It can be difficult for young people to find work in rural farming communities.  When they travel to bigger cities, they often find themselves at a disadvantage for lack of IT skills. Through the Mobile Computer Program, SEEDs workers in Riau, Indonesia hope to meet a felt need among families through providing computer education to local middle and high school students.  The goal is to give students marketable IT skills, confidence, and experience for the future.

This project had a successful launch in May 2014 after acquiring hardware, software, and an appropriate curriculum to teach Middle and High School students the Microsoft Office Suite. During the 2014-2015 school year we expanded the program to a total of three schools. We are now serving approximately 130 students, as well as a class of 10 teachers who also wanted to receive the training. The program has been very well received by staff, teachers, headmasters, and students.

Arianto is one of the high school students who is receiving computer education. He is now finishing his computer lab work so quickly that he has time to aid SEEDs workers by helping his fellow classmates finish their tasks.  Prior to receiving this training most students had never used a computer.  Now all of the students receiving this training feel more confident using computers, and some students, like Arianto, may decide to pursue further education in the IT field.

Boys will be Boys

SEEDS members working in partnership with Indonesian charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi (YPP) recently started a new initiative at a community centre in Jakarta: a weekly Boys’ Club for boys aged 12-15.

Young people in this area do not have many opportunities to participate in constructive, meaningful activities outside of school hours and boys particularly can easily be drawn into street gangs (which in recent months has resulted in some deaths), gambling, or the local drugs scene. Many boys lack positive and active strong male role models (be that due to the death or absenteeism of their fathers).

The vision and desired outcome of the Boys’ Club is to see these young boys excel in the talents and abilities that we are confident already exist within them; to see them wanting to achieve (and believing that they can); to see them be young citizens of good character, who can grow into young leaders and pioneers.

The Boys Club sessions include lots of sports; training in practical skills, and character building through encouraging values of honesty, perseverance, and team work. Currently run by YPP’s two male interns based at the community centre, and hopefully joined soon by local volunteers, we see great potential for this club. We also hope to see these boys make a lasting positive impact on their communities, starting now.

SEEDS members working in Bangkok, Thailand, run futsal training clubs and create opportunities for nearby teams to compete in a safe and positive environment. Sports such as futsal encourage young people toward positive and exciting activities that build their confidence through skill development and participation on a team. Youth learn the fundamental skills for the sport, practice playing together, receive personal and group coaching, and are encouraged to be their best in all areas of life.

Recently SEEDS members organized an annual Futsal tournament. Although there are many Futsal events for older youth, kids under 12 and under 15 are often not included in the tournaments, and if so, the competitions may be far away with expensive registration fees. SEEDS specifically created a low-cost competition close to home with food and activities that are consistent with the cultural practices and values of the neighborhood teams. Parents and community leaders attended the event to cheer their own neighborhood’s team.

At this year’s tournament, eight communities from one section of Bangkok sent teams to participate. It provided an opportunity for small neighborhood teams to experience the excitement of competition with nearby teams, and for coaches and parents to meet one another, and to work together to strengthen their local programs. The top four teams received Futsal equipment which can be used to strengthen their local programs.

SEEDS members working in Pekanbaru run an English Resource Centre with daily discussion groups, pronunciation labs, student-led beginner’s level discussion groups and monthly special events. “English only!” says the sign that encourages all visitors to keep the centre a place to be truly immersed in the English language. Nobody will laugh at you or call you “arrogant” for speaking English here!

Common informal activities play a big role for the English Centre, strengthening the community there. Often these activities take members and staff outside of the centre and provide additional opportunities to practise English. With much enthusiasm and dressed in Malay-patterned running shirts provided by the municipality, about 20 English centre members and SEEDS staff members participated in the Pekanbaru city 10K run that was held on the 1^st June 2014 in celebration of the city’s 230^th anniversary.

As the 10K run was open to international participants this was a good opportunity for English Centre students to practise their English with guests from abroad and make them feel welcome. It didn’t matter that, except for two ladies, the majority of the English Centre community never finished the run! At the after-run breakfast together there was no sign saying “English only!”, but the English Centre students are always happy to practise English with each other even outside of the walls of the English Centre – of course mixed with a bit of Bahasa Indonesia.

UPDATE to the chicken coop project. See the earlier news post.

SEEDs workers in a rural area of Sumatra are identifying families that are unable due to poor health, age, or other limiting factors to find sufficient work to meet their needs. These families receive an initial investment of chickens and a chicken coop as the basis for raising chickens.

One recent example of a program recipient is Ibu Megawati, a grandmother caring for three grandchildren who works hard tapping rubber trees to provide for her family. The income she earns from this is often not enough to meet their needs. SEEDs workers in conjunction with local village leaders constructed a sturdy chicken coop capable of housing 20 chickens for Ibu Megawati’s family, and they received one rooster and two hens as an initial investment.

