Assesment of the activities in 2009
TELUK DALAM : the little town has seen a renewal of all its activity. Some roads have been metalled and there is even a town cleansing service with street cleaning and rubbish collection. The government has reached the decision to clear up the town centre by getting rid of the market. This is certainly an important hygienic measure but people are disappointed that the new market will be quite far from the centre (near the harbour). Moreover a campaign is engaged against smallholders who sell from the pavement a few fruits or vegetables that they have grown. From time to time the police make a raid (I’ve seen it happen twice) and throw modest foodstuffs into dustbins, chasing the women away violently since they have, of course, no right to sell without a licence.
In addition the people who live in the buildings which serve as shops in the middle of the market (such as Firman, one of the students who we are helping) will be expelled because these places are not houses and are very unhygienic. This creates a big problem, relocation has not been organised. We have been able to help Firman’s family but how many other families will very soon be made homeless, if it hasn’t happened already.
A Grant from the FOGLAIM Association : This Irish organisation has chosen to allocate a grant of 1,000 euros to Faomasi to provide education for students in the camp of Hilia’naa. A member of the Association was due to meet Kati in Nias in October but the terrible earthquake in Padang (Sumatra) upset the arrangement and it did not take place.
The People we can count on in Nias :
The UN :: Sonia and Yolanda, who have been a great help to us have left with the remainder of the UN personnel but there remains one coordinator in the South and one in the North. In the South there is Hendri whom we know well and who has already supported us a lot. He is expected to be in post until at least 2012. The Indonesian government will create an office for this offshoot of the UN.
The Bupati : (the main authority in the South of the island) : Kati was unable to meet him this year but his secretary sent her his congratulations and encouragement for Faomasi’s work in a text message.
Koba : : this year he worked with Kati for seven days. Everything went well and he became thoroughly involved. Since Kati’s departure he has concerned himself with Desti who is in very poor health.
This year we have bought very little craftwork as we still have a great deal in stock. Kati went to see the 4 craftsmen as soon as she arrived in Nias and found out that 2 of them were in a very alarming situation.
Sarafa Nölö, who makes superb heart-shaped boxes for us, lives with her mother in a house which is still broken down. The kitchen is only protected by a tarpaulin and they only have one room in which to live. At the time of the visit, the oldest daughter, Opimel, had a high temperature and Kati proposed taking her to the hospital the next day. To help her, we decided to pay for a year’s education in College. We bought 10 heart-shaped boxes from Sarafa.
Semuda, who makes tortoise shaped boxes for us, as well as pens, has severe financial worries because his wife is very ill and has had to be admitted to hospital on several occasions. The state of her health preoccupies us greatly. We have paid for one year of her daughter Arnitas’s education at the lycée of Bawometalöwö. This year we did not buy any craft objects from her. The 2 other craftsmen from whom we have been buying objects for 4 years are in less alarming situations. We only bought a chess set from one of them.
We have provided education, totally or partially, for 35 students : 23 girls and 12 boys.
3 students are no longer in touch with us :
2 are from Hilisalawa : Famatörö, who has not reappeared since last year, and Robertus, who set off in June to Padang (on the island of Sumatra) at the end of his first year at the lycée. We have not heard anything from him since and are rather worried as he was in that city at the time of the earthquake.
Srisulisti Wati from the Hilia’naa camp finished at the lycée in June 2009, with our help ; she is believed to have gone to the North of the island, to Gunung Sitoli. Kati tried to find her, without success.
This year we provided education for 16 young people (10 boys and 6 girls).
At Primary School : 7 students (the same ones as last year). One of them : Ikhlalas will start College in July. Kati introduced him to the Headmaster of the College that he wants to attend (SMP BNKP). Kati found out that the father of one of the girls we were helping was a policeman and that the family had been the recipient of a fine house constructed by the Government. Of course we are stopping our support.
At College :
Waldirman for whom we have been providing education for several years ; he will start at the Lycee (secondary school) in 2010. The Headmaster of the state Lycee has been informed of his arrival in July.
At the Lycee
Rina had stopped her education in June because her family could not afford the fees. She was working in a clothes shop. Kati and Koba found her and immediately took her to the Lycee SMK BNKP (whose Headmaster we know well). She was able to take up her education despite her 3 months’ absence. We hope that she will be able to spend a normal year. Kati made it clear to her that if she did not pass her exams, we would pay for another year’s tuition. She is in the 1st class.
Ferdin Faomasi had stopped helping him for 2 years (his name had been deleted from the lists drawn up by Sokhita). He found Kati and brought her to his family to make clear to her that he still needed help. The family does indeed exist in terrible conditions. The father, who is very old, is unable to work and they have only just enough to eat.. He is in class 2. Of course we will continue to support him till he finishes at the Lycee.
Yusfan also had his name crossed off the lists last year. We have reinstated him this year. Firman, Yosef, Arif have had their education provided as in the other years.
Diman and Iman Yus are in their final year. They will sit their exams in June. The exams cost as much as tuition for an entire year. Kati paid in advance at the Lycee so that they would not encounter any problems.
