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Memories from The Jamboree

“Come on, let’s study!”

The ninth Street Children’s Jamboree, carrying the theme “Ayo belajar”, was held on July 16th and 17th 2005. Very early in the morning on the first day, the coordinating committee members and chaperones picked up the children in the designated meeting places and together left for the place that had already been prepared for the event.
The participants and chaperones were split into groups, and entered singing a special song that they had chosen. There were all types of songs from rock to dangdut (type of music/song that generally represents the lower social-economic class, nearly identical to India’s music). The names of the groups were taken from the world of education, in accordance with the theme of this Jamboree, “Come on, let’s study!” and were:

• from the area Prumpung – Group PETA (map)
• from the area Depok – Goup MEJA (table)
• from the are of Tanjung Priok – Group PENSIL (pencil)
• from the area of Manggarai – Group KACAMATA (eye glasses)
• from the are of Senen – Group BUKU (book)
• form the area Klender/Buaran – Group RANSEL (sack)
• from the area of Grogol – Group DASI (necktie)
• for the area of Cijantung – Group TOPI (hat)
• for the area of Jatiasih – Group PENGGARIS (ruler)
• for the area of Gambir – Group PULPEN (pen)

Rp 500 Million Winner
After enjoying breakfast, all participants and chaperones, along with the coordinating committee joined together in the field to participate in the opening ceremony. The participants spoke out the JAJ commitment that also included the guidelines for the event.
After that, the kids from Bimbel Klender/Buaran offered a parody about the Wright brothers, the inventors of the airplane. After that there was some sharing from Erwin, an ex-street kid who has now become a self-employed business man through the barber shop he opened in the area of Puri Gading. The participants were surprised at the sharing from Agus, who won Rp 500 million (over $50,000 US) on the TV Show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. This ordinary man admitted that he had only graduated from STM (Technical High School) Muntilan, Central Java and became a newspaper deliverer in Cibubur until the present. However, extraordinarily this man from Yogyakarta was able to answer the scholarly questions presented to him on the show; from the knowledge he gained by reading old newspapers in his blocks of free time. With full sympathy, Mas Agus inspired the children to make see school as the highest priority just like he had done – saving his winnings to continue his education and pay for the schooling of his younger siblings.

Hiking & Team Buiding
At the end of the opening ceremony, the participants were divided into two groups: children that were age 7-13 went on a hike and the teen, age 14-17 participated in a variety of team building games.
During the hiking, the children and chaperones enjoyed the natural feel of the village area that was natural, that definitely cannot be found on the roads of the capitol city. While walking they studied and saw directly the seeding of rice fields, the way they are planted, the work of the farmers, different kinds of crops in the fields, rivers, forests… and without realizing it, a strong, intimate relationship was woven between the chaperones and the children, as the chaperones were always by their side and even carried the children whose strength failed them.
During that time, in the Camping Ground Kinasih, the teen participants played a variety of games, each with a specific meaning, such as: team building, unity, arithmetic, awareness, communication, and fast thinking, all of which fall under the overall focus of character building.
All the energy that was expended during the 6 kilometer hiking trip for the younger group and the various games for the teen made the food offered for lunch taste so yummy! Following lunch and a brief rest time they gathered their strength again and each group was given the assignment of joining two enjoyable games during the afternoon. The “sack-jumping” and “eating watermelon without hand” contest.