Happy New Year! We are truly grateful for the support you have given us this past year in helping us to rebuild more schools in East Nusa Tenggara. Every cent you donated, we have used to support schools in need. These schools provide a safe learning environment that can give a positive impact to students and communities.
Let's take a look at one of the schools we rebuilt on the island of Timor: Paulus Sisilia Pre-School, Malacca, NTT.
The Adequate Water Storage
Paulus Sisilia Pre-school was established in 2017 in Manumuti Brubit, Naimana Village, Malaka District. Without any school building, the learning activities were held in one of the teacher’s houses. In 2021, Happy Hearts Indonesia rebuilt Paulus Sisilia Pre-school with one classroom equipped with furniture, educational toys, outdoor playgrounds, a toilet, and a handwashing station. Every school we rebuild is provided with hygiene training (WASH) to promote clean and healthy living in the school environment.
The community and the chief of Naimana Village worked together to drill wells and build water tank facilities to enhance sanitary standards in school. Whereas there was previously very limited access to water, these facilities have made it easier for schools and communities to obtain clean water and ensure it is constantly available.
Paulus Sisilia Pre-school now has a proper water tank. Children and school members have access to clean water and basic toilet facilities. Good hygiene practice is important in every stage of life, but good cleanliness habits start from early childhood.
Thank you for being part of these children's journey! Your generosity has impacted lives in ways you can't imagine!
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Happy Hearts’ commitment goes beyond building schools only. Every rebuilt Happy Hearts school receives a 5-year post-construction training program to path its way into self-sustainability. This school management training is an effort to maximize the use of school resources, which includes organizing, planning, and controlling activities more effectively and efficiently. Each school, including PAUD Hati Nurani, after receiving full financial management training, has its way of implementing rules and regulations in the school environment.
PAUD Hati Nurani in Southwest Sumba was rebuilt in 2019 and continues to grow and change rapidly. The average annual growth rate of students is 18.3%, which shows that making classrooms more comfortable and safe makes students more excited to go to school.
Along with these developments, PAUD Hati Nurani participated in the 2021 school financial and entrepreneurship training. Since then, the school has implemented the knowledge gained and improved the ability of school financial management. This can be seen in a number of areas, including a more organized and structured school financial record and the implementation of the canteen as a school business unit.
As of now, PAUD Hati Nurani has made a profit and provided additional facilities at the school in the form of a reading corner for students and school residents. With this reading corner, children and school residents will be exposed to literacy access for reading books and story books more often, which will help them to develop a critical mindset and stronger academic skills.
This reading corner is now also being used by eager parents who are practicing reading and parental skills while waiting for their children.
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Ligouri Kindergarten started to provide early childhood education in Desa Kalembu Weri in 1987. Unfortunately, in 2011, the building was severely damaged. For the last several years, this school has been conducting its learning activities at a health facility owned by a church in the area. Even though there aren't many resources or facilities, all teachers and students participate in daily classroom activities.
Through your generous support, in 2019 Ligouri Kindergarten was rebuilt. Ideally, the school should have support facilities like a teacher's office, a kitchen, cleaning facilities, and other support facilities. Why is it vital to have facilities at school? because providing support facilities can have an impact on the accreditation school process. And why is accreditation important? Because the accreditation results are an indicator of quality and a reference in making decisions for various needs, including quality improvement in the future for schools.
In Progress of Rebuilding Kitchen
In order to meet these needs, Ligouri Kindergarten now succeeded in coordinating with parents through the School Committee in the implementation of the construction of a kitchen room for the Nutritional Food Program. The school has a strong relationship between families and community organizations, which has the most significant impact on students and the values that parents have toward education. The school and the parents of the students worked together on various things, such as building materials, food during construction, and carpentry, which was done by the parents.
The progress of the kitchen structure will feature both permanent and semi-permanent components in the future. The foundation is still being built, and the ground is still leveled. When the building is finished, Ligouri Kindergarten will have a proper kitchen to prepare the Nutritional Food Program, which will also contribute value to the school accreditation process.
Nutritional Food Program
Food for the Nutritional Food Program has been prepared in the parents' homes, which are on average 1 kilometer away, or in a Catholic foundation's office, roughly 500 meters away. Every three times a week at 09.30, Nutritional Food Program is distributed. Several parents assisted the teachers in preparing and distributing lunch in the classroom. Students will be permitted to eat if they have completed the required handwashing and prayer.
The diversity of menus supplied must include the nutritional ingredients required for early childhood development and the physical growth of the kids. Fruit, vegetables, milk, high-protein foods (fish, chicken), cakes produced by students' parents, and various porridges will always be supplied to children. The rice or high-carbohydrate menu items will not be supplied to kids frequently because it is an additional food.
It's not only the school that will get accredited, but the children will also get more nutritious food. In this way, Ligouri Kindergarten will be an example for other schools. Thanks for your continued support #iamchange campaign and for making this happen.
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33 Schools Rebuilt
2021 was still a tough year for most of us, but we set a new milestone and were able to rebuild 33 schools in East Nusa Tenggara. These are benefitting more than 2,800 students from early childhood education to junior high, and vocational schools, making a total of 107 rebuilt schools in the province since 2016.
We will continue to provide better and safer schools for children as best as possible. It is your support that keeps us going.
Children are our greatest treasure.
Selfiwati is a six-year-old girl who has accelerated in her school, an early childhood education center. She joined the Benih Bangsa School in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara when she was three years old. We were happy and proud when we learned that Selfiwati is now able to read and write.
Like the other children, she is very excited about going to school because she not only meets her friends regularly but also learns at the same time. Selfiwati loves to learn letters, count, and draw.
Since the reopening of their school, Selfiwati and her friends are really enjoying the two new and spacious classrooms with educational toys and a big outdoor playground. Through our WaSH training they are taught how to wash and keep their hands clean.
Thank you for your continuous support in rebuilding schools and providing a better quality of education in East Nusa Tenggara.
#iamchange campaign journey continuous this year, together we can achieve our goal in rebuilding 200 schools for children in need.
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In August a new academic year has started for all schools in East Nusa Tenggara. Out of the 103 schools rebuilt by Happy Hearts so far, almost all reopened their doors for in classroom learning. Only 4 schools on the island of Flores remain closed and practice distant learning. Enrollment has gone up by 23%, but fell below pre pendemic years.
Many areas in East Nusa Tenggara are still battling the effects of the pandemic and its tight restrictions on schools and other educational facilities. Class hours are restricted to 2-4 hours per day and in some areas the students are devided into groups and shifting model. Novita Nggebu, an 8th grade student of SMP Amarasi in Kupang, Timor shares her hope for the new school year: "I’m happy I can go back to school, because during learning at home I cannot learn well and cannot meet the teacher every day, so very little I can learn. Hopefully the pandemic can be over soon so we can go back to normal". Like Novita most students felt bored and uninspired at home. While distant learning is challenging even in most developed countries, it's a barrier for many students in East Nusa Tenggara.
Bringing students back to a rebuilt Happy Hearts school where they face proper and spacious classrooms, with table and chairs for everyone to sit on, toilets with clean water facilities and adequate learning tools and books help these kids to be back on track and overcome the setbacks of the pandemic.
Since the beginning of the year we have completed 25 schools and 4 libraries in East Nusa Tenggara, with 5 more schools under construction. Thank you for your continuous support in providing a better quality of education in East Nusa Tenggara!
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