Stick and Stone Teach Children to Be More Confident and Love Themselves

Wanti (17 years old), will soon be in college. She is a sponsored child of Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia). Recently, she received the good news about her graduation from high school. She felt very happy because she had passed an important step in her life.

So far, Wanti has been diligently participating in activities and trying to always be involved in Plan Indonesia programs in her village. The latest activity she participated in was Stick and Stone, a routine training conducted by Plan Indonesia for sponsored children, which teaches children how to protect themselves. “I am happy to join the Stick and Stone training. After attending the training, I learned that we have to be ourselves and believe in our own abilities, so we can be more confident. I want to do the next activity, which is to train my friends and younger siblings in the village, so that they can also be more confident and love themselves, like me,” she said.

Previously, Wanti had also attended a training on the importance of birth certificates organized by Plan Indonesia in the past. This activity is in line with one of Plan Indonesia’s main mandates for sponsored children, which is to ensure that they have a valid birth certificate. According to Wanti, she has become more knowledgeable about birth certificates. “I am grateful because I already have a birth certificate, as one of the requirements to be an officially registered Indonesian citizen,” said Wanti.

In addition, there are many activities that Wanti does with Plan Indonesia. Wanti’s family is part of the Green Skill project or green agriculture training in her village. Her parents are members of the farmer group formed by the program. Although not directly involved, Wanti felt the tremendous benefits of the Green Skill program. According to him, his family’s economic situation was helped by an environmentally friendly farming system. Broadly speaking, Wanti said, she was very grateful for having the opportunity to become a SC child and participate in activities organized by Plan Indonesia. “I made many new friends from other villages. In addition, I also gained a lot of new knowledge and understanding,” she said.

When asked about her aspirations, Wanti replied that she wanted to be a policewoman or a flight attendant. “If I can, I want to go to flight school. I want to be a flight attendant,” said Wanti. To support her dream, during school she improved her English skills, so now she is quite fluent when asked to introduce herself in English. Written By: Stela Musi | Editor: Masajeng Rahmiasri