Project Background

We love children, and we raise our children to love and respect the earth. I’m passionate about children and it pains me to see children suffering in any way. For those of you with children under 5, or even older, try this simple visualisation exercise for a moment:

Imagine taking your child into a crowded street at dusk, walking away from them and never going back. Imagine the fear in that child when they realise you’re gone. Imagine them wandering scared and hungry through the streets…imagine their life now, day after day.

If you can do this exercise without tears, then you are stronger than me, but for 1.8 million children in Indonesia, this is reality. Every night 1.8 million children in Indonesia sleep homeless. For most of us that number is unfathomable.

Over 50% of Indonesians survive on less than $2US per day. Of the 500,000 children in Indonesian orphanages today, almost 90% still have a living parent. They just simply cannot afford to feed them and out of desperation, many of these children are dumped in the hope that someone more fortunate may be able to give them a better life.

Well, I am someone more fortunate and while my family is not wealthy, by any means, we plan to make a difference. My husband and I are both self employed, we have 9 children and we live, like many people, week-to-week. In a country like Indonesia where so many people are so very poor, a lot can be achieved with less money than one might expect. We are ordinary people, living an ordinary life – we are no different to you.

I don’t expect everyone to give up everything. I don’t expect everyone to build an orphanage. But EVERYONE can do something. Whether you donate to our project, or one of the dozens of other aid agencies, whether you just extend the hand of friendship to a colleague or stranger or whether you just take a “man in the mirror” moment and be the change that you want to see in the world. EVERYONE has the power to make some change in the world.