Education Indonesia Project #61651

Build a Village School in Indonesia!

by Yayasan Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara

Project Report | Oct 15, 2024
Celebrating a new home!

By Christopher Drake | Project supervisor

Dear friends and kind supporters of Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara Foundation,

A lot has happened since we last wrote and the recent months have seen a flurry of activity and, as scaffolding came down, we could see that a building site had now become a building! Some time back we had chosen the date of 8^th September 2024 as the date for opening the doors to the new building and the deadline date proved to be a good inspiration for the pace of work to pick up in time! As it happened, we spread the opening celebration over three days with the first event taking place a day earlier with a touching speech and symbolic banging of a beautiful gong by H. GBPH. Prabukusuma, S.Psi., HBIX, younger brother of the Sultan of Yogyakarta. This was followed on 8^th September by a larger ceremony that included a procession from our old school building to the new one by a group of students, together with an ox cart, bringing school books and apparatus with them, to symbolise the move. Please see https://www.instagram.com/tamanciptakaryanusantara/ for photos and more.

Another highlight was prayers by representatives of the Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Islamic and Protestant religions and then a transition to a less formal opening event in which students explored the building on a treasure hunt. A theme running through all events –including the last one on 9^th September, which was a seminar by Professors Peter Carey and Romo Subanar SJ – was Hanoman, one of the heroes of the Ramayana, renowned for his courage, loyalty and devotion, and we have named the building as Gedung Hanoman, or Hanoman Building, after him. For the children, Hanoman was the super-hero of an afternoon puppet show, adding to the stunning dances and singing of traditional Javanese artists that helped mark the opening. It was lovely to be able to welcome to these events friends, family and supporters from Australia, Hong Kong, India, the UK and USA as well as from around Indonesia. Thank you all!

The new academic year in Indonesia starts in July and while September was still ahead of us, we started gradually moving into the new building with the new year before finally bidding farewell to the old joglo (traditional wooden Javanese house) that had been our home for three years. It was an emotional farewell with sharing of memories – and quite a few tears! – and as one parent put it, it seemed as though the joglo had hugged her child just as she did, caring for and nurturing the child. Just as the joglo was a second home for the children’s early years, so also it was the place where we had grown up too, going from just a dozen or so students, when we started three years ago, to eighty and so the time was right to move on, after reflecting gratefully on all the joy and fun of learning, understanding and growing together that the building had been witness to.

As we closed one set of doors, there were many new ones to open and, while Hanoman Building is much larger, we have worked hard to bring with us one of the important fruits of the past years: that of being a warm and friendly learning community in which children, parents and teachers are bonded together as one big family. Children excitedly adapted to their new surroundings and routines (especially the playground!) quickly taking to the building’s open space, free flow layout, plants, natural light and air circulation – all similar to the old building, but now without a leaky roof in the rainy season or dust blowing in from the yard in windy weather. Meanwhile, parents love to gather for Parents Group Discussions in our new joglo, enjoying the natural and homely atmosphere as they look out to the trees and to the children having fun in the playground in front.

So these have been busy months, and very productive ones, and we are enthusiastic about the many ways in which we may put this wonderful new facility to good use, aiming to make the Hanoman Building truly a learning place for all the community. However, we still have work to do! Although the building itself is largely finished, the interior fitting out is not yet complete; thus we are still looking to raise additional funding for that and on-going running costs to enable us to continue to provide education free of charge to the most needy and so we’d be delighted if you could help spread the word amongst your family, friends and acquaintances. In the meantime, we remain ever grateful for your support and thank you once again for helping to make life-changing education available to young learners in Indonesia! Please do let us know if you are in the region and would like to visit.

With much gratitude and warmest wishes from all of us at Yayasan Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara.

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Jun 13, 2024
Onwards and Upwards!

By Christopher Drake | Project supervisor

Onwards and Upwards!

Dear friends and kind supporters of Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara Foundation,

Warmest greetings on this sunny day in Yogyakarta and very many thanks for your kind support which has played such a significant role in helping us get to where we are today. The past few months have been packed with activity and an important (and long-awaited!) moment was the completion of the main roofing work, including the covering of the atrium. The transparent covering will allow light to flow all the way down to the large tree on the first floor while also providing some sheltered space on the rooftop where we plan to develop a small hydroponic garden. While up on the roof during a couple of gloriously clear days the iconic view of Mount Merapi inspired us to reconfigure some of the layout of the top floor of the building to make the most of the view. Solar panels have been installed on the roof and successfully tested while we also now have a mains electricity connection and completed the digging of two deep wells to complement mains water supply.

Work has continued apace on the interior with completion of the first and second floors now in sight and, as we focus on final details and finishing, the third and fourth floors are clearly taking shape and it’s great to see the vision of sizeable, airy and bright classrooms coming to fruition. Meanwhile our two traditional buildings, a two-storey limasan and a wooden joglo are now well-established and we’ve been making good use of the limasan as an office and meeting space while watching the decorative carved wood features populate the ceiling and walls of the joglo.

