Library and Edu Centre in Indonesia

The Story

I’m Lenka, a university student who spent 2016 living on the Indonesian island of Lombok, which neighbors the popular tourist destination of Bali. Though the two islands share the same natural beauty, Lombok hasn’t had its share of the touristic wealth. I spent my time on Lombok living in a rural area in the south called Kenar and working on projects aiming to improve the standards of education and medicine among local communities.

Shortly after starting work on these projects, I came to realize two things: Firstly, no feeling can compare to what one experiences when truly helping those who are in need. Secondly, although my efforts already contributed a great deal in promoting education, a huge barrier stood in the way – Language.

I thus started to learn Indonesian with children comic books. Every time I was reading one, kids would come and borrow it, captivated by its colourful and vibrant images. I soon discovered that few local families have books at home; this comes as little surprise as the price of a book is roughly that of rice capable of feeding a family for a week. Local libraries do exist but are poorly managed and hours of driving from my community.

WHAT?

It is hard imagine your childhood without your favourite book or studying for your school exams without any additional educational material available. Sadly, this is the reality for the kids in my local community.

South Lombok is also a part of Mandalika, a massive project of Indonesian government which aims to turn Lombok into the new, but more luxurious Bali. The vast majority of locals are unable to speak English and would therefore find it difficult to find a job in tourism. In addition, many do not have the knowledge or skills required for the hospitality sector. Therefore, I decided to build a public library and educational centre for all the people in Kenar community and surrounding areas.

Another problem the young generation of South Lombok is encountering with is addictive substances. I have dealt a lot with addictions here and I hope the centre will 'keep these kids busy' and be able to always make them to be progressing instead.

There are three schools for around 400 local kids in Kenar and as many as thousands when neighbouring communities are included. Many of them are unable to afford further education; I’d like you to give them the opportunity to learn and grow by delivering them with quality and catchy books, a couple of Raspberry Pies computers and a library. This is not only a place to study or linger, but also a place that provides free courses ranging from hospitality, through IT basic skills to english to citizens of all classes.

HOW?

Readuplombok project is divided into two stages making it sustainable. The first is the acquirement of books and the purchasing of furniture, computers and a projector. The second is to refurbish existing facilities for teaching volunteers.

BUDGET

As many things as possible will be locally sourced, and therefore more sustainable and cheaper.

2000 € reconstruction of buildings (including salaries for workers an architect)
1500 € book purchase (including shipping)
2000 € Raspberry Pies, projector, screen and stationery for courses
500 € salary for librarian for 1+ year (someone from community responsible for maintenance)



ANOTHER KIND OF HELP

You might be asking whether you can donate books or computers that you are no longer using. Of course you can and I’d really glad for any form of help. If you can’t support Readuplombok financially but you have another idea, just hit me up at [email protected] so we can discuss it in detail.


PERKS

Donators over 10 € can expect a hand made postcard from Kenar kids.
For every donation over 20 € your name is going to be written in a library as a part of the 'Donators art work'.
For every donation over 30 €we’ll deliver you a handmade pendant from exotic wood (which grows just behind our place in a jungle).
For even bigger donations we will find something both surprising and breathtaking!

Thank you very much for your time. I hope we can build a sustainable social change that matters.
Have a great day!

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