HARUM's history
October 2004 - The beginning
HARUM opened its door by the end of 2004. By that time, there were a couple of children who couldn't go to school in the Lowokwaru area in Malang city. They couldn't pass the writing and counting test to be accepted at primary school. Poverty and a the low educational standards of the parents were the main cause. These children never had a chance to go to kindergarten, and therefore were never able to learn to write and count. As a result, in January 2005 HARUM opened a kindergarten where these children could come for free.
2 January 2005 – Opening free kindergarten
The free kindergarten is still up and running under the new institution "Taman Anak Sejahtera" (free translated: prosperous kindergarten), shortened TAS.
7 January 2005 – HARUM got registered at the notary
The founders of HARUM: Dr. Suryadi, Ir. Cakrawala, S.H. Hamdan, M. Noor Choirullah, Abyz Wigati, Ir. Sulwan, and Retno Savitri registered and signed the founding document of the Harapan Ummat institution at Notary S. H. Faisal Waber.
August 2005 – Opening Sanggar Anak and Sanggar Bunda, Lowokwaru area
Those children who successfully registered at primary school, also needed assistance while learning and support from caregivers. In addition, parents also needed to get involved by strengthening their skills to assist their children while learning but they also needed to strengthen their skills on how to better take care of their children. This synergy of strengthen the relation between children and their parents has become HARUM's main strategy in serving and empowerment of vulnerable communities in Malang city. Children's learning center and mother's learning center continue to this day, while a father's learning center - Sanggar Ayah - has been added in 2019.
August 2006 – Opening Sanggar Anak, Muharto area
Muharto is another area in Malang city (see map). In this area some of the children are part-time street children; they are begging on the streets, but they always go back home to gather with their family. Most of the parents ask or force their children to give at least a part of the money 'earned' by their children. By mentoring both the children and their parents through various stages, awareness is raised to the importance of education and child protection. In general, parents have taken their kids of the streets in about 2 to 3 years.
October 2006 - Opening Sanggar Bunda, Muharto area
In the beginning, we visited door to door all mothers until finally their awareness grew of the benefits to attend regular meetings at Sanggar Bunda. Up till now, these meetings are held in turn in one of the houses of those mother who follow the program.
April 2011 – Opening Sanggar Anak, Cendrawasih Gadang area
Cendrawasih Gadang is a densely populated area on the edge of the Brantas river. As in the Muharto area, we went door-to-door to talk to all the moms. HARUM started in RT9 (an Indonesian administrative division of splitting up kampongs in RT and RW) with over 100 families. The social environment was not conducive, the socio-economic conditions of the population were generally disadvantaged and vulnerable children experienced violence. Through the approach of local leaders, finally HARUM activities could begin and continue to the present.
July 2011 – Opening Sanggar Bunda, Gadang area
Text missing.
October 2013 – Following National guideline Standard Children Care Taking (SNPA)
The first time HARUM heard about National Standard Children Care Taking (SNPA), a new guideline to institution-based childcare and protection was introduced. It turned out that HARUM was already working according to the SNPA-guidelines since 2005. Because of that, the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kementerian Sosial) and Save the Children encouraged HARUM to formalize its service activities in accordance with SNPA guidelines.
January 2014 – Registering our institute to Social Services
HARUM registers at Social Services under the name Lembaga Kesejahteraan Sosial Anak (LKSA, Child Welfare Institute). By doing so, HARUM and all foster children will periodically entered and recorded into the database of the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs.
September 2017 – HARUM accredited by Ministry of Social Affairs
Finally, the accreditation department of the Ministry of Social Affairs introduced a standard for child welfare institutions based on family care such as HARUM. HARUM managed to get a certificate.
October 2018 – HARUM joined Asia Care Network
HARUM is actively integrated with children's social service networks that are struggling to encourage parenting forms that are in the best interest of the child. HARUM's experience in preventing child separations through family reinforcement with the parenting approach gained appreciation and became one of the best practices replicated by similar institutions in Indonesia.