Books for Hope, Lydia, jessy, olga lydia, and 2 reporters (from gatra and MNC) just got back from komodo village in komodo island (flores). We support the village there by donating 350books.

There are around 450children in the village, age from elementary to junior high. They have a proper school building only up to junior high. Those who want to continue to senior hig, have to go to the other island.

To build the library in komodo village, we work together w/ the kepala desa (pak adam). The space for the library is located below pak ridwan’s house (the houses in the village is rumah panggung, so we use the ‘kolong’ as library). The bookshelves are prepared by the community with the support of Taman Bacaan Pelangi.

When we arrived at the village, the children were lining up to welcome us with their ‘komodo’ theme song. So interesting. They even have a ‘manta ray’ mascot dancing during the songs.

We held WEW as usual. There were around 80 children attending the workshop.

Olga Lydia has been very helpful in arranging this visit and in getting the media coverage. So the promotion will be from the tourism side komodo island and books for hope is mentioned as well.
the media coverage,will come from more media, coz olga arranged press conf yesterday.

Pada tanggal 16 Agustus 2009, ada yang berbeda di perkampungan nelayan, Muara Angke, Jakarta Barat. Sekitar 50 anak berkumpul dengan menggenggam buku kesukaannya. Mereka tak sabar menunggu giliran untuk segera menunjukkan kemampuannya berdongeng di acara: “Merdeka Lewat Buku”.

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Village: Taming Julu, West Sumatera (6 hours from Padang town)

In a remote village 6 hours from Padang town, children were asked to work instead of  going to school. Children’s world is limited only to 3 types of occupation.

The team from Books for Hope conducted its first Weekend Enrichment Workshop at this village, welcomed by a breathtaking landscape – highlands, blue skies and fresh air. Around 80 children were eagerly waiting for us in their ‘wooden hut’ makeshift school. The remaining space in the small hut was filled with equally as excited mothers. The Village Head, School Headmaster, a local Parliamentary member, an English teacher and 3 other teachers were there too. We were given a warm and grand welcome with the supply of a microphone and a box speaker, running on a generator set.

Speeches were made, and the book presentation symbolic gesture was done. The fun part begins! We asked the group of children what do they want to be when they grow up. Out of 100 children, there were only 3 answers! Teacher, doctor and farmer!

In their minds, those were the only 3 occupations they knew. Their parents were mostly farmers, they have 4 teachers, and a doctor from the city visits them once a year for medical check-up. They had no idea that they could be a scientist, an astronaut, a lawyer, or even a seamstress!

Our team spent 1 hour using pop-up charts, colors and story books to introduce them to a world beyond their current predisposition. We also taught them about the physical world – i.e. where Indonesia is, where the US, China and Europe are, etc. The younger kids joined a coloring competition of pictures of occupations and the older ones wrote an essay of ‘Cita-cita Saya’ (My Ambition) each.

Prizes were given to outstanding work! Of course everyone else left with a pencil, a book and a Books for Hope bag!

We were glad that in that one workshop, we have opened up 100 childrens’ minds to more possibilities. Hopefully, to get to their now new ambitions, they will study and read the 500 books that are now theirs!

In a village in Cianjur, 3 hours from Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta. Dili, an 11 year old student is an avid reader and one of the brightest child we have met. Being more fortunate than other children in her village, she was smart enough to enter one of the best primary schools in a nearby town. There, she got offered an Accelerated program and completed her primary school at the age of 11, a year earlier than usual. Although a year younger, she finished at 10th place in a school of 600 students.

As her father goes for business in Jakarta intermittently, she has a small collection of books in her room. Dili’s favourite is the set of Harry Porter in Indonesian language. She reads so much that her parents’ income could not keep up with her passion for reading. As a result, she has read each book from her collection 5 times – from end to end. Her parents have brought her books for her future enrollment into high school, books that are for 14 year olds. That too – she has read several times- from end to end. Out of books, she writes her own books from brown writing paper. She writes stories of children, fantasy and horror. She is also the Illustrator of her books, providing each chapter with drawings of her own. She is not only bright but entrepreneurial. She sells these self-made story books for Rupiah 5000 each (Rp 4000 if her buyers provide writing paper). That is USD 0.50 and USD 0.40 each. From her small book collection, she also rents books to her friends for Rupiah 500 per book for a period of 3 days. She hopes to be an English Teacher one day.

When she heard that Books for Hope is setting up a library in her village, she was thrilled! Now with 1000 bright and colorful books right in front of her house, Dili is busier than before. Reading several books a day, she is a glowing example to other children in the village. She also guides younger kids on reading and writing.