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Oktavianus, 31, grew up in extreme poverty in Indonesia. Today, he works as a school principal, inspiring the next generation of children to pursue their dreams.
“I only had one set of clothes,” Oktavianus says, reflecting on his childhood. “I washed them in the morning, went to school in them and still wore them when I came back home.”
Oktavianus, or “Okta” for short, grew up as one of five children on a tiny family farm in rural Indonesia with his mother and father, uncle and aunt, and two cousins. His childhood memories are marked by intense recollections of extreme poverty: walking to school barefoot, long bouts of illness, the sensation of trying to ignore his constantly rumbling stomach. “My family had difficulty in finding enough food and clean water for us,” Okta says.
At age 9, following a health exam at school, his parents were told that Okta was malnourished and needed to eat a healthier, more diverse diet. The lack of nutritious food was influencing both Okta’s physical health and his mental state. “At that time, I think that I was not able to learn well because of the nutrition problem,” he remembers today.
It was around the same time that Okta and his family were referred to the ChildFund program and subsequently enrolled – and his life changed forever.
Okta says that ChildFund began to provide him with school supplies and his family with a monthly stipend.
“At last, I put on shoes!” Okta recalls – a turning point for him. “I usually got 1 million rupiah ($64 USD) per month. And with that money, we bought food, clothes and cooking utensils for home.” Okta’s health soon improved, and he was free to focus on school.
Okta remained in the ChildFund program throughout high school. He regularly participated in ChildFund’s academic tutoring program and in the youth club, which offered training on leadership skills and child rights. When he graduated from high school, Okta knew he didn’t want his education to end there – so he worked hard to save up for college and pay for his school supplies.
“In fact, I used to sell vegetables to help pay for my education,” he says. “There are a lot of mothers down at the market who remember me as the boy who used to sell vegetables. ‘When are we going to sell vegetables together again?’ they say” when he passes by.
Okta was accepted to a local university and began studying education with the hopes of one day becoming a teacher. Despite all his efforts to pay for his tuition, however, he still fell short.
“Then, what I remember the most is when I had no money during my second semester at college, … suddenly, there was financial assistance given to me.” Okta had qualified for one of ChildFund’s scholarships, which are fueled by sponsorship funds. It came through just when it was most needed.
“It amounted to 1.8 million rupiah ($115 USD), right at the time I was about to drop out of college,” Okta says. “It turned out that I had support!”
He would go on to receive further scholarship assistance in the semesters that followed, eventually graduating with a teaching certificate.
Okta soon gained employment – first as a Scout leader in the community before working his way up to teacher, guidance counselor and then assistant principal. “And finally, they saw my abilities, and judging from my abilities, I was appointed principal,” says Okta with pride.
Just a few days after we interviewed him, he got married.
Sometimes, Okta looks finds it hard to believe how far he has come since childhood. Despite his success, however, he still has dreams and aspirations for his career. He hopes in the future to continue his education, working in district-level educational administration and curriculum planning.
“I am grateful,” he says. “I couldn’t have done it without the assistance from ChildFund.” As Okta knows firsthand, anyone can make an enormous impact on a young person's future when they choose to sponsor a child.