Visiting Cilincing

Cilincing is an area in the very south of Jakarta. It is a fishermen area, a swamp area, a very very poor area. HOPE organization just started a "Saturday Academy" there. Saturday academies are schools put together for children whose families can not afford to send them to school. There is no public school here in Jakarta. Every school, you have to pay to send your child. The more expensive the school the better education you get. Some people can not afford any school for their children. And some families need their children to work in the day with them. So HOPE began a Saturday Academy for these children in the poorest of areas. I am teaching English to these kids once a month. Now this sounds extremely simple, but you haven't hear the rest of it all.

It took two hours to get to Cilincing by bus. It didn't seem that bad. We took the "Mikrolets," these are the little blue buses, I'm used to taking. But of course mostly only locals take it. So I'm always the entertainment on the bus. It was raining, so we got pretty wet. One of the people I went with has been going to Cilincing for a while. He says it is hard for them to get volunteers there. He said, its a true testement when a volunteer comes back for the 2nd or 3rd time. He said they are usually scared away by the drive to cilincing. I guess typically it is hot and sweaty and such a long uncomfortable ride. He says he usually takes another shirt with him, because by the time he gets there he is drenched in sweat and has to change clothes. I'm not looking forward to that after rainy season. Also there is so much traffic! But when you get to the school and see the kids, your heart totally melts.

When I say, "school" I don't mean they actually have a facility. People in the village volunteer to give a room or a porch of their house for a class of kids to meet in. Now when I say room or porch, the space is about 6 feet by 12 feet and they crame 25 kids into this room. I will take pictures next time I'm there. Cilingcing is a little village with mostly fishermen. The village is many feet below sea level, so any time it rains, this village gets flooded. It's quite sad. The Satuday Academy does not have enough supplies for all the needs, and the volunteers do not get any training in how to teach. The good thing is, the kids are broken up into grade levels, yet the teachers just follow a workbook, and do the best they can. Coming from a teachers perspective, I can't imagine how much these kids are really learning. But they enjoy school so much. I've never met so many kids happier to be at school and learn! It is incredible to see their little faces light up.

They have no sort of English program set up at all. So I'm trying to put together something for them. I'm going to research books and activities and set up a little program. So far, I'm the only one willing to teach the English course. The thing is there is not enough general teachers for all the kids, that its better to get the general classes filled first. However, I can not teach that, since I don't speak fluent Bahasa. So they are just happy that I come! I'm setting up the program for grades 3-4 and then for grades 5-6. I teach 3rd-4th grade for one hour and then 5th-6th for another hour. Its only once a month. But its better then nothing. If they can get the foundation of some English words, then they can move up in the world. I'll only be here for a few more months, so I'm trying to prepare the rest of the teachers for this. Its so exciting to be a part of this project!

The next thing is... setting up some training sessions for the volunteers. Before I leave (probably sometime in June) I'm going to set up a few training sessions for the volunteers, and help them get a better idea on things to do with the kids. I'm not an expert, but at least I went to college for this kind of thing. Maybe I can do a little bit of good here. Please keep this in your thoughts and prayers.