Although the main building is not yet complete, we were delighted to make use of it in April to hold a couple of Open House days for The Lilliput World, our Montessori pre-school. It was wonderful how the first two floors were brought to life by excited young children trying out games and activities – and very special that both days were fully organised and arranged by our wonderful Parents Community, putting into practical reality our vision of a values-based community school in which we saw all participants playing their part, and doing so amazingly well!

As we prepare to welcome a batch of new students for the start of the next academic year, we’ve already welcomed eight new teachers and are planning a number of outreach activities in the months ahead. In the meantime, we continue with classes and activities in our existing building, ongoing news of which is at https://www.instagram.com/thelilliputworld.jogja/. Highlights of the past term included collaborating with Montessori Haus Asia in Jakarta to run a whole day of workshops and seminars for parents and with Sarjanawiyata Taman Siswa University, in Yogyakarta, for another full day of growth and development presentations and activities for parents by Viji Clinic from Jakarta. It was a nice surprise that many new friends from different places around Indonesia came to join us for the day while on other occasions we have also been very happy share our joy and enthusiasm with visitors from India, the USA and the UK. As one commented “Our visit to the school was lovely. We felt connected and bonded. We could see happiness, passion and commitment. The new school has very positive vibes. I am so happy to have visited the school surrounded with greenery. We carry with us sweet memories.”

As the building, our new home, has made its way upwards, so also we are increasingly excited and committed to move forwards, ever grateful for your support. Thank you once again for helping to make life-changing education available to young learners in Indonesia!

With gratitude and warmest wishes from all of us at Yayasan Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara.

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Feb 15, 2024
Striding Forward in the New Year!

By Christopher Drake | Project supervisor

Dear friends and kind supporters of Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara Foundation,

In these early days of the Year of the Dragon, our heartfelt appreciation goes out to you all for your support and partnership which has helped carry us forward so that at the time of writing our new building is now nearly two-thirds complete!

The main structural and architectural work has been completed, with the top floor offering a great view of the surrounding village area and fields. Attention is now very much focused on completing the remaining parts of the exterior and final touches to the interior design. Creating the right look and feel may be a more exciting task for users of the building yet getting the details right takes a lot of time and thought and is shaped by the main fabric of the building and many thanks are due to our great construction team and project manager for their commitment, hard work and flexibility with inevitable adjustments.

Collaborative teamwork amongst the many professionals involved is proving integral to creating what we envisage as a warm and friendly long-term home for our values-based learning community of curious students, loving parents and outstanding teachers passionate about the best teaching and learning.

Just as we encourage our students at The Lilliput World to Learn, Understand and Grow, so too the journey from acquiring the land to where we have reached now has involved much exploration in dealing with intricacies of building standards, technical details, environmental criteria, energy demands, quality control, comfort and well-being considerations, maintenance and practical concerns, all wrapped within a budgetary framework. In this regard, we are fortunate to have been, and to continue to be, well-guided and supported by our consultants, advisers and board members, for which we are also most grateful.

From the outset, we have believed it important to engage with nearby villagers and are grateful for the enthusiasm, encouragement and good wishes received. Safety and cleanliness on-site are also a key priority and as part of our commitment to this we were pleased to be able to organise a full day of medical check-ups and informative health talks and advice. This was conducted in partnership with our local government Community Health Centre and a team from Medical Outreachers, a Hong Kong-based charity introduced by our sister foundation there, TCKLC. The service was offered free of charge to all workers on our building site and to nearby villagers, many of whom had never had any check-ups; nearly 200 people took part and, as needed, were provided with appropriate medication by a Health Centre doctor. Many thanks to the visiting Medical Outreachers team and to the local doctors, nurses and pharmacists!

While the building as a whole is scheduled to be completed closer to the end of the year, we plan to have the first classrooms and the playground ready for use by early April 2024, which has the children as excited as the rest of us! This will then leave us a few more months in which to get ready to welcome old and new students alike for the start of the new school year in July! In the meantime, we continue with classes and activities in our existing building, news of which is at https://www.instagram.com/thelilliputworld.jogja/

As always, parents are involved in all aspects of school life and on 3^rd February 2024 they established the Parents Community Programme as a forum for gathering, sharing and learning together as they engage with the questions, challenges, hopes and joys of being parents and bringing up children in a complex world. We look forward to hosting their gatherings in the new building before long.

In the meantime, we will be working hard on completing the building and its fit-out. Much has already been achieved over the past months and we are ever grateful for your partnership. As we continue to move forward, determined to run the last stretch and reach the finishing post on schedule, we hope that we can continue to be blessed with your support. Thank you once again for helping to make life-changing education available to young learners in Indonesia!

With gratitude and warmest wishes from all of us at Yayasan Taman Cipta Karya Nusantara.

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