Cindy will start College in July. Kati introduced her to the Headmistress of the College chosen by her family.
Kiki distinguished herself in the academic year. She is still as cheerful as ever and now, with adolescence, has become a bit of a minx !
Suci Hati’s first year at University did not go well. In the end she chose to study English rather than Maths. With the agreement of her sponsor we are offering her a second chance this year. We will receive the results of thfirst semester in December. If they are bad she will change faculty and in June we will consult with Rebecca, the Principal of the University, whom Kati knows well.
Suterlina. All is well with her education. She seems to be healthier. Hendri visited her family with Kati. She will be able to take advantage of check ups at a Tuberculosis Prevention Centre which has just opened in the centre of Nias. The costs will be met by a local association.
Firman. No problems at College but a disastrous family situation : they were about to be expelled by the Government from the hovel in which they lived in the centre of the market. Hendri from the UN pointed out to Kati the moves to make with the Dinas Social (a Government offshoot). After Kati had presented her case study, the family was summoned to the Dinas Social and went there with Koba. Our latest information is that a house is to be built on land they own near the port. We’re keeping in touch with developments through telephone conversations with Koba.
Complete responsibility for funding the schooling of three pupils has been taken on by Year 8 pupils from Bouloire High School thanks to their cake sale of December 2008. The pupils in question are Desti (primary), Depi Hati (in College) and Rosalina (6th form).
We have been looking to provide continuing support for 3 girls : Lelyanti, Hettin and Fitri who were taken on last year for the first time at the request of the headmistress of the public College of Teluk Dalam. Fitri will move to upper school in July 2010. The head teacher has been informed.
Special interventions :
We have provided exceptional support during this academic year for Firman’s sisters with the aim of allowing their mother to deal with her current problems.
Gérard, who had been at Nias with Kati, has funded a year’s schooling for a young student from Sorake.
Elvira, the student in question, will take up a secondary school place next year.
Faomasi has funded a year’s schooling for Opimel at College and for Arnitas at the Lycée. They are the two daughters of craftsmen in Bawomatalönö. Opimel will start secondary school in July 2010.
The parents of Aswidiatuti from the village of Hilisalawa had appealed for aid last year but we did not have the resources to respond to their request. However they met Kati this year and we are now funding College education for 12 months.
The head teacher of a Lycée brought the case of Derma Wati to our attention and we have funded her schooling for a year.
Adrian Stefen : this young orphan, cared for by his grandmother, had been brought to Kati’s attention last year by the head teacher of the Lycée of Lagundri, but we had unfortunately been unable to respond. This year the same head teacher renewed her appeals to Kati as Adrian had been forced to leave school and to work in the market to support himself. Kati and Koba made contact with him and he was able to return to school the very next day. He is currently in Year 10 ; we will continue our support next year to enable him to complete his secondary education and to take up work.
On the island of Asu : While we had funded Seldin’s last two years of schooling, Seldin was unable to show Mama Silvis (our co-worker here) any records or receipts to show that he had been educated and had bought the necessary items of clothing. We have therefore decided to suspend all funding for him as we cannot confirm how the money, that in this exceptional case had been given to his mother, has been spent.
As from last year we request families to sign an education contract confirming that Faomasi is funding their schooling and asking them to undertake to work hard at school. At the end of her stay this year, Kati was able to visit every family and to secure their signatures.
Reminder : In 2008 Year 8 pupils showed their solidarity by collecting 360 euros. Their money provided schooling for 3 pupils : Desti (at Primary school), Depi Hati (at the College) and Rosalina (in the 6th Form).
Project for 2009 :
This year Nathalie, an art teacher, joined the history, geography and humanities teachers. Here is their plan :
With Year 7 :
Show them the work Year 8 pupils did in 2008/9 within the civic education programme, on the theme of the right to education.
Manufacture of pendants with Indonesian fauna and flora as a theme.
With Year 8 :
As part of the humanities curriculum on solidarity, design posters and write letters showing action supporting the theme of solidarity.
Bake cakes to be sold at parents’ evenings when first term reports are handed out.
Design and create bookmarks in art lessons.
With Year 9 :
Learn about a typical school day for the 3 Indonesian pupils whose education has been provided by the 2008/9 support campaign.
With the help of Kati’s photos, taken in Nias since 2005, work on the theme “Image and Reality” in art classes. The students will make a short documentary. Kati will visit the College regularly to help and advise their interpretation of the images.
3,000 euros were available to the association in the school year 2009/10.
The money came from sponsorships, gifts, crafts sales and the Foglaim subscription. All of it has been used up on site directly for the 35 students. As in previous years they all went with Kati to pay their annual fees at their respective schools, and to make purchases.
Kati met every family twice, the first time immediately on her arrival in Nias, to get in touch with them again and check up on the benefits of our action. This visit showed her that one child in Primary school no longer needed Faomasi’s help as her father had found employment with the police and that the family had been offered a house built by the BBR.
The second visit took place towards the end of her stay, once all expenses had been met, to get the contract signed by the pupils and their parents.