|
As part of Oracle Global Volunteer Days (GVD) 2006, 25 Oracle Indonesia volunteers teamed with Yayasan Kesejahteraan Anak Indonesia (YKAI), an Indonesian nonprofit agency that works to improve the quality of life for underprivileged children, to provide 50 street children with a rare day of fun at Dufan and Seaworld.
"Not many people pay attention to street children, but Oracle, as a company and as individual employees, made a very positive effort for our agency and for street children. Oracle showed the children that there are people who care about and understand them," said Anto Ikayadi, Project/Program Manager, YKAI.
Indonesia's street children work long days. For 10-year-old Mega, living on the street is the best source of income she has. By clicking her bottle caps and mumbling some songs at traffic lights in Klender, East Jakarta, she can reap as much as Rp 50,000 (US $5.80) each day. Mega leaves her home early in the morning and returns at 8 p.m.
"I was seven when my friends convinced me that I can earn money just by singing. It is very exhausting but I get much money for my mother," said Mega, the youngest of four children -- all of whom are street musicians.
Mega is one of thousands of street children in Greater Jakarta who live in poverty and struggle for survival on the street. These children do not have a chance to go to school, and they don't have the opportunity to visit fun places for children.
But as part of Oracle's GVD, Mega and 49 other street children recently were able to spend a morning at Seaworld, eat a nutritious lunch, and spend the afternoon at Dufan (similar to Disneyland).
"It is a short and simple activity, but very beneficial and memorable to the children," said Nova Dien, GVD Project Leader, Oracle Indonesia. "It was something special to share happiness with the 50 underprivileged children and to see their happy faces. The volunteers had fun and appreciated spending time with the street children as part of GVD."
Developed and managed by Oracle Volunteers, GVD is a corporate initiative created to encourage and support employee involvement within local communities. This year's event — held from September 16-30, 2006 — saw more than 3,900 Oracle employees work more than 23,000 hours on 133 projects in 37 countries around the globe.
|
|
|
