South East Asia is composed of many different countries. Some of which include Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. All of these countries are in a state of poverty and a large burden of the poverty falls on the children. As we will see later on this page, many children are forced into working at a young age and even prostitution.
Many children are forced to grow up faster then their American counterparts.
In Indonesia, the street kids
are a serious problem. Political and social turmoil has lead to a flood of children
living and working on the streets. The number of children on the street is very
high and projected to rise in the future. The school drop out rate is 46%. It
is estimated that 20 million children are no longer getting an education but
are being used as forced labor. The majority are children ages 8-15 years old.
Sexual abuse on the streets is a common occurrence.
Nearly all of the street kids have been sexually abused, most within the
first three months of being in the streets. The alarming statistic is the
increase in the number of children prostitution, which has risen dramatically
over the years. The rise of sexually transmitted disease has caused alarm
in the country of Indonesia.
Not all of South East Asia is in an economic depression.
There are parts that are flourishing. Some schools are beautiful and have
been educating the children for some time now. The Kartini
preschool is one of these schools. Organized in 1968, its goal is to
provide an active learning atmosphere with its children. There are three
grade levels here, ages 3, 4 and 5.
There is also a Montessori
school in Indonesia. This amazingly looking school offers pre-school,
kindergarten, and 1st-6th grades.
Adoption of abandoned
children is an issue for these countries. For many of these children, a
life in an orphanage is their road of life. Many organization have been
started to relieve the burden. One, the Families
With Children From Vietnam offers support and information for parents
to be and parents who have already adopted. Adoption
From Vietnam is another agency whose purpose is to place parent less
children. Lastly, a wonderful web site called Images
of Children shows us the conditions that so many of these third world
countries children must endure on a daily basis.