Each individual can just do good
The unlikely co-founder duo of Project Child Indonesia - Marvin & Aya
We had a chat with Aya, one of the 2 founders of Project Child Indonesia, to find out more about how she met her co-founder Marvin, what they want to achieve for Project Child Indonesia and what continues to inspire her to keep going.
Q: How did you two meet?
A: We met at a university party - Marvin was doing his exchange semester in marketing and business development in Gadjah Mada and I just returned to Jogja from my one year of studying abroad in Japan.
Marvin told me that I'm very lucky to be born in this beautiful paradise (he really loves the tropical vibe of Indonesia) and I told him I’ll show him the ‘other side’ of this paradise where millions of people living under poverty.
That’s how we both started talking about development work, poverty, the importance of education and the urge to do something.
Q: What is your vision for Project Child?
A: The vision of Project Child is for every child in Indonesia to have the opportunity to learn, to have a healthy start, and to feel supported and secure living in a clean environment that is prepared for natural disasters.
In general, all our program activities in Jogjakarta run under the name of "Sekolah Sungai" (meaning ‘River School’) because most of the communities we work with are located directly or close to the river side.
Regarding "Project Child schools" in Jogjakarta, we have two kinds:
For the first one, there are currently three project locations where we go into the community and teach children and/or parents weekly. We are allowed to use some facilities there.
Our Project Child classes in the communities have a self-made curriculum and cover topics which are important to children’s lives but are left out at school, e.g. healthcare and the environment.
For the second one, there are collaborative partnerships with schools for the drinking water or Internet literacy program which we teach in certain classes. The schools have a normal curriculum and everything is based on the Indonesian educational system. We just add on our content depending on the shared program.
At each location, we have approximately 50 children attending our classes.
All our programs in the coastal town of Pacitan run under the name of our "Sekolah Pantai" (meaning ‘Beach School’). Here, We have our own facilities. Once our school opens, we will host programs here and prepare programs and classes to reach out to smaller villages within the whole region of Pacitan.
We also run the drinking water program in Pacitan to help the community understand the importance of drinking clean water.
Q: What is your inspiration that keeps you both going?
A: I want to be a professional in the development field and Project Child gives me an opportunity to learn from firsthand experience what the word ‘development’ means in a very practical way on a daily basis.
For Marvin, his goal is to create a lasting positive impact that goes inline with his passion in marketing and business. He is a firm believer that no matter what your background, you can do something for someone in need. He uses his marketing skill to help Project Child Indonesia achieve its goals.
STARCHIE is excited to support
Project Child Indonesia
in our initiative of “Buy to Give”!
What is “Buy to Give”?
Our “Buy to Give” initiative is our avenue to advocate our belief in education for children.
At Starchie, we believe that everyone has a right to education - especially children. Children should be given the opportunity to learn and explore. We want to support organisations and institutions that support and encourage the power of knowledge for the future generation.
To support our cause, we specially created 1,200 notebooks that are simply-designed and perfect for any occasion. All profit from the sales of these notebooks will benefit a selected educational organisation or institution in Asia that gives children access to education.