We Children Can Help Other Children Too

​Hi, my name is Mateo. I am 9 years old. Every night my mom reads me a story.  Many times she tells me a story about how some boys are fortunate to be born rich, and some are not. My mom always reminds me that I am among the fortunate.  My mom helps a program called the Program Keluarga Harapan that teaches less fortunate mothers to educate their kids. The less fortunate mothers work extra hard, because they want their children to have a better future than them.

I remember their story when I am at school, especially when I am working on my business.  Yes, my friends and I run a business!  It’s called the Blue Dragon Mall, and it’s located in our school, the Jakarta International School. We the students shop there. Parents and teachers also shop there. 

Our business is renting computers for other students to play Minecraft. Each kid pays Rp 10,000 ($1) for 10 minutes of play-time.  It turns out that many kids want to play Minecraft!  We bring the laptops from home, borrowed from our parents.   

Our business is running really well, we made lots of money! The total is over Rp 1 million ($100).  Every shop in Blue Dragon Mall donates to charity, such as Kampung Kids.  That’s when I remembered what my mom told me -- that children can help other children, too. So I talked to my friends and asked them if we can use our money to help other children, children who are poor.

When I asked my mom how we can help, she said that the money can be used to print a little book. The book shows the poor families how to educate children better.  With her office, my mom had already printed lots of copies to be distributed. But they always need more. Our money can be used to print extra copies, so that more families can be helped.

I was so happy when the boys in my group agreed with my idea. They gave all their money to me, to print the books. Here is the picture of the envelope: 

My mom then took me to a printing company - a real one! With the money provided we were able to print an extra 145 sets of books.  One teaches how to manage the family’s money, and another one shows how to educate children. Below is the invoice I paid directly to the printing company.
 

Then we helped pack up the books, so that we can deliver them in person. 
 
I am so happy that we boys of the Dragon Mall are able to help other kids.  Yes, we children can help other children too!