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Ayu Nova, 16, has been living at a shelter for street children in Bambu Apus, East Jakarta, for the past two years, prior to which she hawked snacks and bottled water at traffic intersections.

“My life was hard because I had to juggle my studies with selling snacks on the street to help support my family,” she tells the Jakarta Globe.

Ayu, the third of five siblings, never finished junior high, dropping out because her family could not afford to pay the fees.

Her story is not unique. Thousands of children drop out of school and take to the capital’s streets every year to help augment their parents’ meager earnings.

As Indonesia marks National Children’s Day today, street children are appealing for more help in terms of protection and access to education.

“I wish the government would pay more attention to street children because we all experience a very tough life,” Ayu says.

“Street children are just like any other children. Please don’t despise us and don’t write us off as being of no use to the nation.”

Ayu now studies at a vocational school run by the Indonesian Teachers Union in Pondok Rangon, East Jakarta.

“I’d like for the government to pay attention to non-state schools such as mine, as we need more facilities,” she says, adding there are not enough classrooms or bathrooms, and no sports field.

Indra Lesmana, 16, another street child at the Bambu Apus shelter, tells the Globe that the government should do more to support street children. “We need equal opportunity in everything so that we don’t go down the wrong path,” he says.

Orphaned in the fourth grade, Indra dropped out of school in Bandung and came to Jakarta, where he eked out a living busking on buses and at traffic intersections, and eventually developed a drug habit.

“I got the drugs for free for a whole six months from other kids and thugs,” Indra says. “I was so lost at that time, I didn’t know what to do. I had nothing.”

“I don’t want people thinking that we’re all criminals,” Indra continues.

“We may be rascals, but that’s because no one’s willing to help us even though we have nothing.”

Wati, 17, lives at a shelter run by the Himmata Foundation in North Jakarta.

She tells the Globe that street children have the potential to be great if only they had a helping hand.

“Please pay attention to us as we’re also the hope of the country,” she says.

All three children say the shelters they now call home instill hope and the promise of a better future.

“We learn a lot and develop skills, such as sewing, computers, automotive, electronics, drawing and so on,” Ayu says.

Andriyati A, from Care for the Little Hands, a program designed by the Ministry of Social Affairs to give street children vocational training, tells the Globe that the children have huge potential.

“Never underestimate marginalized children like these, because they’re fast learners,” she says.

“Their tough lives have taught them to strive harder, and you can see it when they create handicrafts. They always try their best to create quality items.”

Makmur Sunusi, the ministry’s director general for social services and rehabilitation, says the government is turning more of its attention to children, neglected ones in particular.

“The Constitution stipulates that neglected children must be taken care of by the state, so what we’re doing now is drawing up breakthrough programs that make use of professional methods to create a minimum service standard in shelters,” he says, adding that now Indonesia has some 6,000 shelters housing children.

“The government will provide examples and local governments will then adopt the system,” Makmur adds.

Arist Merdeka Sirait, secretary general of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak), says one of the issues that must be highlighted on National Children’s Day is the danger of abuse faced by street children.

“Even public order officers should be able to prevent the spate of sex crimes against children,” he says.

“Parents are also hurting their kids. When the adults who are closest to the children become a danger and can no longer protect them, then the situation becomes insane.”

He adds that the protection of children should be a shared concern of families, the community and the state.

In 2008, Komnas Anak received 1,726 reports of abuse against children nationwide. That figure rose to 1,998 in 2009.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Arist says, adding that 68 percent of violations are committed within the family.

The commission is currently lobbying the president to adopt a campaign to educate the public about child protection, called Gerakan Nasional Indonesia Sayang Anak, or Love the Children Indonesian National Movement..

“We hope the president takes it on in order to protect children,” says Seto Mulyadi, a former chairman of Komnas Anak.