Many children who receive bikes through ChildFund’s Dream Bikes program are in isolated communities and face long journeys across rough rural terrain. It’s a little different for children in Jakarta, the huge capital city of Indonesia. Children there live in dense, crowded slums, and to get to school, they have to walk or take the public bus or a motorbike, a big daily expense for families living in poverty.
Because their homes are small, 125 children in Jakarta’s slums received foldable bicycles from ChildFund’s local partner organisation, Perkumpulan Marga Sejahtera, which hosts after-school activities.
“When they fold the bike, it won’t take up as much space,” explains the organisation`s director, Liest Pranowo. “These children walk every day to school and their after school activities. Having a bike hopefully will help them to get to school easier, get in on time and be more active in out-of-school activities. It would save their parents some money too. Usually, it costs about US$2 for a rental motorbike. It is just too much for them. As children are very active, we also provided them with helmets. If they fall, their heads will be protected.”
Let`s meet Aisyah, a 12-year-old girl who likes watching the news and hopes to be a doctor one day. She received a bike and helmet, and it`s making a difference already. These are her words:
“I walked to school and back every day with my younger brother. He’s in the second grade. I leave home around 5am and get to school by 5:30am Often I came late to school, especially on Mondays and Fridays. On Mondays, we have a morning ceremony where we need to be ready a bit early, and on Friday we have group study and exercise that I need to come early for too.
Once, there were other kids in the street from another school who made fun of me. They would say something bad, like “Oh, you are a hobo! Even your school is the school for hobos!” They were boys, four of them. I would tell them to please not say something like that, as they wouldn’t want other people to say something bad in return, right?
Another time, when I came home from school, these boys said something bad to me again. One of them pulled my hair from the back and pushed me down. I fell down and cried. A taxi driver stopped them. When I got home, I told my mum, and she then went to their house, but they still didn’t want to say sorry.
I am not afraid of them, though, and I try hard to ignore them. My brother always says to ignore them.
It was almost 25 years ago when Gordon Brookes started his journey with ChildFund Australia. At the time he was working as a chef at Wesley Mission in Sydney when he was approached about sponsoring a child. Since that time, he has sponsored 11 different children from countries across Asia and South America.
This is his experience as a sponsor with ChildFund Australia.
What 25 years as a child sponsor feels like
“Sponsorship is a wonderful thing. I think the fact that I have been sponsoring for 25 years and don’t plan to stop demonstrates that. I would encourage anyone to begin,” says Gordon.
“It’s beneficial for you as well as the child; it’s just a great journey.”
And what a journey life has been for Gordon. In 2000 his life was turned upside down when he suffered a stroke at the age of 40, which left him with brain damage. He was told by doctors that he would never work again and spent the next 11 years very ill. During this time he also went through a marriage breakup.
Despite his circumstances, he never considered ending his sponsorships
At the time of his stroke, he had been sponsoring 10-year-old Duong from Vietnam for two years. Despite his injuries, Gordon says he never considered stopping his sponsorships. True to his word, he continued to sponsor Duong until he graduated from the sponsorship program in 2008 when he turned 18.
“Because of the disability I was really sick. I have to admit it was a struggle to write [to my sponsored children]. I wrote most of the letters that I authored and I loved receiving them,” he says. “It was quite a discipline to write back but I knew it was important so I tried really hard.”
Sponsor and child reconnect
Today, life is coming full circle for Gordon. Miraculously, by 2011 Gordon had completely recuperated and has since remarried. After living in many places along the east coast of Australia, Gordon is also back in NSW working as a casual chef and disability support worker.
This year he had the chance to reconnect with a grown-up Duong through an update from ChildFund. Duong, who grew up in a poor, rural village in northern Vietnam, is now working for the Vietnamese Government’s Youth Union after having the opportunity to complete his education thanks to his sponsorship.
Child sponsorship is a gift for sponsor and child
“I believe the most valuable gift given to me [as part of my sponsorship] was that my study was maintained and continued thanks to the regular encouragement from my sponsor,” says Duong. “I want to send my sincere thanks to Gordon who sponsored me for such a long period. Thanks to you I‘ve got what I have today.”
“Often children move out of the area [that they grow up in] but for Duong he is making a difference for the next generation of his community. What an excellent result!” says Gordon. “He may even be one of the next leaders of his community.”
Is child sponsorship a journey for you?
Amidst our fast lifestyles, we’re often left searching for meaning in our life. Is child sponsorship a journey for you, one that could be a meaningful and enjoyable experience?
Find out more about the journey, or learn about the program here.