Fajar
The Indonesian posterboy with his cigarette, the inspiration for JQThreads. Our wake up call, our realisation that we are very lucky. We met him when he was 13 years old. He greeted us with a cigarette in his mouth and a smile. Fajar’s story can remind us all of some important things, so we thought we would share it.
At the time Fajar went to school, but he said he prefers to be a marshal at the RC Car track, right next to his home. He wasn’t sure about his future, he doesn’t know what he wants to do, but after thinking about it for a bit, he said he would really like to race RC Cars. Fajar seemed like a perfectly normal, happy 13 year old boy, although at the end of the day, he has so little, and his opportunities in life are restricted. Take his dream of racing RC cars or example. Just to get an RC car would cost a 9 month family income.
1st world problems are not worth wasting energy on. Try to be grateful for what you have, and enjoy yourself! Since you are reading this, you can most likely purchase clothing you like, but don’t really need online. High five! You can do what you want, you can be what you want! Don’t waste your gift! Remember that there are so many people in this world who don’t have that luxury.
Education is Key
Some time after our trip to Indonesia, we learned that Fajar had dropped out of school due to his family not affording to send him. We decided to pay for it, and send him back to school as long as he wanted to go, and he did. Hopefully we can play a part in helping Fajar discovering, and pursuing his dreams. One goal we have at JQThreads is to help people be able to achieve their dreams, and to have the best chance of doing that, you need to go to school. Start with the basics!
6 Years Later
The most recogniseable JQThreads design is the stencil of Fajar, based on the original picture. This design was made because this moment was what started all this madness. Since we have started this project, we have also learned how hard it is to actually make a positive difference. The environment greatly shapes a person, and with both of Fajar’s parents on drugs, that is the path he ended up on also, after finishing school. He now lives with an open invitation to change his life, we reach out to him from time to time, hoping that he is ready to make the change. JQThreads’ mission is to provide opportunities to people who don’t have them, and remind the rest of us that we can do what we want, we are the lucky ones!
We want to remind people like you, that you can live your dream, and we want to do our share in making sure that more and more people around the world, can live theirs too.
