A Teacher of Street Children

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Egi Trialogi

Egi Trialogi, 29, is willing to spend his savings and deal with law enforcement officers to ensure that street children have access to education. The nonformal teacher from Majalengka regency, West Java, offers hope to those who are often neglected.

A row of certificates and trophies line the wall of the sitting room at Egi’s home in Pagandon village, Kadipaten district, as seen on Monday (21/12/2020). Among them are the Een Sukaesih Award for 2019 West Java Inspirational Teacher and the latest, the National Youth Education Pioneer Champion certificate received in October.

The various awards are a “bonus” for Egi’s efforts in providing guidance to street children around Kadipaten Market. His students are street musicians, beggars and parking boys whose ages range from 12 to 30. They are no longer pursuing any formal education for a variety reasons.

Egi has been meeting with tge street children since March 2016. On his way home from his teaching job, he has often been seen with them near the Kadipaten traffic light. He started talking to them, giving them the cakes or snacks that he bought for them.

After speaking to them about their backgrounds, Egi learned about the complex problems they carried. Some of them ran away from home after their parents were divorced, others were victims of sexual abuse who had been shunned by their family and stigmatized by their communities.

“Street children are the most vulnerable because they are unprotected,” said Egi.

He therefore wanted to help empower the youths through education and providing guidance.

As a matter of fact, Article 34, Paragraph (1) in the 1945 Constitution guarantees state protection for poor people as well as children who have been victims of neglect or abandonment. He therefore wanted to help empower the youths through education and providing guidance.

His actions at first prompted suspicion among some of the children.

“[They] thought I was a public order officer who would detain them, shave their heads and then release them,” said Egi, who is a nonformal teacher at Madrasah Tsanawiyah 6, a state Islamic junior high school in Majalengka.

Egi didn’t worry about it, and after a year of getting to know them, he encouraged the children to go back to school. He set up a school for street children near Kadipaten Market on 7 March 2017 that he named Pusat Taman Kreasi Kadipaten (Pustaka) Raharja. In the beginning, the school only had five students.

Egi and his wife, Eva Puspita Dewi, taught the street children three times a week after the afternoon prayer. The subjects they taught included the Indonesian language and handcrafts. He also holds religion classes called Jimat on Thursday evenings.

Sometimes, his students come to learn at his house, which isn’t finished yet. No public care home for children exists yet in Majalengka, which is known as a food production center and has one of the major airports in the country.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Egi Trialogi (left) and his wife, Eva Puspita Dewi.

Egi and Eva are both nonformal teachers and have often drained their savings to keep Pustaka Raharja running. Their combined salary in the early years of the school was less than Rp 500,000 per month.

Egi racked his brains when his students once expressed a desire to attend an arts festival. He had no money at all the day before the festival, when he needed at least Rp 150,000 for their transportation alone.

Then Eva took him to the market. “I was wondering why we were going to the market when we had no money. My wife ended up going to a gold jewelry shop to sell our child’s earrings. Blessed be God, we received Rp 350,000. I cried,” recalled Egi, who said he had no time to take the civil service exam because he was focused on caring for the street children.

Surrogate parents

He recounted another experience, in which the local police once summoned him at midnight because “his” child was suspected of drug abuse.

“I told them my child was still young and sleeping [at home]. It turned out that the [child] they had detained was one of my students,” he said, chuckling.

His neighbors and relatives also criticized him.

“’Pak Guru (teacher), why do you care about such a person? He’s got tattoos, he has pierced ears. It’s a waste of money,’” Egi said, recounting the derision he received.

However, Egi persisted. For him, all people are equal and have the right to education, including street children. The school is free of charge, but uniforms, stationery and transportation still carry a cost.

His dedication to providing access to education for everyone stems from Egi’s childhood experience. As the eldest of nine children of a farm worker, he is well aware of the difficulties in gaining an education. His childhood home, which measured 5 meters by 6 meters, was made of an earthen floor and woven bamboo walls.

On graduating junior high school, he continued his studies in Tasikmalaya while he worked as an assistant to an angkot (public minivan) driver, a paperboy and a street vendor. He then graduated senior high school and enrolled at Majalengka University on a scholarship.

Life was very hard that he frequently walked six hours to get home to campus. “When I got thirsty, I stopped at a mosque to drink tap water,” said Egi, who wore hand-me-down shirts and pants from other people that didn’t fit him.

In 2018, the Social Education and Atikan Miftahul Huda Foundation helped his students take the Package B and C equivalency programs so they could obtain their diplomas.

Egi’s rough journey early in life has made him dedicate himself to the education of street children. His contributions have been recognized and rewarded, with the district administration supporting his activities. In 2018, the Social Education and Atikan Miftahul Huda Foundation helped his students take the Package B and C equivalency programs so they could obtain their diplomas.

The students enrolled at his school have continued to increase and total 56 today. They come from not only Majalengka and Cirebon, but also Bandung and Bogor. The school now has 15 teachers and 18 other staff who provide skills training.

“Some volunteers have even moved from Bandung to study in Majalengka so they can teach the street children,” he said. Twenty partner organizations also help the students learn skills in sewing, silk-screen, catering and fish farming.

The street children study for free at the school, while Egi and the foundation bear the cost per student of Rp 3.6 million until they graduate.

“I also use the money from book royalties,” said Egi, who has written seven novels, short stories and a poetry anthology.

Egi also provides capital for students who wish to start their own businesses.

“Some have received Rp 5 million for breeding fish and opening small food stalls. They also [submit] financial reports without being asked,” he added.

Today, some of his students are traders, factory workers or have found opportunities to go abroad as handcraft instructors.

Egi Trialogi

Born: Majalengka, 7 March 1991

Wife: Eva Puspita Dewi

Education: Majalengka University

Awards:

- National Champion, Youth Education Pioneer 2020

- West Java Champion, Youth Education Pioneer 2020

- Majalengka Champion, Youth Education Pioneer 2020

- Majalengka Islamic Schools Teacher’s Award 2019

- Nominee, ESA Award 2019

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira.)