Are you smarter than a homeless fifth-grader?

Although they could not afford their own desks and have nothing but a concrete ceiling sheltering them from Jakarta’s unpredictable weather, homeless children living beneath the Tebet — Kampung Melayu overpass are gifted with rare academic brilliance. Miftakhul Jannah, a fifth-grader at Bidara Cina 04 elementary school, has been living below the Tebet — Kampung Melayu overpass since she was born.

Around 100 homeless people — who mostly make a living by collecting trash and plastic waste — live right below the overpass, which is always congested with cars and motorcycles during Jakarta’s peak traffic hours.

Miftah’s father, a homeless trash collector who makes as little as Rp 20,000 (US$ 2.2) a day, also faces a life full of uncertainty, as Jakarta public order agency officers (Satpol PP) shut down the settlement under the underpass and evict the family from their makeshift home at
any time.

Nevertheless, despite all of Miftah’s limitations, she thrives in her school — a tuition-free public school in which all children from a variety of family backgrounds can compete.

“You always rank first [in the class] all the time! Give me chance to be in that ranking too!” Arsyid, one of Miftah’s more financially secure classmates, joked on Wednesday.

Surprisingly, in the community of homeless children living under the Bukit Duri — Kampung Melayu overpass, Miftah was not the only child possessing such huge intellectual capacity.

Mona Lisa, a 10-year-old girl enrolled in the same school and same grade as Miftah, also tops her class all the time. The only “defeat” she suffered out of 10 semesters of study at her elementary school was when she was ranked second during her first year of study, Mona said.

“My favorite subject in class is science, sometimes I like Bahasa Indonesia too,” she said, showing off her Indonesian workbook, which was full assignments given top scores by her teachers.

“I want to become a professor,” added Mona, who is referred to as mbak (Javanese honorific for elder sister) by other children in the area, due to her mature personality and soft-spoken manner.

Although both of Mona’s parents are only elementary school graduates, intellectual genes apparently run in Mona’s family as her older brother Asep Sofjan is also recognized in his school as a student who regularly ranks first in class.

Kamil Haryanto, Mona’s father who works both as a trash collector and a voluntary public bus cleaner, told The Jakarta Post that he felt immensely grateful to have offspring who possessed such huge intellectual capacities.

“Nevertheless, I sometimes struggle to meet their schools’ needs,” Kamil said, referring to the fact that he had to give his children Rp. 2,000 — Rp 5,000 every day for their pocket money at school.

Fortunately, the family did not have to bear the cost of books and worksheets, as the school lend them to the students, Kamil added.

Impressively, the feat of these children, who manage to outclass their classmates, was achieved
without proper studying facilities. For a trash collector’s daughter like Mona, there is no space for her own desk or bookshelf in their “home”, a modest 3-by-5 meter compartment built from plywood and cardboard boxes directly below the concrete overpass.

Every morning before they go to school, Miftah, Mona and other elementary school girls living beneath the overpass circle around a big, old-fashioned table there to study and discuss their homework together.

Mona said that she was happy with her life beneath the underpass, citing the fact that she could make many friends with other trash collectors’ daughters who live in the same place.

“This is a home for us all,” Mona said on Wednesday.

“Besides, I like here because it’s warm. Houses [located in residential areas] must be hotter,” the 10-year-old girl added, referring to houses in the nearby residential area of Tebet, South Jakarta.

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