Empowering disadvantaged young people in Indonesia

This time I would like to share you a story about Nurul. YCM’s young woman who joined our program YEIP (Youth Empowerment and Internship Program), where she learned about entrepreneurship.

In our society, even though sometimes women are taken as a second-class citizen, but the role of us in our families are very substantial. Our culture teaches us the women to look after our household, family, and parents. While life is not always going well for some women. The happy ever after life sometimes only an illusion for us. The situation is not always supporting us.  Many women have to face the reality of family’s economic problem, divorce, death, unemployed parents and or husbands. When the women no longer get financial support from their parents or husbands, but they to take their responsibilities of their younger siblings, children, and or parents to look after for. As they have a big responsibility at home, if they have no income, they have to “pawn” the future of their own selves, their siblings, children and of course the prosperity of their families. We called this group of women as vulnerable women, they are the “victim” of the condition while they have so much burden and responsibilities for their families.

Another group that also take a great role in our society is the youth. Their energy, their ability to adapt on certain situation, their creativity and their skills are the asset that we can develop into a great benefit to assist and support them, their families, and the community. The youth from underprivileged families often have no goal for their lives, no real support, no guidance or even role models, so they live a life like a kite with a broken thread. These youth typically do not know what they have to do. Many of them only hang out senselessly, becoming the street thugs, fall pray to drugs and in extreme cases are recruited by religious fanatics. Eventually if we can support the youth, guide them, give them enough skills, let them know what their best, they will be able their great energy to empower themselves and others.

The combination of strengthening women’s power, the youth and community works together, we might be able to see positive changes and improvement in many aspects, especially the economic condition.

Nurul, a young woman who joined YCM’s program YEIP (Youth Empowerment and Internship Program) has proved us that although she cannot continue her study in a formal high school, instead she joined YCM’s program and earned scholarships for her “package C” equal to a senior high school certificate she made her way by having her own food business with her family.

I witnessed the fruitful result of our program, when one day, after a late afternoon walk, I decided to buy a drink from a nearby minimart. Before entering the minimart, I heard someone called out my name from a food stall in front of it. A young woman in her early 20s was grilling her Nasi Bakar (banana leaf’s wrapped rice with the filling of chicken and or other things inside of it). I approached her and surprised to see Nurul proudly told me about what she sold and why she decided to open her own business.

After what she had been through with her family’s financial condition and entrepreneurship knowledge she learned at YCM, she decided to use her family’s skill in making foods to run their own foods’ business. As the first child of her parents and a woman, she knows exactly what responsibilities awaits her. She hopes that she could assist her parents and her younger siblings for a better life and future. She told me; how grateful she is that she joined YCM. Big thanks for the support from YCM’s family, the skills and knowledge she received, and the donators who give us the chance to change our lives to a better lives and future.

Links:

• Sola Rumah Karya a business division runs by YCM's youth