On Wednesday 9 September 2009 an email was sent around in the hopes of collecting enough donations to buy a handful of toothbrushes for children living in some of the poorest villages on the island of Lombok, Indonesia.
Less than one week later on Tuesday 15 September, Brynna and Rowan headed off to Indonesia, their bags weighed down with $1,000 worth of English language, colouring and story books, an abundance of educational posters and cuddly soft toys, as well as $4,000 in cash – the remainder of the donations they had received in less than a week…Due to the incredible generosity of family, friends and community in Australia, combined with invaluable discounts from businesses and the selfless work of numerous volunteers in Bali and Lombok, this is what they were able to achieve…
Health & School Supplies for Kids in Remote Villages
After receiving input from local Lombok women’s NGO Koperasi Annisa, a team of volunteers in Bali and Lombok scoured the shelves of stationary stores and chemists to put together health and education packs for 360 underprivileged children and their families.
The incredible staff at Annisa then put their heads together to name 360 of the most disadvantaged children in 11 villages throughout Lombok who all received hand delivered packs over the next three days as, with an Annisa expert in the lead, we explored the nooks and crannies of Lombok’s amazing country side and remote villages.
Children at Gegerung Selatan village
What's in a health pack?
Toothbrush & toothpaste, shampoo & comb, soap, detergent for clothes, children's medicine for worms, liquid betadine, pack of 10 bandaids, two pairs of underwear, and a very cute 'how to' sticker courtesy of the Melbourne Dental Association
Contents of girl's (left) and boy's (right) health packs
What's in an education pack?
Six exercise books, two maths books, a drawing book, pencil case with two grey leads, a pen, ruler, eraser and sharpener.
Over the weeks since we left Annisa has also started spreading out 50 sets of donated crayons, colouring pencils and textas among volunteer teachers in Annisa schools and adult education classes.
Education & Fun for Refugee Kids & Families
For those who haven’t heard about refugees in Lombok, there are quite a lot of them! From Iraq, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Iran, many have been living in Indonesia for years where their only access to education is English classes through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). These classes are run by highly committed local teachers with resources that amount to little more than a dictionary and a handful of English language novels.
So, on our second day in Lombok we delivered our 200 educational and story books, along with sixty folders of work sheets for teachers and students under the IOM program. The folders were created and the books coded into categories thanks to those willing to give up their weekend or part of a Bali holiday the week before!
On the third day Brynna and her brother Callan, together with local IOM staff and volunteers plastered the classroom walls with educational posters and set things up ready for an action packed art workshop for refugee children from Iraq and Vietnam. The day finished off with takeaway lunch for everyone and a cuddly soft toy for each refugee child.
A young Iraqi girl with her new toy, and an Iraqi boy with his teddy and his teacher
Photos and Where to From Here?
Details have been posted about some of the villages we visited with Koperasi Annisa – photos of the children we met and details of the reasons each village is currently in need, and what Annisa is doing to slowly but surely turn things around. More of these will be posted over the next month or two.
We’ll also add details of future programs we would like to support… ranging from buying a additional book shelves for IOM volunteer teachers, through to additional health and education packs. We’re also hoping to buy ‘school kits’ for children who drop out of primary school because they can’t afford uniforms, and contribute a small wage for volunteer teachers at Annisa’s schools and adult education programs.
For those looking for a more business-oriented opportunity to help, we have, and will soon upload, photos of beautiful traditional furniture made by teenage street children who have returned to non-formal education where trade and traditional subjects are combined.
For any questions, input, feedback or donations, please send an email to info@iced.org.au with ‘Lombok Kids’ in the subject line.