TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Jack Black lends a helping hand to Lombok school

Jack Black likes a T-shirt with a story. In a recent Instagram post, the Hollywood actor and singer posed in a funky T-shirt that had been codesigned by Gia, a 12-year-old from Senggigi, Lombok, in West Nusa Tenggara.

Mark Heyward (The Jakarta Post)
Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara
Tue, February 18, 2020

Share This Article

Change Size

Jack Black lends a helping hand to Lombok school Jack Black (Courtesy of Instagram/Jack Black)

Jack Black likes a T-shirt with a story.

In a recent Instagram post, the Hollywood actor and singer posed in a funky T-shirt that had been codesigned by Gia, a 12-year-old from Senggigi, Lombok, in West Nusa Tenggara.

This is the work of Face This, a charity that has been working for over 10 years to connect students in Senggigi with designers in the Netherlands and around the world to raise funds for their school, which was badly damaged in the earthquakes of 2018.

“Let’s help build Gia her school of rock!” tweeted Jack Black. The post generated more than 180,000 likes.

Go Gia: Actor and singer Jack Black poses in a funky T-shirt codesigned by Gia, a 12-year-old from Senggigi, Lombok, in West Nusa Tenggara.
Go Gia: Actor and singer Jack Black poses in a funky T-shirt codesigned by Gia, a 12-year-old from Senggigi, Lombok, in West Nusa Tenggara. (Courtesy of Instagram/Jack Black)

In August 2018, a devastating earthquake killed hundreds of people and destroyed thousands of houses and buildings in Lombok, including SD 1 Senggigi state elementary school, which is still being renovated.

“That’s why many of the school’s 254 pupils are still attending lessons in tents outside of the school building,” said Jos van der Hoek from Face This. “It’s all about giving the kids a chance to help rebuild their school and deal with their trauma.”

Last year, a group of nine students from a school in Lombok, including Gia, took action by doing what they love to do: drawing.

Although much of Senggigi — including SD 1 — is still heavily damaged, the kids created drawings about the places in their hometown they loved the most.

While drawing, they were able to escape reality for a moment. But those drawings might end up in changing that reality forever as the children raise funds to renovate their school.

Nine street artists from different parts of the world volunteered to help transform the drawings into exclusive T-shirt designs.

Gia’s T-shirt is part of this collection. She designed her T-shirt together with Australian artist Jamie Browne. And with Jack Black now promoting the T-shirt, the campaign comes full circle.

“When we founded our charity T-shirt line back in 2008, we were really inspired by Jack Black’s movie School of Rock," Jos said. “In this movie, Jack’s character puts kids’ creativity front and center so they can achieve their goals. That’s exactly what we are doing too.”

 

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.