The majority of these children are either orphans or fatherless who have low social status, and because of this, child labour is practiced. In the poor villages, many of them do not have an education, and the girls are married off at an early age. For those underprivileged Niasan children who are sent to homes in the big cities of Indonesia, many do not return home.

After the Asian Tsunami of 2004 and the earthquake of March 2005, our center had a sharp increase of children to about 250. To accommodate the increasing number of the underprivileged, the work on a new complex began in 2005 in Afia, which is about 12 km north of the capital. This project is 80% funded by the Singapore Red Cross Tidal Waves Asia Funds amounting to S$1,656,960. The Tomorrow’s Hope Complex has acquired about 18 hectares of land, which comprises three Schools, a Children’s Home and an Extended Learning Vocational Center.

Four hectares of land have been allocated for the schools (primary, lower secondary and senior secondary) and together with our partners, Lentera Harapan from Jakarta, the construction began in August 2006 and is due to be completed in May 2007. Upon completion, the first intake of children will be received in July 2007. Out of the 16 modules, 11 are for classrooms (which can accommodate about 440 children) and the rest is for a library, staff office, a laboratory and others. Most of the teachers and administrative staff are trained in Jakarta and North Sumatra.

A Singapore architect designed the complex, which comprises four children’s dormitories, one staff block, one volunteer’s block, one senior staff block, one activity block, one auditorium/kitchen, one main office and one common toilet. Construction began in January 2007 is due to be completed in July 2007. Upon completion, the Home can accommodate 160 underprivileged children from all over the island of Nias. The Children’s Home is designed to ensure that each child is properly nurtured.

Built on land purchased by funds from the Tidal Waves Asia Fund (TWAF), UBS (Swiss) has funded the construction and the furnishing of equipment for the five blocks. The construction work is by IOM (International Organization of Migration), which also began in January 2007 and is due to complete in May 2007. The blocks have been designed to conduct training in carpentry, tailoring, cooking, bakery, hairdressing, handicraft, electrical installation, music, agriculture and computer (software/hardware). Also in the design is a library. The center is to serve both the Children’s Home and the local communities.

The farm of the complex is about 7 hectares. Since agriculture is still the main economy of the island, our long-term program is to assist local farmers to improve their methods of farming. Also, as a means for the center to be self-supporting, our children and staff will work on the farm daily to place food on the table.
As another form of education, the school is developing programs to emphasize to the children the importance of farming.