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On issues affecting children in Indonesia

28 November 2019

Less Alone: How Peer Supporter Helps

“If only back then I received even just a little bit of information about HIV, and the test was suggested to pregnant women, maybe Haikal would still be alive today,” said Siti with teary eyes. Haikal was her first child, he died when he was 8 months old. “He was never tested, because no one was thinking it, but I suspect it might be that,” she…

28 November 2019

Less Alone: How Peer Supporter Helps

“If only back then I received even just a little bit of information about HIV, and the test was suggested to pregnant women, maybe Haikal would still be alive today,” said Siti with teary eyes. Haikal was her first child, he died when he was 8 months old. “He was never tested, because no one was thinking it, but I suspect it might be that,” she…

27 November 2019

Living a Full Life with HIV

“Good morning, students!” Ratna greeted her students from the front of the class. The 36 year-old teacher looked energetic on that bright, sunny morning in one of the schools in Sorong City, Papua. Looking at her, you would have never guessed that not only had she just given birth less than six month ago, but that she was also living with HIV. “I…

27 November 2019

Living a Full Life with HIV

“Good morning, students!” Ratna greeted her students from the front of the class. The 36 year-old teacher looked energetic on that bright, sunny morning in one of the schools in Sorong City, Papua. Looking at her, you would have never guessed that not only had she just given birth less than six month ago, but that she was also living with HIV. “I…

04 November 2019

Reflections on the CRC

Reflections on the CRC In 1989, governments across the world promised all children the same rights by adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Convention says what countries must do so that all children grow as healthy as possible, can learn at school, are protected, have their views listened to, and are treated fairly. As…

04 November 2019

Reflections on the CRC

Reflections on the CRC In 1989, governments across the world promised all children the same rights by adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Convention says what countries must do so that all children grow as healthy as possible, can learn at school, are protected, have their views listened to, and are treated fairly. As…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 6

By now the images are all too familiar. Children trapped in holes as the liquefying ground beneath them turn into jelly. Villages reduced to a mass of wood and twisted concrete. Broken minarets lying across the debris. Rescuers clawing through the rubble in search of survivors. Pandemonium at the airport as people begged for a flight out. People…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 6

By now the images are all too familiar. Children trapped in holes as the liquefying ground beneath them turn into jelly. Villages reduced to a mass of wood and twisted concrete. Broken minarets lying across the debris. Rescuers clawing through the rubble in search of survivors. Pandemonium at the airport as people begged for a flight out. People…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 27

Looking at Rosita, sitting on the deck of her home in Aseibesar Village in Sentani, Papua, I’m sure there are things she doesn’t have that she wishes she did. Things she wishes she understood, or understood better, and not just because she’s only 11 years old. Papua is a land like no other; it is extraordinary in its beauty and scale. But life is…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 27

Looking at Rosita, sitting on the deck of her home in Aseibesar Village in Sentani, Papua, I’m sure there are things she doesn’t have that she wishes she did. Things she wishes she understood, or understood better, and not just because she’s only 11 years old. Papua is a land like no other; it is extraordinary in its beauty and scale. But life is…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 37

Justice is often equated with fairness, and while the two principles often constitute rules of ‘fair play,’ in practice they mean different things to different societies. And consensus on this matter is hardest to reach when it concerns children. According to the Indonesian Law on Juvenile Criminal Justice System, no children under 14 should be…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 37

Justice is often equated with fairness, and while the two principles often constitute rules of ‘fair play,’ in practice they mean different things to different societies. And consensus on this matter is hardest to reach when it concerns children. According to the Indonesian Law on Juvenile Criminal Justice System, no children under 14 should be…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 34

People say my city is like any other city. But I beg to differ. Because I know it like no other. Every night I walk the same street, selling newspapers for people who still read newspapers. I know where people go for alcohol, dope, the cheapest good food. I know exactly where and when in the evening my nose would catch the heavenly trail of…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 34

People say my city is like any other city. But I beg to differ. Because I know it like no other. Every night I walk the same street, selling newspapers for people who still read newspapers. I know where people go for alcohol, dope, the cheapest good food. I know exactly where and when in the evening my nose would catch the heavenly trail of…

01 November 2019

Reflection on CRC Article 32

We hear the stories from time to time. Children labouring in tobacco farms, in palm oil plantations. Children labouring as domestic workers, at home and overseas. These stories don’t always register in our minds because we are accustomed to thinking of children as young human beings who bring joy to our lives and deserve our love and protection.…

01 November 2019

Reflection on CRC Article 32

We hear the stories from time to time. Children labouring in tobacco farms, in palm oil plantations. Children labouring as domestic workers, at home and overseas. These stories don’t always register in our minds because we are accustomed to thinking of children as young human beings who bring joy to our lives and deserve our love and protection.…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 31

Eat, play, love. The three things they say children need the most. They say food is key, you are what you eat. They say our brain needs food, it’s the first of our organs to absorb nutrients from what we eat. They say the ways that the brain develops during the first 1,000 days of life are the bedrock to our future: they determine how we think,…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 31

Eat, play, love. The three things they say children need the most. They say food is key, you are what you eat. They say our brain needs food, it’s the first of our organs to absorb nutrients from what we eat. They say the ways that the brain develops during the first 1,000 days of life are the bedrock to our future: they determine how we think,…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 29

All our lives, we have heard what education means to other people. Yeats, echoing Socrates: “Education is not the filling of a pail, it is the lighting of a fire.” The anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” An education specialist I spoke to, just the other day: “Education should be aimed at…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 29

All our lives, we have heard what education means to other people. Yeats, echoing Socrates: “Education is not the filling of a pail, it is the lighting of a fire.” The anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” An education specialist I spoke to, just the other day: “Education should be aimed at…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 28

We are often told that we need to get rid of poverty so that poor children can get an education. Or the reverse: it is lack of education which is the root cause of poverty. We learn of children so poor they go to school hungry because there is not enough food in the house. Children who walk to school barefoot because the family cannot afford shoes…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 28

We are often told that we need to get rid of poverty so that poor children can get an education. Or the reverse: it is lack of education which is the root cause of poverty. We learn of children so poor they go to school hungry because there is not enough food in the house. Children who walk to school barefoot because the family cannot afford shoes…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 24

There are many children living in the slums of Makassar. Life is hard there. All the things we have come to see as basic needs: uncontaminated water, nutritious food, a clean, safe environment, are not a given. These rights have to be fought for on a daily basis. Not only do these children have to withstand the squalor, they also have to make do…

01 November 2019

Reflections on CRC Article 24

There are many children living in the slums of Makassar. Life is hard there. All the things we have come to see as basic needs: uncontaminated water, nutritious food, a clean, safe environment, are not a given. These rights have to be fought for on a daily basis. Not only do these children have to withstand the squalor, they also have to make do…