’s work when you listen to their backgrounds and what they want in their lives, as they tell it in their own words.
In the english section, we have the following children.
Ilham Bachtiar, 15, 3 siblings: I live with my parents, my little brother, my grandma, my older sister with her husband and her son. I go to YCM everyday, it’s already for 5 months now. I learn a lot in YCM. I love to play “futsal” (smaller version of soccer).
I studied in Junior High School for only 2 years, then I quit. The economic condition is so difficult, my parents aren’t afford to pay my education’s fee. Then I decided to look for a job. I got the job, tough job but I tried to do it. My family needs money to survive. Then one of the teacher from my elementary school offered me to do the examination in order to get the certificate of junior high school. So, I worked and did my examination at almost the same time. At the beginning of the fasting month, I was fired from my job. They were no longer able to pay me. Then I’m no longer able to help the economic of my family. My father is a jobless. For foods, mostly my mum has to borrow money from the money lender. Until now, my parents are still not able to pay the debt.
I always have dreams, that one day I could be a better person, have better life and can help my parents out from the neglect situation of poverty. I wish that I can make my parents happy and to have son like me….I want to make them proud of me and hopefully can pay all of their loan. For me, education is important, that’s why I join the Yayasan. If I can get good education, I wish I can reach all of my dreams.