Onie spent several months working as a "cafe girl" in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta,
getting visitors to buy cheap beers for a Rp 2,000 tip and before they went
giving them "thank-you kisses" or extras.
She recently left the cafe and declared herself a "freelancer," -- perhaps the
reason for "I am free".
"'Free' for her could mean that she holds control over her life by earning her
own money after leaving the cafe," said Burdah, a trainer from a
non-governmental organization holding a week's child prostitute rehabilitation
workshop. "But we really hope she meant it as a pledge to give up
prostitution."
Onie and four other 14 to 18-year-old prostitutes from East Jakarta, along with
eight children considered to be at-risk of entering the profession joined the
four-day workshop aimed to initially build self-respect before equipping them
with the skills to plan their future and work.
There are more than 5,000 children in the capital estimated to be engaged in
prostitution.
"Although economic reasons have been cited for driving them into
(prostitution), it is a lack of self-worth that makes them stay in it," the
program coordinator, Hery, said. "If they want to quit, it should be their own
decision."
While the girls did not openly discuss what they did for a living, the
inference was clear.
"Wah, we do not sleep until 4 a.m.," said 17-year old Dina and her younger
sister Mia when asked to write down their daily activities.
"Playing", "still playing" and "not yet home from playing" are the words they
fill in as activities in time slots where most children their age would have
simply written "sleeping".
At the end of each session, the girls were asked to identify anything they
thought was wrong in what they wrote.
"What you have written on the paper is now history, you will leave these ideas
behind and start making changes," trainer Teguh said.
For several awkward seconds, the girls who mostly came from disadvantaged and
abusive backgrounds, sat still and stared blankly.
"We use two kinds of time-consuming approaches to make them speak, group
activity and one-on-one communication," said program coordinator Hery. "This is
the kind of program where you can limit the budget but cannot set a deadline.
If you rush things, they will end up running."
The girls were also subtly taught to measure happiness not by how much they
earn but by interviewing local farmers in Ciawi, Bogor.
"The one I interviewed said he only earned Rp 200,000 a month, but he seemed to
be living OK," Onie said.
At the end of their second day at the workshop, happiness was as simple as
splashing water on each other and getting themselves soaking wet in the river.
Something that children of all ages enjoy.
The Jakarta Post
