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Jakarta Post

Big lessons from small villages

It was a quiet Monday morning in Bajo, a remote village in South Halmahera regency, Maluku, and 25-year-old Junarih was scratching his head thinking of ways to get to the neighboring village of Sawang Akar

Willy Wilson (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, January 9, 2012

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Big lessons from small villages

I

t was a quiet Monday morning in Bajo, a remote village in South Halmahera regency, Maluku, and 25-year-old Junarih was scratching his head thinking of ways to get to the neighboring village of Sawang Akar.  

At work: Twenty-five-year-old Junarih teaches a class in Sawang Akar, South Halmahera. Junarih spent a year teaching there through Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar (GIM), an organization that places recent graduates in teaching positions in remote parts of the country. — Photo Courtesy of Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar

Three months earlier, Junarih, a recent material engineering graduate from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), had volunteered to teach in Sawang Akar through Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar (GIM). Pioneered by Anies Baswedan, GIM is designed for educated young Indonesians who volunteer to teach children in remote areas for one year.

That morning, Junarih should have been at a school in Sawang Akar where a group of students had been waiting for him. But he had missed the boat!  

“I arrived in the classroom at 9 a.m. while the class should have started 90 minutes earlier. But when I opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised to find one student jotting down 10 mathematics questions, nine of which had been solved and explained to the class,” wrote Junarih on his blog.

The student in question, Nurlaini, had shown attitude problems since the first day Junarih arrived. She often sighed in class, perhaps indicating her lack of interest in the subject and the teacher.

In his second month working as a teacher, Junarih had had enough of Nurlaini’s condescending attitude. But instead of getting angry, Junarih asked his students if they knew the reason the Portuguese and Spanish came to their land centuries ago.

“They came because your land is blessed with cloves in abundance. And cloves are highly valued in the international market,” he said.  

Junarih advised them to study hard so that one day they could sell cloves — Maluku’s most famous export — internationally without having to depend on other people.

His two cents apparently had an effect on Nurlaini, who had since then shown a better attitude to learning. But finding her teaching the class was one of the most memorable experiences for Junarih.

Born into a modest family in Indramayu, West Java, Junarih is the eldest of five children. His father is a fisherman and his mother sells porridge. Upon completing high school, Junarih earned a coveted government scholarship intended for students from low-income families.

“I was one of 30 students who managed to get the scholarship after completing six academic and one psychoanalysis test,” he said.

The scholarship was his ticket to ITB. To earn extra money, Junarih decided to teach math, physics and chemistry to high school students in Bandung.

After completing his studies at ITB, Junarih joined GIM. As you probably can tell, Junarih was a perfect fit.

“Living in modesty is nothing new for me. But I believe that one must aspire to become successful, which doesn’t necessarily mean having a lot of money. The reason I joined GIM was that I want to share with children the ability to dream,” he said.

Sharing a similar vision is 24-year-old Agung Firmansyah, who had just completed his computer science studies at the University of Indonesia prior to joining GIM.

“I wanted to encourage children in remote areas to dream of a better future,” said Agung, whose mother is a primary school teacher.

Hopes and dreams: Agung Firmansyah (right), who graduated with a computer science degree from the University of Indonesia, says he joined GIM because he believes education is the key to changing a nation. — Photo Courtesy of Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar
Hopes and dreams: Agung Firmansyah (right), who graduated with a computer science degree from the University of Indonesia, says he joined GIM because he believes education is the key to changing a nation. — Photo Courtesy of Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar

Agung exudes the spirit of a 20-something fresh out of school — he is decisive in his words and optimistic in his views. He believes that education is the key to changing a nation, and he will do everything he can to give everyone a better chance at a quality education.

Agung, who already has several awards and recognitions under his belt, taught for a year in Majene, West Sulawesi.

Located about 302 kilometers north of Makassar, Majene was a new village with a population of 138,825 at last official count.

“It is hardly surprising that the level of awareness about education is low there, as Majene only adopted a proper government system as a village around 10 years ago. One of the biggest challenges there is the lack of infrastructure,” he explained, adding that there was no electricity or telecommunications network when he arrived.

“To charge my cell phone and to call family and friends back home, I had to walk about six kilometers from where I was stationed,” he said.

Despite the minimum infrastructure, however, Agung noticed the enthusiasm for education shown by the local people. He said that as a teacher he was very much respected by the villagers.

When asked about his most memorable experience, Agung said that the students’ spirit to study had been very inspiring for him.

“I once asked my favorite student about his dreams, and he said he wanted to become like me — a teacher. I was flattered. But more importantly, I was happy knowing that the spirit I carried with me had been passed on to this student,” he said, with noticeable delight.

Pipit Indrawati: — Photo Courtesy of Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar
Pipit Indrawati: — Photo Courtesy of Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar

Pipit Indrawati, a volunteer teacher stationed in Bengkalis, Riau, shared a similar story. A recent English literature graduate from Semarang’s Diponegoro University, Pipit decided to join GIM because she wanted to share her knowledge with underprivileged kids.

“I have been fortunate enough to have access to education. I wanted to share my knowledge with others, especially those who live in remote areas,” she said.

Pipit, who was selected by the Youth and Sports Ministry as one of 18 exchange students to study in Australia for two months, taught English to students during her first semester in Bengkalis. She taught

athematics and Indonesian language during the second semester.

Teaching children in Bengkalis wasn’t a walk in the park, she said, as there were only 30 handouts provided by the government for 50 students. That is not to mention the lack of infrastructure such as transportation.

“But if I learned anything from the students, it was resilience. Some of the students had to walk about one hour to get to school every day — with their torn shoes, no less — yet they seemed happy and enthusiastic. It was a big lesson for me. I told myself not to sweat over the small stuff,” she said.    

— Photos Courtesy of Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar

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