The following content has been translated to accommodate non-Bahasa speaking readers. The original IDN TIMES article in Bahasa Indonesia can be found here: https://life.idntimes.com/women/francisca-christy-rosana/siswi-16-tahun-ini-bangun-ruang-baca-untuk-penduduk-di-pelosok-bintan-c1c2/full
Link ke full IDN TIMES artikel dalam Bahasa Indonesia: https://life.idntimes.com/women/francisca-christy-rosana/siswi-16-tahun-ini-bangun-ruang-baca-untuk-penduduk-di-pelosok-bintan-c1c2/full
Originally written by: Francisca Christy Rosana (Instagram: @chichafrancisca)
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16-year-old schoolgirl establishes a library for rural coastal communities in Bintan Island
#AkuPerempuan Contrary to the norms of majority of today’s adolescents, Gio envisions a huge potential in redesigning Indonesia’s education system through literacy development.
With a plot of land in the coastal village of Teluk Bakau, Trikora, Bintan Island, Giovanna Santoso was driven to transform her mission into reality. “I built this with my Papa (Fery Santoso) in December 2016.” This *’house’ which Giovanna built was not just any ordinary house. In fact, the ‘house’ serves as a children’s library and an open learning space for youths residing in the coastal communities along Trikora, Bintan Island. “Eponymously, I named it Library @ Trikora.”
*Self-initiated community libraries in Indonesia are often referred to as ‘taman baca’ or ‘rumah baca’. ‘Rumah’ means house; ‘Baca’ means read. Hence, the reference to ‘house’.
1. Giovanna is a 16-year-old student studying in Singapore who has a dream of redesigning Indonesia.
Giovanna is a 16-year-old student studying in Singapore, who has recently graduated from secondary school in 2017. Both her parents are Indonesian nationals while Gio, as she is commonly called, was born and raised in Singapore. Her bond with her relatives, and Indonesia as a whole, sunk under the rigour of academic life. However, her connectivity to the archipelago resurged again as she gained profound interest in reshaping the lives of rural Indonesian youths.
Contrary to the norms of majority of today’s adolescents, Gio envisions a huge potential in redesigning Indonesia’s education system through literacy development. Though having been exposed to modernity in the prosperous metropolitan Lion City all her life, it did not erode the humanism in her that pushed her to establish this initiative.
2. Gio’s dream of building an interactive learning space upon establishing Library @ Trikora
Bintan Island’s first children’s library is the brainchild of Giovanna, with the support of her family and volunteer partners. Gio related how, through incorporating technology and innovative learning strategies, she aims to introduce and implement effective changes towards narrowing the education disparity – one of Indonesia’s plaguing problems.
Furthermore, Gio revealed how growing up with libraries and bookstores as her favourite childhood nooks has shaped her into the individual she is today. “Papa would always take me to the library every weekend without fail.” Her emotional attachment to such reading spaces during her younger days was one of her primary reasons behind the establishment of Library @ Trikora.
Gio unfolded how reading opens her up to a whole new world of perspectives and vast amount of knowledge – from civilisation to technology. She finds that reading, though highly deemed as a sedentary activity – hence it may seem unappealing to majority of adolescents – can also serve as a social recreation. To her, it invites the initiation of meaningful discussions as well as the stimulation of intellectual conversations amongst readers – something rarely practised in most teacher-centered classrooms in Indonesia.
3. Falling in love with Bintan
The birth of Library @ Trikora was not a sudden one. In fact, Gio frequented Bintan with her father during her school holidays, way before she ventured into her project. She has also previously participated in a school camp with her classmates that involved interaction with the local village communities across the island.
Sometime around late 2015, while exploring Bintan, Gio and her father chanced upon Mengkurus – a village in Teluk Bakau. There resides a humble coastal community comprising largely of native Malays. Gio instantly fell in love with the austere simplicity of the local village life. However, she felt dissatisfied upon learning that the current education system in Indonesia has been stifling the much-needed creativity in the classrooms of rural schools – such as those along the coast of Trikora.
She then returned to visit Mengkurus with her father and decided to build a library there, with a mission to empower underserved youths with supplementary learning opportunities. Thankfully, the plan was readily welcomed by the residents and youths. In December 2016, Library @ Trikora was born.
4. Starting from scratch with just 30 books
Managing a library is not an easy task. At the rudimentary stage, one of the primary challenges Gio faced was none other than filling up the shelves. It started out with roughly 30 books, some were from her personal collection and a handful were bought. Following that, she approached some of her friends as well as members of the public in neighbouring Singapore to contribute their books. She even managed to connect with a few local book publishers.
Row by row, the bookshelves slowly filled up with a comprehensive mix of picture books, comic books and magazines in both English, Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia. Initially, the children seemed intimidated just by the look of the foreign words however, certain picture books – such as those crafted to help younger readers sound out their words – appealed to their interest in learning the new language.
Gradually, Gio built (and is still building!) healthy relationships with various like-minded community leaders and literacy activists across Indonesia who are involved in literacy development works. One of them is Circle of Books Indonesia, an initiative founded by Norbertus Yunendra from Jakarta, that rallies books from book donors across the archipelago and facilitates the **shipment of these books to the respective community libraries in need.
**(In May 2017, President Joko Widodo initiated a movement that facilitates the shipment of books to registered communities, via state postal company PT Pos Indonesia, on the 17th of every month, delivery cost free-of-charge. Library @ Trikora is registered as one of the communities eligible for this movement.)
5. Rallying willing volunteers to teach
Exactly a year has passed since Gio connected with Yunendra (a literacy activist and founder of Circle of Books Indonesia) and formed ‘Voluntrip’. Voluntrip, as the word suggests, invites travellers to visit a particular region not just for a getaway but for a deeper purpose – to volunteer and experience the culture of the locals, with the locals.
Library @ Trikora has worked with a number of volunteers from both Jakarta and Singapore who visit to teach and interact with the local children. However, recruiting volunteers on a regular basis has continually been a major challenge for Gio. She hopes that by organising more community-based events, the library will be able to attract a stable pool of volunteers on-site.
6. The birth of Bintan’s 1st Mobile Library
With regards to the expansion of its youth outreach, Gio developed the concept of The Mobile Library. On the 11th of December 2017, The Mobile Library was launched and since then, it has been clocking a mileage of 30km every Sunday as it services to nearly 100 school-going children residing at the northern tip of the island. They are also encouraged to be active library members by borrowing the books displayed in The Mobile Library.
Gio is just one of the handful, actively involved in the development of literacy in Indonesia. As a youth yourself, when will you venture on a similar movement?
The content above has been translated to accommodate non-Bahasa speaking readers. The original IDN TIMES article in Bahasa Indonesia can be found here: https://life.idntimes.com/women/francisca-christy-rosana/siswi-16-tahun-ini-bangun-ruang-baca-untuk-penduduk-di-pelosok-bintan-c1c2/full
Link ke full IDN TIMES artikel dalam Bahasa Indonesia: https://life.idntimes.com/women/francisca-christy-rosana/siswi-16-tahun-ini-bangun-ruang-baca-untuk-penduduk-di-pelosok-bintan-c1c2/full
Originally written by: Francisca Christy Rosana (Instagram: @chichafrancisca)
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Library at Trikora 