“I
really like to read,” says Yuni, a Grade 6 student and
resident of Cuenamprong in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
“My favorite books are history books and my favorite subject
at school is the Indonesian language. I like it because I can
learn many new words and grammar. Someday, when I grow up, I
want to be a doctor.”
Yuni, 12, is a tsunami survivor and a student at one of three
temporary schools that have been established by Red Cross Red
Crescent in Aceh Jaya. These schools are supporting children’s
educational activities, while their permanent schools are being
rebuilt.
This programme, implemented by Canadian Red Cross in partnership
with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), World Vision and UNICEF,
provides learning spaces for over 120 children and their teachers
to gather everyday and prepare for the future.
The temporary schools are located in the villages of Kareung
Ateuh, Keude Unga and Cuenamprong, in the district of Aceh Jaya,
and are currently some of the few educational facilities available
in these areas.
“Before our programme started, parents had to send their
kids to a village far away from their homes so they could have
access to education,” says Vera Nova, the Canadian Red
Cross field officer who coordinated the initial creation of
the program. “Now they are able to move back home. Students
can walk to school and live with their parents once again.”
The Canadian Red Cross has provided tents, platforms and educational
material to support this programme. The villagers helped to
erect the tents through a “gotong royong” activity
- a local custom through which people give some of their time
and work to support a communal activity.
“We lost our colleagues and more than half of our students
to the tsunami. It was very painful, but we remain optimistic
and we want to contribute to the education of the children that
survived," says Sri Hartati, one of the teachers at the
transitional schools.
In the community of Ujung Muloh, also in Aceh Jaya, the Canadian
Red Cross has worked with the village education committee and
has helped to create a daily afternoon programme for 40 children
between the ages of five and 15 years at the education centre.
The transitional schools will continue to operate until the
permanent structures are rebuilt and children and teachers can
go back to their regular activities.
“I learn many things every day from doing my homework,
reading textbooks and reviewing the lessons I have learnt in
school. Usually we have homework for mathematics and Indonesian
language. It helps a lot if we do the homework regularly; it
helps us to remember the subject better,” says Yuni.
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Children
study in the community of Cuenamprong under the supervision
of a teacher from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI). “Before
our program started, parents had to send their kids to
a village far away from their homes so they could have
access to education. Now they are able to move back home.
Students can walk to school and live with their parents
once again,” says Vera Nova, the Canadian Red Cross
field officer who coordinated the initial creation of
the program. (p14594)
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Students
gather in one of the three temporary schools that have
been established by the Canadian Red Cross in Aceh Jaya.
The programme, implemented in partnership with the Indonesian
Red Cross (PMI), World Vision and UNICEF, provides learning
spaces for over 120 students and their teachers to gather
everyday and prepare for the future. (p14593)
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The
transitional schools will operate until permanent schools
are rebuilt in the region. The tents, provided by Canadian
Red Cross, were erected by villagers through a “gotong
royong” activity. This is a local custom through
which people give some of their time and work to support
a communal activity. (p14592)
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