About KKY

Economic crisis in Indonesia has made millions people suffer decrease in family income, increased price of household goods and higher rate of unemployment. Pressured to meet their primary needs of food, clothes and shelter, parents are forced to send their children to work, instead of to schools. The result is quite severe. As much as 4 millions of children have dropped out of school (of elementary and junior high level) in 1998. Many of them have become street children, who in accordance to UNICEF, are those under 18 years old who work in the street, live in the street, and are homeless drifters.

Street Children of Yogyakarta – Based on 1999/2000 survey conducted by Atmajaya University in Yogyakarta, there are about 800 male and 110 female street children found around the city. They are spread all over Yogyakarta’s intersections, markets, shopping centers, bus and railway stations. Most of them live in small groups (consisted of 10 children or more), scattered around 85 points or locations throughout the city, excluding smaller and less organized groups.

To support their lives, these street children usually work and operate on and off as street vendors, street musicians, shoe polishers, or beggars. They will stop working when they have enough money for the day, that is between Rp 10,000 to Rp 20,000; enough for eat and (unfortunately, as most of them usually do) buy cheap liquor.

Inevitably, their poor condition brings about a high rate of material and social risks among themselves, especially those who come from urban community. They rest and sleep anywhere: by the street, on pedestrian side, or in several safe houses provided by non-government organizations. For personal hygienes, they bath and wash their clothes in public toilet facilities around Malioboro street, usually late in the evening or at dawn.

They exercise no restrain for their sex life. It is common among male street children to buy cheap services from prostitutes who work along the railway side, while female street children tend to keep their sexual activities only with their boyfriends.

Street children often experience physical and social harassment from street thugs who take post around their place, or from local youth who reside nearby – usually over territorial argument.

In terms of health risk, most street children suffer lack of nutrition and appropriate diet, resulting in their thin, pale and gaunt look. Compared to other children, the physical welfare of street children is very much relied to the solidarity and support of their peer groups. Another concerning issue in this area is their exposure to drugs abuse and sexually transmitted disease (STD), due to their casual life style and pattern of relationships. In terms of mental health, street children tend to be more self-sufficient and show higher capability for faster recovery to their problems. They are also more creative in processing and translating adults’ ideas.

Health Initiatives: Some Details – Efforts have been made to attend the issue of health risks among street children. One of the government’s attempt to address health issues within the underprivileged community is through social security network program.

Unfortunately, the initiative is hindered by administrative problems, since patients of government-run community clinics are required to present personal or family identity card, something that these children do not have. As the consequences, these street children tend to ignore their illness until it becomes serious. Quite often, to dull their affliction, they consume liquor, or purchase cheap medicine from local pharmacy.

As a response to this problem, several non-government organizations (NGO) in Yogyakarta: Yayasan Dian Desa (through its program of Community Involvement in Urban Development/ CIUD), Yayasan Humana and Yayasan Indriya-Nati), have worked together in setting up a voluntary in-house clinic, named: KKY, which stand for Kerabat Kota Yogyakarta (Friends of Yogyakarta), to provide direct and free-of-charge health services for street children.

The founding of this clinic has successfully started a network called Kaukus Kesehatan (Health Caucus) that consists of various NGOs whose main concern are street children: Mitra Wacana, Lembaga Perlindungan Anak/ LPA (Children Protection Organization), Yayasan Sayap Ibu/ YSI, Yayasan Humana, Yayasan Indriyanati, Ghifari, Rifka Annisa, Lembaga Studi Pengembangan Perempuan dan Anak/ LSPPA (Women and Children Development Study Organization), Panti Sosial Bina Karya/ PSBK (Bina Karya Social Service), Panti Sosial Karya Wanita/ PSKW (Karya Wanita Social Service), Yayasan Indriya-Nati, and Perkumpulan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia/ PKBI (Indonesia Family Planning Community).

 KKY Clinic: Facts & Figure – The already established KKY Clinic is administered by four (4) personnels: one general practitioner, one dentist, and two assistants. It is located 300 metres from Malioboro street, one of the city’s busiest main street, and open daily from 10 am to 2 pm.

The clinic’s scope of service includes medical treatment, patients referral to Panti Ratih Hospital and health promotion. Aside from the permanent residents, KKY Clinic also involves volunteers from medical faculty of Gadjah Mada University. Funding for the clinic’s operation is provided by international NGOs, such as The Swiss Embassy and NOVIB, also from small regular fee paid by general patients from the sorrounding area.

Since the beginning of its operation in 2002, KKY Clinic has treated 1086 patients, 30% of them are street children. because patients who come not only street children but also the parents of street children, the porters at the station, pedicab , and the station hawkers

Common health problems among them are acute respiratory infections, skin problems, gastristic and venereal disease, also minor injuries caused by accidents or street brawls.

Based on the clinic’s record, most of these patients come from groups of street children located nearby. On the positive side, the service (health consultation and prescription) for this group is completely free. Aside from that, the place also serves as a venue for them to socialize with local community and enhance their knowledge in health.

Its funding and daily operation still largely depend on volunteers and is not self-sustained. As one of the result, regular-based medical workers are rather difficult to find, since they are expected to work voluntarily.

Despite of its possibility to extend its function as community health center for women and baby, the clinic is not equipped to provide maternity service. As for its location, a large number of street children concentrated far from Malioboro area may have not known or accessed the clinic. 

For that reason, we are preparing to improve the operation of KKY Clinic, as well as complement it with mobile health service, using a clinic-vehicle to reach groups of street children scattered around the city of Yogyakarta.

Mobile Clinic Initiative  – To complement an already established in-house clinic, a mobile clinic is considered as an appropriate alternative, in order to provide easy accessibility of basic health services for street children. On the other hand, the initiative requires several factors to consider for its implementation:

• there should be enough health awareness among street children and others to encourage them to make use of the service;

• the initiative should adopt a service pattern and style that could accommodate its target group unique characteristics and needs;

• the initiative should employ the lowest rate of service charge as possible, if not completely free.