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Depok’s superwoman fights illiteracy among children
Having a legal entity has helped Tien Suryantini run LSM Edukasi Dasar without disturbance, as some of her neighbors had accused her of spreading Christianity.
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Tien Suryantini (left), interacts with her students and parents at LSM Edukasi Dasar, Depok. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari )
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pink-walled open classroom with a small yard tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Jl. Cagar Alam in Depok is where Tien Suryantini, 62, spends most of her days among the chatter of 53 children aged 5 to 10. Tien, who is affectionately known by locals as "Bu Desi" (Desi’s mom), teaches in the school she founded called LSM Edukasi Dasar (Basic Education NGO). She greeted The Jakarta Post reporter with a smile, offering breakfast of rice and various condiments as the classroom was filled with mothers and children enjoying their mid-morning meal after a class.
“The dads work in the mosque as marbot masjid, taking care of the mosque’s cleanliness. Some also work as motorcycle taxi drivers, scavengers, project workers, that sort of thing,” she said, motioning toward the children.
LSM Edukasi Dasar, established in 2005, is known by locals as the "free" school in the area. No admission fee or any tuition is charged; children are welcome to join and learn. Although having had several volunteers in the past, Tien handles the school singlehandedly.
Back in 1993, Tien caught a boy from the neighborhood writing inappropriate words on her house. “I said, ‘Hamdani, why did you write those things on my wall? Can you read it?’ and he answered, ‘No.’ It turned out that he had been taught to write those things by older kids in the area. From that point onwards, I was moved to teach these children to read,” Tien told the Post on April 12.
“So I asked them whether they wanted to learn how to read and write. They said they wanted to, but not in the mornings, because they had to work as scavengers,” she said.
Tien began teaching the teenagers in her garage through lessons starting after 10 a.m. as they had to work in the morning. “It took them about three years to finally recognize letters and read, albeit not very fluently,” she recalled. “The most important thing back then was that they could read, write and count, so that they would not be tricked when doing their work,” she added, noting that their slow learning was largely caused by delayed brain development because of a lack of nutrition and many other factors.
As time passed, Tien’s students grew in numbers and got younger. She also took in special-needs children. Tien established her school as an NGO, with the help of a University of Indonesia (UI) student in 2005. “The UI volunteers fought for me; they wanted me to have a legal entity, be it as an NGO, a foundation or PKBM [education-related NGO]. I chose NGO because I didn’t want to be tied down,” Tien explained.
Having a legal entity has helped Tien run LSM Edukasi Dasar without disturbance, as some of her neighbors had accused her of spreading Christianity.
“My house nearly got burned down. From about 2002 until 2005, I experienced all sorts of terror. One of the UI volunteers, Arinta Puspitasari, was a Muslim, and she said to me I should go on teaching,” she said.
Having a legal entity does help with getting donations, but she does not have many regular donors. Tien’s church donates Rp. 750,000 (US$53.24) per month to the NGO, while the remaining operational costs are still paid out of Tien’s own pockets.
“My children are my source of funds. They all work and in Christianity there is the tithe [giving one-tenth of one’s income] and that’s what is used [to fund this school]. If they want to contribute to the church, they will split their money with me. So it’s personal money,” she said with a laugh. Her husband, senior journalist Nestor Rico Tambunan, is also supportive of her social efforts, although he protested in the beginning.
Read also: Depok: The front line in Indonesia’s fight against waste
In 2010, Tien received financial aid from the government thanks to the help of a friend in the Education Ministry. “I received one-time funds after a very complicated process and I decided not to [go through the process] again,” she said. “That was one-time funds, about [Rp] 30 million. The funds took so long to be released but I received the money in early 2011.”
Also in 2010, Tien moved her class from a garage into a simple roofed structure built on a small patch of land owned by her and her husband. With the help of a former volunteer, she built the open classroom she still uses today.
“When this school was built, people started talking because they thought we were building a church. I did receive help from one of my volunteers who went to GKI Pamulang. She helped us with fundraising and got funds from the church,” Tien said with a smile.
“[The community youth here] wanted me to sign a written statement that this building would not be used as a place of worship. I was OK with that because that was never my intention. This [building] was intended to be a neutral place for all religions and this is why in this school we don’t have religion as a subject. We only teach general knowledge.”
Since occupying the new school, Tien has released an average of 40 children to formal schools annually, with the highest number being 70. Having no walls to separate classes, Tien asks the students to sit according to their designated age groups, with each student's mother accompanying her child throughout the lessons that usually take two or three hours. Not worried about how packed the space can be, Tien is convinced that the presence of the mothers in the class with their children is very important.
“[The mothers] are actively involved. I ask them to accompany their children one by one, so they will know the teaching process, the proper one. Because they don’t know these things, some of them pinch their children to make them do homework, some bang their children’s heads against the wall, some pull their children’s hair, some say dirty words. When they are together with their children in class, it will show which mothers do those things to their children.”
To help the parents get to know their children better, Tien holds a parent-teacher meeting every three months when she doesn’t only evaluate the children’s development, but also the parents’ ways of teaching their children. “It’s safe to say that if I have 53 students now, I’m actually teaching 106 people,” she said with a laugh.
Students in LSM Edukasi Dasar are taught Bahasa Indonesia (reading and writing), mathematics and character building, which sometimes includes lessons of affection between mothers and the children. Tien believes strongly that in impoverished areas, loving acts must be taught and nurtured. “Love cannot happen just like that. Small children don’t know this and we have to teach them to love and not be scared of their mothers.”
The NGO's biggest challenge aside from getting regular donors is finding Tien’s successor who would continue her legacy. “I want somebody who doesn’t think of worldly things anymore because if they still think of material things, this school won’t work. It’s nearly impossible to find this kind of volunteer,” she said.
As one of the Post’s chosen inspirational women for Hari Kartini (Kartini Day), Tien has a message for Indonesian women.
"Be strong women. Work for your families. For women in powerful positions: Don’t abuse your position. Don’t spend money on unnecessary things; share with others who are in need. A woman’s duty is to be a role model and a strong support for her family. We can be both a mother and a father at once, so if we’re basically a strong creature, we can be better and stronger. Women in power should be positive role models. That’s what I want Indonesian women to be."
