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Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for most non-governmental shelters is the ability to stand the test of time. While the initial purpose of founding such charities is to provide a better life for the needy, funding shortfalls often mean that many such shelters end up closing their doors.

This is a possible future facing Balarenik, a shelter for children from poor families who are forced to eke out a living on Jakarta’s streets.

Managed by the Balarenik foundation — the name means “little troops” in Sanskrit — the children’s charity has been financially dependent on a small subsidy from the government, as well as donations from individuals, social groups and private and state-owned companies.

Founder and chairman of Balarenik, Agusman, said that many big companies misunderstand the concept of “corporate social responsibility.”

While continuous financial contributions are required to make shelters sustainable, many companies feel that giving out one-off packages of food or school equipment is sufficient.

“We have never had any main sponsor, most of the donations are temporary and many are incidentals, like during Ramadan, or the beginning of the school year,” Agusman, 40, said. “So what happens is that we have to look for donors all the time to support our programs.”

Founded in January 2001 by Agusman and two friends, over the years the Balarenik shelter has looked after the basic needs of more than 800 street children.

According to Agusman, there are currently more than 237 children under Balarenik’s guidance, 70 percent of whom are actively involved in the foundation’s programs.

The children who arrive at the shelter are generally from one of three types of situations, Agusman said. Many live on the streets and have lost contact with their families.

Others live at home but work on the streets in order to support their families. The last group is what Agusman calls the “vulnerable” group.

“Children who are out on the streets just to have money to buy snacks, not to help support their parents, are surprisingly the most vulnerable,” he said.

“It is very easy for them to become ‘full-time’ street children.” They need the most guidance, Agusman stresses.

In order to help secure a better future for the capital’s impoverished children, Balarenik provides them with non-formal education with the curriculum designed by the Education Ministry.

The program allows the participating children to take national examinations just like students who attend formal schools.

The children at the shelter also receive classes in a range of vocational skills that could one day help them get off the streets. “We teach mechanic skills, car washing and many more,” Agusman said.

Balarenik also gives business capital to mothers of young children who arrive at the center in the hope that they will stop relying on their children for financial support. In 2009, 10 mothers received money from Balarenik to start small businesses in their homes.

“They make and sell nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk) and gorengan (fried food),” Agusman said. “Not all mothers did it successfully, some quit in the middle. But the rest are doing pretty good and the kids have not been our responsibility anymore.”

After Idul Fitri, Agusman plans to start a new education program for toddlers who are exploited by being forced to earn money on the street.

“Parents rent out their babies to beggars, and toddlers beg out on the streets at traffic lights while their parents monitor from a distance. Many even do it while gambling,” he said.

Agusman estimates that Balarenik needs around Rp 30 million ($3,300) each month to support the current number of children participating in the shelter’s programs, but the foundation has to make do with whatever funds are available.

“That is the ideal amount,” he said. “But since we don’t have that much money, we have to be able to adjust to what we have which is usually anywhere between Rp 10 million and Rp 15 million.”

And because the shelter is underfunded, many street children cannot receive help right away, and others miss out on Balarenik’s programs altogether.

“There are children who are supposed to receive aid but have to be put on a waiting list. Also, items such as school equipment we usually distribute has to be reduced and some activities have to be delayed,” Agusman said.

To continue its operations, Balarenik is badly in need of continuous long-term funding, he added.

“It’s fairly easy to get people to give donations in the form of food, school equipment and stuff for the kids, but it is not likewise to find those willing to be a main sponsor for the foundation.

“It has been a difficult 10 years for Balarenik . If the condition remains the same, it will be really hard for us to survive.”

Sarip, the Street and a Serial Killer

Sarip has been busking on Jakarta’s streets with his friend for the past four years. “In our family, it’s my eldest sister and I who earn money,” the 12-year-old said. “My mother stays at home and cooks for us and our younger brother.”

Sarip and his friend earn around Rp 70,000 ($8) a day, which they split equally. He gives his mother Rp 30,000 and keeps the rest for himself.

Before joining the Balarenik community last year, Sarip was one of the street children associated with the alleged serial killer Bayquni, also known as Babe, who admitted to having raped and killed 14 young boys.

“He never did any harm to me. He only told us to kiss his hands when meeting him,” Sarip said. “He seemed like a nice man, but it turned out that he was bad.”

According to Agusman, Balarenik’s chairman, seven children were “transferred” to the shelter from Babe’s house three months before his arrest.

While Sarip cannot stop working on the streets because he needs to help support his family, he said that he has learned a lot at Balarenik.

And the young boy, who used to sniff glue to “daydream” before he arrived at the shelter, now has hopes for the future. “I want to be a policeman when I grow up,” he said. “It’s kind of cool because you wear a uniform and you chase thieves.”