Foundation spreads the word about love of books

Foundation spreads the word about love of books

Text and photo by Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): For four-year-old Yusuf, the library is a
castle, the van full of books, a caravan of treasures. With a
book in his hands he feels like a king.

His mother, Nani, is delighted at her only child's love for
books. And she thanks the Wandering Books Foundation for bringing
so much joy into the life of the young widow.

Nani was also one of the 80 participants in a workshop held
recently by the foundation to encourage adults to write short
stories and novels for children. For the biggest problem faced by
educationists in this country is a dearth of writers of original
literature for children here.

"It is not enough to translate. Often children do not have
knowledge of the background of the stories they are reading,"
said Nasti M. Reksodiputro, retired lecturer from the University
of Indonesia.

For example Indonesian children cannot relate to stories about
snow-clad landscapes or characters like the red nosed reindeer
although they read about them in the Indonesian language.
Throughout her career Reksodputro felt that the system of
education here does not encourage children to read. There are so
many textbooks to cover that a child is left with little time or
energy to browse through the literature of his choice. She feels
that even very young children are a lot more interested in
reading than it is suspected. But most children desperate for
books do not have access to any.

Ever since she retired, Reksodiputro has devoted all
her time in teaching and helping children to read more. Five
years ago she got together with some friends and colleagues and
in 1996 launched The Wandering Books Foundation with a mobile
library as its main activity. The idea is to take books to all
those children who are unable to reach out to books on their own.
And the ultimate goal is to make it possible for children and
young adults everywhere in society to have access to good
literature and to improve their reading habits.

Sriwahyuni, 11 a student of Bintaro's Yayasan Pedidikan Islam
At Taqwa waits for the mobile van to arrive on the campus so that
she can browse through some more literature on the social
sciences.

She likes best to read about the different religions of the
world. The young girl said she prefers reading to watching
television as she gets more knowledge out of a book. Although the
van comes to her school once a week, it is a pity that her class
is able to use the facilities only once a month.

Wahyu, 12 was engrossed in a volume of encyclopaedia that was
full of information about life under the sea. He loves animals,
particularly fish. He is happy to learn names and the habit of
different kinds of fish that are found around the world.

It was the British Council Library that donated then first
2,500 books from its children's section. Today the foundation has
over 7,000 books in its collection, including magazines in
Indonesian and English. Many Indonesian publishers have chipped
in and also individual donors. The first van came from the German
Alumni Association five years ago and a second one is a gift from
Citibank.

The mobile library functions in different areas of the city
for four hours, five times a week at schools or in residential
areas, attracting over 200 children at each stop. Children are
invited once a week to read at the McDonald's in Cijantung, East
Jakarta. There are four permanent employees, including three
coordinators and a driver, while 40 volunteers help the
foundation with different activities like seminars, workshops and
story reading.

Supriyanto's job is merely to drive the van around to its
different destinations each day but he is so involved with books
now that instead of whiling away his time waiting and gossiping
with other drivers he helps children choose books, tells stories
and himself reads as much as he can.

"If I could choose my profession all over again, I would like
to be a librarian. I have even tried writing short stories," he
said.

For youthful Naning Puspasari being employed at the foundation
is not just a job. As one of the three coordinators, she enjoys
being with children and helping them to read for she sincerely
believes that books are a window to the world. Another activity
is to lend boxes full of books to community centers, residential
areas and to schools that are willing to take the responsibility
of lending books and making sure that they are returned by the
children.

Apart from the enjoyment that books provide, Reksodiputro is
convinced that in this very competitive age Indonesian children
have to be smarter and much better informed. And the best way
they can do so is by reading regularly.

Besides what the country needs most today is not just
a literate population but also a wise one, feels Reksodiputro,
who appeals to all those who agree with her to help by donating
either their books, especially children's works, time or money to
a cause which she feels has the power to change the entire face
of a society.

For further information, call the foundation at tel. 4501848
or 4530572.