Category Archives: SEEDS News

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Club

STEM education aims to use interdisciplinary studies to solve real-world problems through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The ministry of education in Thailand is campaigning for STEM education to increase students’ competitiveness in these fields because of the demand for STEM-related jobs (www.stemedthailand.org).

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A cooking competition!

A team of workers from Indonesian charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi partner with SEEDs members to run a community centre in one of the most densely populated areas of Jakarta. Regular programs include various educational and recreational activities for children, a savings group for people living informally by the railway, and a medical advice service.

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Street Children of Riau

SEEDs partner charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi (YPP) works to support street children in Pekanbaru, Indonesia. One of these children is Robin. He is 10 years old and comes from a family of 12 children. His mother has been married twice but both husbands have left her and the children so they moved to Pekanbaru in 2013 from the neighbouring province of West Sumatra to find work. Even in the city Robin’s mother has found it impossible to fully provide for all her children alone. This desperate situation forced the children onto the streets to beg.

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New partnership between SEEDS and a major Indonesian university

Local SEEDS representatives were recently invited by the Islamic State University Sultan Syarif Kasim II (UIN-SUSKA) in Pekanbaru to attend a formal event for the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the two parties. This new strategic partnership comes with the placement of a SEEDS member in the Faculty of Psychology as part of a new program to support the improvement of Academic English at the university.

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Living in the haze

For several months Riau has been covered by haze caused by forest fires on Sumatra (especially from the Southern provinces), with little rain and challenges to extinguish the fires. The level of pollution has reached hazardous levels, with resulting health effects such as breathing problems, coughing, blocked noses and irritated eyes. Schools have been closed for over a month now. Children need to stay at home and are advised not to play outside.

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An idea was born…

The day of graduation at one of Indonesia’s major universities draws near. Electrical engineering students who have been lectured and supported by a SEEDs professional look forward with expectation for the future. Graduation is an event that is joyfully celebrated with family and friends.

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Chicken coops

SEEDs workers partnering with local charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi in Riau, Sumatra identify families that are unable to find regular work due to poor health, age, or other limiting factors with the intention of empowering these families with the means to supplement their income with home-raised chickens.

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Reading Garden

SEEDS workers in Jakarta work with local charity Yayasan Pendar Pagi (YPP) to run a reading garden by a busy inner-city railway line, teaching children who are not in school how to read. Two of the children who attend the program are Lisa and Wulan. Lisa (7) lives in a shack by the railway with her parents, who earn a living by singing for money on public transport around the city. Wulan’s (8) father is a rubbish collector, making a living by selling used plastic for recycling.

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English for beginners

“Sorry, I’m shy to speak English, I’m afraid to make a mistake…”
This is something Yayasan Pendar Pagi (YPP) staff at the English Resource Center in Pekanbaru, Indonesia hear on a regular basis from students who are attending for the first time. Many of our students who have gained confidence and fluency in speaking within the months or years of attending the Center can well remember feeling exactly the same.

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A Helping Hand

With excitement and fear Mansur’s family waved goodbye as they watched their son leave to go to Jakarta to fit a functional prosthesis. Two years ago he lost his right arm in a work accident mining gravel from the riverbed, and since that time has struggled to find productive work in his village where most men rely on manual labour for an income. SEEDS was able to help him obtain a cosmetic prosthesis soon after the amputation, but he has still been ostracised in his community through only having a functional left hand in a culture where all interactions happen with the right.

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