Quality Education for Children in Indonesia

Hello dear friends,

We are extremely grateful for the support we receive from so many of you around the world! In our goal to provide quality education to children in our working areas, one of our key priorities is making sure that parents also understand the importance of the essential role they play in their children’s growth and development. Even though 20% of the parents' genetics will influence a child’s behavior, external factors such as parenting, nutrition, friends, school and their living environment also have a great impact. This is why YUM believes that parents also need guidance and advice around child-rearing and child rights. 

In our working area in Cipanas, West Java, many of the parents of our preschoolers can be categorized as young parents. Many got married when they were 18 or 20, and were mostly triggered by their family’s financial condition.  Many of them did not continue their education and graduated only from primary school.  Therefore, their knowledge and maturity in raising a child can be considered lacking.

As the number of Covid cases have drastically reduced, last month YUM’s Early Childhood Learning Center organized mandatory Parenting Workshops for two groups of parents. The theme was “A Child’s Development at The Golden Age”. The session was delivered by YUM’s Project Manager in Cipanas, Samsul Maarif, who is a social worker and has been trained in several child development and rights programs. He is also the father of four children and definitely has many personal experiences to share with the audience. Besides his presentation, there was a possibility for discussions, questions & answers and the workshop ended with parents sharing about their own experience.

This is what Mrs. Hardianti, mother of Qiersya, 4 years old, had to say about this workshop:

“After attending the Parenting Workshop, I now have a better understanding about my daughter’s development. The golden age is a new term for me and surprisingly, there are many things that I can do to support my daughter ‘s development and prepare her for a better future. For example, imparting good values could start from home and we as parents are the best role models to do so.”

The pandemic has created a huge learning loss for children in Indonesia, and we need to continue to play a part in making sure the children have the support they need to stay motivated to learn. Will you help us to do this? This year #GivingTuesday takes place on November 30th. As you may know, this will be a global day of giving and it will be a great way to start getting into the ‘giving back holiday’ spirit! If you’d like to participate and join millions of global givers, you may donate at this link https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/yumcipanas-quality-education/  Your donation will provide additional education support to children in need in Indonesia.

Thank you again for your amazing contribution!

The tutoring activities have been the highlight of YUM’s education program during the pandemic. The program focuses on helping students in early grades of primary school who struggle with reading, writing, and basic math. Since March 2020, schools have been closed and students in rural Indonesia can only communicate sporadically with their teachers and learn mostly on their own. 

Since the start of the program in July 2020, thanks to many different donors, this activity has been able to help more than 400 students. These numbers are possible because YUM is collaborating with 5 primary schools and 14 local teachers in our area of Cipanas, West Java. Due to the local schools’ enthusiasm for this program, the tutoring activity is considered as an after-school activity and scheduled after school hours. Tutoring takes place either in the school or at one of the teacher’s houses. Each group is divided into small learning groups consisting of a maximum of 10 students with 1 teacher. 

Let’s hear what Miss Fatonah said about this program. She is a teacher at SDN Cibadak and teaches the 1st grade class:

“In my opinion, the tutoring and remedial program held by YUM has been a great help for us. The 1st-grade students who have never been in the classroom and met with their class teacher before can now have the experience even though it is only in a small group and for a short time. Being in a small group makes it easier for me to be more focused on the student who is struggling with numbers and simple math. After two months of this program, I can proudly say that most of my students are able to do simple math when before this, they still found it hard to count after 100.”

Thanks to your support, YUM is able to give more children an opportunity to take part in this program. The program is now not only recognized as YUM’s program but is now a part of the wider community by our partnerships with schools in the area.

In other news: YUM’s 2020 Annual Report has been published! Find out more about all our activities by going to YUM 2020 Annual Report

Also, this year YUM is celebrating its 45th anniversary. Mrs. Ismana Haryono, a member of our Board of Supervisors, has been with us for more than 40 years. She shares her memories about the beginnings of YUM and her wish for YUM’s future. Please take a few minutes to watch the video at Reminiscing YUM's Beginnings: How it all started and the challenges faced

Last but not least, out of 400+ entries, YUM has been selected as a Finalist for the 2021 GlobalGiving Photo Contest!! Voting starts TODAY, Monday, August 16th, 2021 until Friday, August 20th. Please go and vote for our photo so we can get a chance to win up to $1,000 in support of our COVID-19 relief program. You can see our photo here: https://www.globalgiving.org/poll/vote/?pollOptionId=1534