“When I am ‘big’, I want to become a teacher. That’s why I like to read books,” says talkative 8-year-old Sri Lankan refugee Miriam with her Singhalese accent. We meet this adorable chatterbox at Harvest Centre located at Sentul Boulevard where many animated and vocal local and foreign (from Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Philippines) children like her are excited to see outsiders at their ‘school’. Perhaps it’s because they can goof around just a little today. We are, after all, guilty of distracting them from their work.

On the floor we visit, the 7 and 8-year olds (standards 1 and 2) have classes and are fully attired in school uniforms and badges even. Definitely not what we expected and when my photographer Jabir sets up his equipment to start shooting the kids in action, he becomes the centre of attention. Despite this slowing down the process (the little ones poke and probe at everything that comes out of his equipment bag as well as peek over his shoulder curious to know what he is up to), Jabir is patient and lets the children have their fun.

The Harvest Centre is a learning centre for displaced and poor children. The first thing that comes to mind when you discover this place is the saying, ‘You give a man a fish and he has food for a day but if you teach him how to fish, he has food forever.’ And that is exactly what this centre is about. It gives children who would under normal circumstances be out of school because their parents can’t afford it, are not allowed to be in school because they’re displaced children or be expelled from school for multiple reasons, a chance at education.

Education is their only hope for a real shot at life and the founders of this establishment are well aware of these children’s plight. The centre’s tagline, ‘Breaking the cycle of poverty through education’ already spells out their main objective. And it’s comforting to know there are still those who care and accept that knowledge is the key to change.

“I was working with my husband at a church called New Covenant Community in Sentul when I decided on starting up this centre,” says the soft-spoken and gentle Petrina Satvinder. “I noticed so many poor people living in the area. I felt like I needed to do something for these people.” The humanitarian, whose demeanour is far less demanding than her fight for the cause, together with her husband and another partner started up a (non-religious) centre for the poor where they provided meals and a place to spend time after school.

It was a home away from home. Somewhere these children could be safe and away from gangsterism and getting into any trouble. Slowly, the founders realised that perhaps it was education that would break this poverty stricken areas as most of the children who went there for food didn’t go to school. “Some of these children couldn’t even read at the age of 14!”

Petrina was on a mission to get through to these children about what education can do for them.