The Children and the School

This is another installment of Cedar’s Digest, a series of poetic stories about the experiences my husband, Ren Ruslan Feldman, and I are having living for six months in Central Borneo. We are volunteer teachers in a small, innovative Indonesian school. The school is child-centered with a focus on hands-on learning and character development. Classes are taught in English and Indonesian.

These writings are accompanied by photos that can be seen on the Right Use of Power Facebook page or on Ren’s Facebook page. To see additional photos of the children and the school, here is a copy of theBCU School newsletter.  

THE CHILDREN AND THE SCHOOL

at 7:45 the children walk by our cottage
they’ve come by bus
most from Palangkaraya, an hour’s drive away
about half Protestant Christian and
about half Muslim
Javanese, local Dayaks,
a few English speakers
blue pants or skirts
white shirts
carrying books,
a few guitars
we walk with them
“Hi Ibu Cedar, Pagi, Pak Ruslan”
(Ibu or Bu for women, Bapak or Pak for men)

at 8 am on Monday it’s already hot
the day begins
with an assembly
the teachers sit behind the children
arranged in rows on the floor
Ren and I are privileged with chairs
100 children in grades 1 – 12
happy smiling faces
and relaxed bodies
show how happy they are at this school
Pak Karim, the caucasion principal from New Zealand,
talks to the children
“I’m very happy to see you.
I like seeing you get off the bus
and walking with your teachers
across the field, smiling and talking.
I’m glad for how well we all get along.
Over the weekend, an extreme Muslim group
landed in Palangkaraya.
More than 800 Dayaks went to the airport
and wouldn’t let them get off the plane.
They told them that this is a peaceful place
where we all get along together and
mosques are right next to churches.”***
Pak Widarjo, the Indonesian co-principal
talks to the children about gratitude.
then the whole school sings together
the high school boys play guitar accompaniment
they love to sing and treat us to a cool variety of songs
with multiple parts
a favorite is “What a Wonderful World”

***This was a big event in Indonesian news! I just talked with Pak Widarjo. The extremists on the plane were coming to establish an official FPI office in Palangkaraya. Apparently the Dayaks (local people) surrounded the airport, and the pilot talked to the Muslim men on the plane and told them that the airport was surrounded and that they were not wanted here. So they left without getting off. The head of the Muslims here in Palangkaraya made a statement that anyone was free to believe or say anything, with one exception, that it not lead to violence. This event sent an important message to the government in Jakarta, Pak Widarjo says. He was happy about the result, because he worries about the growing power and influence of the small number of Muslim extremists who are lavishly funded by the Wahabi Sect who are setting up fundamentalist schools all over the world.

Recently I read a powerful book: “Terrorists in Love” by Ken Ballen. It is the compelling story of the lives, motivations, and training of five young terrorist men who had for various reasons, turned away from terrorism. Written by an American journalist and separately corroborated for accuracy, it is an insightful, chilling behind the scenes look at the world of terrorism. The love in the title refers to the intense love and devotion to family and God that motivates these idealistic adolescent recruits. I recommend it!

Ibu Enda manages the office
copies, supplies
three teachers rooms with a desk for each teacher
teachers have time off from teaching
to do prep work
so this room is a good place
to connect
Olivia from England
clues me in to a good website for ideas
for grammar
Pak Alve and I talk about
how we can collaborate on
social studies and economics with the 7th and 8th graders

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