Education Indonesia Project #12702

Help Promote Good Reading Habits in Kalimantan

by Yayasan Usaha Mulia / Foundation for Noble Work

Project Report | May 12, 2023
Welcoming school visits back to our library !

By Yolanda Utami Nilasari | Project Leader

Miss Rusti explain about fire fighter truck

The last time that YUM’s Community Library in Kalimantan had a group of students visit the library was 3 years ago, before the pandemic. Now that schools are back to normal, we are excited to start the program again and invite students from nearby kindergarten and primary schools. Schools in our working area do not have libraries for their students, so these visits are a way to introduce the children to the love of reading and the importance of books as tools for knowledge and imagination.

Several primary school principals would love for all their students to have the opportunity to visit the library, but unfortunately, at this moment, we are not able to accommodate all requests due to the limited resources of our team and vehicles to pick up the students at school. The visits take place during school hours. The students gather at their school and are picked up by YUM's minivan.

For the kindergarten students, their activity in the library consists of introducing the love of reading through playing with various tools such as animal cards, puzzles, coloring, and storytelling. While for the primary school students; there are two kinds of activities based on their ages. For the early graders, their activity revolves around reading. The students are able to enjoy all the reading resources to practice their reading skills. While for the higher grades, we also introduce educational activities such as a Science Club activity. Simple scientific experiments encourage their curiosity and develop their way of thinking. Outdoor activities such as playing football, jumping rope, and volleyball are another activity that these students can do at our library. After the activity, Miss Rusti, YUM’s librarian, will distribute a glass of milk for everyone. The visit takes around 1 to 2 hours.

Let us hear what Mrs. RM, primary school principal of SDN 1 Banturung said about this activity:

“I fully support this activity. For our students, this trip feels like a recreational activity - a much needed change from their daily classroom activity. Based on what I hear from the class teacher, we know that students who have followed this activity have better motivation in learning compared to others who have not yet come to the library. The students talk about their experience at the library and always ask us when they will be able to go back there again. The YUM team took care of our students very well.”

The kindergarten students worked on their papers

Playing Uno Blocks

Science club: experiment with ballon

Group reading

Drinking milk before going back to school

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Jan 31, 2023
Why the Dance Club is so beneficial to children

By Yolanda Utami Nilasari | Project Leader

Dance Competition 2022

Hello friends,

Happy New Year 2023! May this year bring more joy for everyone.

One of the things that bring our children joy is the Dance Club at the library. The Dance Club is part of our weekly activities. The children practice traditional dance as well as contemporary dance, and they are tutored by Miss Yeyen. She is one of YUM’s staff and her family owns a traditional dance studio in the area. Usually, the children will practice once a week, but when they are going to perform or join a competition, they will practice intensively.

Over the years, the Dance Club participants have performed in many local and national events. Last year, the children had the opportunity to perform during a local event, during our Creativity Day and for the first time, they took part in a dance competition. The competition was held by the Palangkaraya Youth Department. Unfortunately, they did not win. However, it was a good experience for them and it gave them more motivation to practice.

Many positive impacts come from learning dancing, such as a healthier body, learning about discipline, teamwork, and increasing children's self-confidence. This activity was also established to teach the children to appreciate their cultural heritage, among which is the Dayak* culture. To support these talented and motivated children, we purchased a few traditional musical instruments. Every year we also purchase new costumes, accessories, and makeup.

The Dance Club, as well as other activities at the library, happens because of your continuous kind support. Thank you for your generosity!

*An ethnic group living in Kalimantan.

YUM Creativity Day 2022

Practicing for dance competition

First step in Dancing is feet coordination

Learning the hands cordination

Small children can join the club too!

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Oct 18, 2022
Creativity Day is Back!

By Yolanda Utami Nilasari | Project Leader

The girls with their drawing for competition

Prior to the pandemic, the YUM Library in Bukit Batu organized a Creativity Day every year. This annual activity is a big day of celebration that our library members look forward to. It always starts with fun and creative competitions, which are related to a specific theme, one week before the event. This year the theme was “Indonesia’s Independence Day”.

After two years of being unable to organize any type of events, this year we wanted to do something different and special. Normally, the participants are only from our library members, but this time non-library members could also join the events. For the School Quiz competition, we invited 6 schools nearby, who sent their representatives, a group consisting of 3 students. As for the other competitions such as drawing, coloring, and reading the proclamation of Indonesia’s independence, these were also open for any participants from the neighboring villages.

During the event, a small stage was set up so the children could perform their many talents. For the opening ceremony, the students from our Dance Club performed the Bawi Bahalap dance, a traditional Dayak* dance. After that, a group of children from the English club sang “What a wonderful world”. In between the performances, we announced the winners of each competition, who received a small reward for their efforts. At the end of the event, every participant was given a glass of chocolate milk and a nutritious snack box. A total of 120 children attended the event and in total almost 200 children participated in the competitions.

We are so grateful that the Creativity Day could finally happen! The library is not only providing books for all to read, but it is also home to various club activities. This is why it’s important to celebrate each child’s efforts by organizing this special event. Thank you for helping to make this happen!

In other news: YUM’s 2021 Annual Report has been published! Find out more about all our activities by going to YUM 2021 Annual Report

The Drawing and Coloring competition

The school quiz competition

Bawi Bahalap dance by YUM Dance club

"What a wonderful world" by English club children

The boys with their reward from the competition

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