Boarding school supports birth control campaign<\/p>\n
TANGERANG, West Java (JP): Leaders of a well-known Islamic
\nboarding school pledged Saturday to cooperate with the government
\nin their promotion of a family planning program for Moslem
\nfamilies.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the Daar El Qolam boarding school, with 2,000
\nstudents, the Armed Forces (ABRI) and senior government officials
\nclosed their deal in a lively ceremony in Balaraja subdistrict,
\n35 kilometers west of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
For ABRI, the advocation activities to help the school leaders
\npromote family planning among Moslem families will be part of its
\ncivic mission program in the area.<\/p>\n
Akhmad Riva'i Arief, a respected kyai (religious leader) of
\nDaar El Qolam, said that the family planning program was in line
\nwith the holy Koran's wisdom which says that next generations
\nshould be stronger.<\/p>\n
He said the school would set up a training center for family
\nplanning instructors in local Moslem communities.<\/p>\n
\"We will combine the program with the \"spiritual package\"
\noffered to people visiting the school to learn more about Koran,
\nattend religious seminars, obtain marriage counseling as well as
\nparticipate in fitness programs,\" Riva'i said.<\/p>\n
More than twenty high-ranking military officers, including the
\nJakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. A.M. Hendropriyono and State
\nMinister of Population Haryono Suyono, also attended the
\nceremony.<\/p>\n
Two students recited verses of the Koran, both in Arabic and
\nits translation into Bahasa Indonesia, in front of some 4,000
\nattendants.<\/p>\n
\"Islam teaches us not to leave our children in misery and not
\nto let people live below the poverty line,\" Haryono said.<\/p>\n
Haryono, also the chairman of the National Family Planning
\nCoordinating Board (BKKBN), told the audience that the Daar El
\nQolam could be developed further to be an international training
\nground for family planning officials from Moslem countries
\nthroughout Asia and Africa.<\/p>\n
\"You are trained to speak Arabic and English here. So we can
\ninvite our fellow Moslems from those countries to come and to
\nlearn in this school,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Students of the boarding school, established in 1968 occupying
\na 9.5-hectare area, are required to speak English or Arabic in
\nthe classroom and thirty-five percent come from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Modern<\/p>\n
The Daar El Qolam, proud of being a \"modern\" Islamic boarding
\nschool, teaches not only Arabic and Koran verses but also English
\nand computer science.<\/p>\n
Student work done in English and Arabic is displayed in every
\ncorner of the school.<\/p>\n
The Daar El Qolam Foundation, which manages the school,
\nrecently opened another boarding school, the all-male Latansa
\nIslamic school, at Cipanas area in Lebak, West Java with 600
\nstudents.<\/p>\n
Haryono also officially introduced an advanced family planning
\nprogram, the Keluarga Sejahtera (Prosperous Family) package, to
\nsupplement the previous Keluarga Berencana (Family Planning)
\nprogram.<\/p>\n
The new program promotes income generating activities among
\nvillagers and encourages urban people to spend their weekends in
\nvillages.<\/p>\n
\"It will affect economic activities in the villages and
\nhopefully boost their incomes,\" said Haryono, recent recipient of
\nthe Asian Management Award.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono said that the Jakarta Military Command would
\nfully support the collaboration, adding that the military
\nannually conducts civic mission programs in rural areas to help
\nvillagers understand the family planning procedures.<\/p>\n
The students clapped and cheered the two-star general every
\ntime he made humorous remarks such as when he was citing
\nstatistics about people suffering intestinal worms in Tangerang.<\/p>\n
He said family planning programs could prevent people,
\nincluding \"the pretty students of Daar El Qolam\" from such
\ndiseases.<\/p>\n
Executives of two state-owned banks, Bank Tabungan Negara
\n(BTN) and Bank Exim, as well as the PT Indosat telecommunication
\nfirm, donated Saturday Rp 300 million (US$142,000) to the Daar El
\nQolam to be utilized for income generating groups in villages
\naround the school.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono contributed several sacks of cement to the
\nschool, some of whose classrooms still have not been tiled.<\/p>\n
The Board of Technology Development and Application (BPPT)
\nhanded over a set of laboratory equipment.<\/p>\n
Banners, logos and slogans of Keluarga Sejahtera, painted in
\nblue and white colors, lined the street to the boarding school.
\n(09)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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