Children thrive on inspiration. Whether it’s someone praising their creativity or simply helping them to figure out what they are passionate about, the roles elders play are an important part in the development of their skills.

Komunitas Inspirasi Jelajah Pulau (KIJP), roughly translated as Island-Exploring InspirationCommunity, is a community of educators and volunteers whose aim is just doing that.

Established in 2014 by members of the similarly styled Kelas Inspirasi (Inspiration Class)’s Jakarta division, the KIJP expands on Kelas Inspirasi’s method of sharing work and life experiences by traveling to remote Indonesian islands and reaching children with limited access to information and inspiration.

KIJP volunteers and members come from a variety of backgrounds, and in classrooms they tell tales of the excitement and challenges their careers have presented. The idea is to broaden the horizons of the children, to showcase how the vastness of their country provides room for whatever it is they are
passionate about.

Beginning with only two official members, the KIJP has now grown to encompass 28 official members (not counting volunteers).

In 2014, the first KIJP batch took their mission to the islands of Tidung and Payung, which are still part of Jakarta, visiting four elementary schools.

The KIJP has implemented programs such as School, Community and Environment that aims to encourage closeness between children, volunteers and the community with informal activities such as watching movies together — eventually resulting in the sharing of ideas and experiences.

In the passing years, the KIJP has grown significantly. The number of volunteers has reached over 300 and their current batch (their sixth) has visited classes in schools on various islands of Thousand Islands — including Untung Jawa; Pari; Lancang; Pramuka; Panggang; Harapan and Kelapa — as well islands off Banteng and Karimun Jawa.

The growth has come as pleasant surprise to the KIJP.

“In the beginning, we simply wanted to build inspirations for these island children, to implore them to keep learning while keeping their pride as island children who care about their island environment and society,” explains Novi Safitri, one of the members and initiators of the KIJP.

“By the same token, we also wanted to involve the islands’ communities to play a role in the children’s educations and characters.”

For Novi and her colleagues, it is not enough that the islands’ inhabitants and children know about the importance of broadening their horizons, but other Indonesians should grasp this idea too. Hence off-island activities such as photo and video exhibitions of KIJP activities and interactions were held in Jakarta
last year.

“We want to spread this ‘virus’ about being eager to work and creative, as well as to be an agent of change,” Novi explains.

As such, the KIJP ran an activity called Camp Anak Pulau (CAP, or Island Children Camp) that selected a group of island children to visit cities and share the tales of their lives and culture with other children. The idea is that children will find it more relatable and enlightening when ideas are shared by their peers.

It has not been easy, especially in terms of financing the activities. To survive, the KIJP has engaged in activities that include charity runs and other various creative means.

Over the past two years, it also had to limit their visits to islands within the one-to four-hour range — though in 2016, they traversed the eight-hour distance to Sabira Island, the farthest island of Thousand Islands.

For Novi and her friends, all the struggles have been worth it. They understand that their mission is not only to provide children with new mindsets, but to build an encouraging society around the children — one that will ensure everyone plays a positive role in their development.

“It’s that old saying: It takes a village to raise a child,” Novi says. For the members of the KIJP, nothing rings truer.

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