To date SEEDs has built over 25 chicken coops for some of the poorest families in an economically depressed area in Riau, Indonesia.  Within three months many families have between ten and twenty chicks, the start of a small business with the potential to stabilise their income.

In May 2014 SEEDS professionals partnered with local organisation Yayasan Pendar Pagi to hold a community open day in a densely populated urban area of Jakarta. A team has been running a community centre in this textile production area for nearly two years with various regular educational and creative activities for children, women and men as part of a holistic development approach. The community day had the theme of ‘family’ and brought together nearly 100 participants, both children and parents, into the community centre for a range of fun and informative activities. The men took part in a chess competition while children enjoyed face painting, a poster competition and races. There was an information stand for mums based on materials used in the nutrition and parenting courses that run in the centre. Free consultation sessions were offered for small business owners (such as food sellers) about improving their businesses. Finally, all the attendees were asked three questions about the needs of young people in the area as part of research the team is doing to better understand this age group. The event was so successful that future events with different themes are already being planned!

SEEDS members working in the Riau province of Sumatra have established the “I Love Reading” program in four elementary schools located in a remote village setting where illiteracy is still a common problem. We are focusing on students in grade one so we can give greater attention to increase the children’s desire and capability to begin reading short stories. The reason we are focusing on first graders is that many children living in the remote villages being served do not go to kindergarten, as attending kindergarten is not enforced by the local government.

We have implemented a new and engaging format for the first graders, working in conjunction with the school teachers. Local first grade teachers are appreciative of this program and often ask SEEDs staff for tips to increase their involvement in addressing illiteracy in each of their schools.

The success rate for teaching literacy to first graders is now at 98% of the student body. There are currently only one or two students from each school who are struggling with reading the provided stories and appropriately recognizing the letters of the alphabet. We hope that through this program children will continue to grow in their desire to love reading at home and at school. SEEDs members are encouraged that the remote villages where this program is running could someday be 100% literate.

In mid 2013 a SEEDS initiative was introduced to assist poor families who could not afford to send their children to university. In this day and age it is becoming obvious that only a school leaving certificate or diploma is not sufficient to ensure good employment for the future. The initiative began with support for three young adults. One of these was a man named Abdur, from a village around 40 minutes outside of Pekanbaru, the capital city of the Riau province of Sumatra. Abdur strongly desired to attend university, but his family did not have the money to support him. The family had some money saved which enabled them to make a partial payment on admissions. Through the SEEDS initiative, we were able to come alongside to assist the family and are now covering his university fees, which are around US$150 every 6 months. Abdur has chosen to study to become a teacher, focusing on religious studies. He hopes to become a teacher of religion in a school. He travels every day to the university from his village which takes around one hour each way.

During 2013 SEEDS, working with its partner national organisation in Indonesia, Yayasan Pendar Pagi, was able to part-finance a loan for three families in the village with whom we have had long-term connections, enabling them to carry out essential renovations to their homes. One family told us “when it rains outside, it also rains inside”. Another showed us the damage done by termites to the main walls of their house. Of the total amount available to them half would be repayable in fortnightly instalments (which they choose to pay when they receive their wages) over a couple of years.

One of the conditions for receiving the loan was successful completion of three months of ‘savings’ payments, in order to evidence their ability and commitment to making the repayments. All three recipients met these criteria, and the loan was released at the beginning of September 2013.

Within weeks, all the renovations had been completed and the outcome has been overwhelmingly positive, with significant improvements to their homes being carried out efficiently and wisely. One man dismantled his entire collapsing roof and erected a fresh, termite-free wood frame covered in durable roof-sheeting. Another thoughtfully decided to build one concrete-walled, waterproof room in the centre of his bamboo-walled house as the first part of his new home that he hopes he will eventually have. The changes were dramatic, and we joined in their delight! All the more so as the months have passed: the rainy season this year has brought heavy downpours and floods and the family with the new roof have stayed dry, while the family with the waterproof room have been able to take shelter with their small grandson from the knee-high floods.

One family sought supplementary loans from friends, which meant they were able to build concrete breeze block walls for part of the kitchen, replacing the bamboo matting, and also replace the entranceway that was extremely dangerous in its previous condition. They still have considerable housing needs – their kitchen is substandard, and the toilet arrangements are extremely unsanitary. But the rain doesn’t come in any more, and they are able to sleep in peace without fear of tiles falling on their heads. This is a big first step, and we hope they will do more when they can.

All the recipients of the loan have been diligent in making repayments, in one case exceeding what is required so that the loan can be repaid more quickly.