Bright and early on Friday morning we were greeted by 50 young children and their teachers at Lingsar village’s Paut Harapan Bunda (Mother’s Hope Paut), an independent paut, or kindergarten for underprivileged children. Everyone was dressed in their best outfits – both because they were attending school and also because they knew there were some visitors on the way.
Children from the paut class along with a few children from the local primary school had all been selected to receive health and education packs from Annisa.
Paut Harapan Bunda girls after receiving their packs
Other children checking out the contents
The children broke up in to groups of boys and girls and the Annisa team individually handed out packs to everyone, with each child introducing themselves by name, and salam-ing their new guests.
(NB. In Indonesia, salam, for young children refers to holding the hand of someone older than them to their cheek or forehead as a greeting and sign of respect.)
Callan greeting a young primary school boy (left) and Brynna and a teacher giving a pack to a kindergarten student (right)
The local school nurse, who visits Lingsar children once a month to check their height, weight and the length of their nails, then explained the contents of the health pack to children to make sure everyone knew what to do with the contents when they got home.
Hands fly up to explain to explain to the nurse how paut kids use their shampoo.
A young boy’s monthly height check to see how he’s growing
The families of the children who received packs are all unable to afford to send their children to normal kindergartens, which are quite expensive and usually cost more than primary school. The children’s mothers often work to clean recycled glass, earning a maximum of Rp.25,000 a week (just over $3), while many of the fathers in Lingsar work as occasional farmers on other people’s land, or as fruit sellers when the season is right. Although likely to earn more than their wives, with a maximum income of Rp.15-20,000 per day (around $2-2.50), their work is sporadic and highly dependent on the seasons and success of crops. A good month might see the family earn up to Rp.300,000, or around $40 AUD.
Lingsar mothers gathered around the paut building during our visit
Although Lingsar’s paut is now independent and they have reached a reasonable level of economic security, Annisa continue to provide a small number of programs. Their main focus is on empowering the women of the village to learn how to read and write, improve their level of Indonesian, and to develop skills that enable them to open small businesses with the help of loans from Annisa.
Some of the students helped by Annisa’s programs
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