Giving together, working together, caring together
Mission of the foundation KIDS in Dire Straits
Our primary and most important mission is to help children in need in Indonesia. We focus on providing safety, education, support, and opportunities for a better future for the most vulnerable.
The KIDS in Dire Straits Foundation connects the Dutch, Indo, Indonesian, and Chinese-Indonesian communities.
Together, we help children facing challenges in Indonesia. We do this with care, honesty, and trust. We treat everyone with respect and deliver on our promises.
We work in a way that aligns with important values, such as caring for each other, being just, and living together with respect for faith, Sharia values, and Pancasila philosophy, based on the values of humanity, solidarity, and social justice.
We work alongside people, not above them. Together with local communities, we give children hope, strength, and opportunities for the future.
For the Netherlands, this is a symbolic Giving Back Statement. With your support, you give something back. You contribute to a world with dignity and hope for the next generation.
Why is the KIDS Foundation unique?
- It helps children in need with mental and psychological support to build their self-esteem, self-confidence, and to feel that they are valued, matter, and are worth it.
- Because the foundation KIDS is a bridge between the Netherlands and Indonesia, based on a living legacy or covenant between the nations.
- It shelters children of all backgrounds, cultures, and religions.a
- It monitors child trafficking.
- It works on its own projects and supports organizations and families in need.
- It provides an all-in-one package: "providing support for: a home, a bed, care, a home, identity, and education to offer a hopeful future."
Remembrance & Mission KIDS in Dire Straits Foundation
We remember the forgotten children of the colonial era.
Orphans with living parents were orphaned. Born without guilt, but stricken by inequality, silence, and rejection. Their mothers were forced to choose between survival and motherhood and often faced pressure from their own families. Their fathers had the power to take responsibility, but chose to leave their informal families for their own in the Netherlands. Society in Indonesia looked the other way. These children bore the stigma of what they had never caused. They were labeled as children of shame, often without an identity, no address, no home, living in poverty and on mere bread. They were and are children, worthy of protection, love, and a future. These Indo or Indo children of that time now form the bridge to the vulnerable and distressed children in Indonesia today! They stand up for their fellow sufferers today and hope to be able to give them a home and a future. The KIDS in Dire Straits Foundation stands still at this location, not only to commemorate, but to take responsibility. Because our mission is rooted in this history: that no that no child should ever be unwanted, that no child should pay the price for the failures of adults, and that human dignity always takes precedence over power, birth, or circumstance.
By commemorating these children, we break the silence of the past and connect the past and the present. Today, we stand up for children who have been rejected by difficult circumstances, forgotten, or abandoned in Indonesia and beyond. So that what was inhumane then will now lead to justice. And so that this never happens again.
Statement by the KIDS in Dire Straits Foundation
Our choice – a bridge of connectedness
Our starting point is simple and comes straight from the heart.
The KiDS in Dire Straits Foundation is committed to helping vulnerable orphaned and homeless children in Indonesia. Many of these children grow up in difficult and uncertain circumstances. We provide care and support, collaborate with their caregivers and local partner organizations, and invest in education and development. In this way, we help children gradually build a better and hopeful future.
We have chosen to connect our mission with the Indo community. This Dutch-Indonesian community originated during the colonial period and has formed a living bridge between the Netherlands and Indonesia for generations. Traces of this shared history, which lasted over 330 years, are still visible in Indonesia and in the lives of many families and children.
This connection reminds us of a simple but important truth: children have no control over the circumstances in which they are born, but they do have the right to care, protection, recognition, and a future.
The path we take is one of encounter, learning, and collaboration. We do this by organizing workshops and dialogue sessions, cultural exchanges, and collaboration with young people in Indonesia and with partners in Europe. In this way, we bring generations and cultures together and build mutual understanding and lasting engagement.
For us, giving back doesn't mean repaying the past, but engaging with the present and the future. It means investing in humanity. We don't restore the past, but protect what is vulnerable and nurture what holds a future. Therefore, we invite everyone—Dutch people, Indo, Indonesian, and Chinese-Indonesian communities, as well as Islamic and Christian faith communities worldwide—to join us in transforming this solidarity into concrete care and collaboration for vulnerable people in need.
Those who choose to help contribute to a future in which children in need are seen, recognized, and can experience hope again.
On behalf of the board,
Erik Reep
Founder and Chairman KiDS in Dire Straits Foundation
Together, Dutch, Indonesian, and Chinese-Indonesian communities provide care, hope, and opportunities for children in need. (Netherlands and Indonesia connected).
Help orphans and poor children, orphanages, adoptive families, and schools in need:
Amstelveenseweg 643
1081 JD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
+31 20 64 41 094
info@stichtingkids.org
www.stichtingkids.org
Chamber of Commerce number: 97123994
Rabobank: IBAN NL05RABO 0144851229
Registered as an ANBI since April 28, 2025. Donations, gifts, and bequests are tax-deductible.