China donates furniture, food to slum area school
China donates furniture, food to slum area school
JAKARTA (JP): Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Chen Shiqiu
donated classroom furniture and food worth about Rp 7.5 million
(US$1,000) on Tuesday to an elementary school in the Kalibaru
slum area in Cilincing, North Jakarta.
Donated to privately run SD Al Mubasyirien were 60 student
desks, six teacher desks, six book cupboards, two archive
cupboards, six blackboards and essential foodstuffs of 650
kilograms of rice and 26 liters of cooking oil.
Chen symbolically presented the donation to principal M. Sahid
in a ceremony held in a classroom at the school on Jl. Tanah
Merdeka 2. Among those in attendance was Chen Haihua, the
ambassador's wife.
She said the school badly needed the aid. "The classroom desks
are already so old. They have holes. Just look at the classroom
walls... all of them have pencil marks everywhere."
Sahid said that keeping the 491 students enrolled was becoming
more difficult because of the economic crisis.
"There are 283 families in Kalibaru subdistrict living below
the poverty line. Thank God, to this date, my 11 teachers and I
have been able to make sure the 491 students can continue their
studies.
"Out of the 491 students, at least 120 are orphans who could
not afford to pay the monthly tuition fee of Rp 5,000 each."
Sahid added that the subdistrict was home to 10,007 families,
consisting of 47,564 people, of which 45 percent were poor
fishing families.
The donation ceremony and the arrival of foreign guests
galvanized the neighborhood. Entertainment was provided with a
dance performance by schoolgirls in white sequined frocks.
Schoolchildren lined alleys and narrow roads.
They sang children's songs and politely shook hands with
passersby.
Several schoolgirls chatted happily at the school's entrance.
Damayanti, 8, said she enjoyed the singing but preferred to play
with friends outside during "speech time".
"I don't like listening to adults talking because I don't
understand anything. I just enjoy crowded situations. Very rarely
do we have occasions like this."
One of her friends, seated at an abandoned classroom table by
her mother, was not as carefree.
Eight-year-old Nurhaisyah pulled the hair of every child who
passed by. Her mother, Siti, said the child had always been
grumpy because she had a congenital "leg problem".
"Whatever it is, the disease has left her paralyzed. But this
child insists on being brought to school. She is a hardworking
child.
"Doctors say the only way to fix the problem is to amputate
her legs. Since she wants to study, I carry her everywhere and
even sit with her in classes."
Lela, a mother of three, said that her fisherman husband found
it difficult to feed their children, let alone send them to
school.
In a good month, her husband's monthly income amounted to Rp
75,000. "Due to the bad times, my husband now comes home with a
monthly income of only Rp 20,000."
She said the school helped foot the bill for her children's
medical expenses.
"Sometimes, when my children need to be examined at the
community health center, I bring a letter from the principal. The
bill is sent to the school." (ylt)