Aceh - Subulussalam's Mixed farming project

The program just started about two months ago. Mixed farming is one of the efforts supported by Hope 4 Our Children to help Dayah Subulussalam self sufficient.

Dayah Subulussalam bought 78 chickens for egg production. The chicken produces about 70 eggs daily. The amount is sufficient to provide nutritious food for the students. When the supply is sufficient for the boarding school, DS sells the eggs to the local market. The local market welcomes this, as the price is Rp 50 cheaper than the market price of Rp 500.

Picture: egg production.

the students are in charged

Henri (wearing brown shirt) is a senior in Dayah Subulussalam high school. His extracurricular activity is to manage this mixed farming program. He was appointed as the person in charge for the mixed farming project.

Picture: in front of the mixed farming project cage.

He explained to me that he is extremely pleased with this responsibility. He is helping Dayah Subulussalam. At the same time, he also is learning the sets of skills he will need once he graduates from high school. He mentioned that he wants to learn more about mixed farming, and asked me to send him literatures from the US to help equip him with better skills.

Handicraft Subulussalam products

Beside making snacks and cake, they are taught how to make handicraft to sell. One girl received a scholarship to attend a training on how to make handicraft in Jakarta last month. She came back and trained her peers how to make handicraft.

I was very thrilled to see how creative they are. I brought back samples of their work (anyone interested in buying? All the proceeds will be given to Dayah Subulussalam children).

Picture: the girls in front of their handicrafts.

Dayah Subulussalam girls handicrafts

Picture: the girls just started making handicrafts. It is one of the alternatives for home industry.

helping hands of U.S. children for Acehnese children

Following tsunami, people from all walk of life mourned, helped and contributed what they can to the tsunami victims. The donors were not only professionals or housewifes, but also elementary school children.

Hope 4 Our Children received donation from at least two schools, Al-Fatih Academy in Virginia and Waterford Elementary School (through their PTO). They did not only convey their concern and express their condolences, but they took an extra step to help the tsunami survivors by collecting funds for them. Those children were able to raise more than $3,000 in total!! In addition, girl scout children of Sterling, Virginia also participated in the fundraising event held by John Stevens (Dragonslayer Application), by singing and donating (see picture).

These funds were allocated 100% for the contruction and refurbishment in Dayah Subulussalam orphanage boarding school.

With their donation, Al-Fatih children also sent their letters to the tsunami victims. They sent their condolenses to those Acehnese orphans. I was not fully aware of this, until an Acehnese child gave me a response to an Al-Fatih's child letter. During my visit, I took my time to collect replies from Acehnese children.
(Dayah Subulussalam children responded and wrote back letters to US children thanking them for their thoughtfulness and for their help. I received more than 20 letters to bring home with me.)

I was extremely touched by how much of a difference a small kind gesture from a child can make and can effect another; how priceless those children's contribution were, by taking a step to raise fund and donate, as well as expressing their condolences and thoughts to help those Acehnese children heal.

I ended my journey to Aceh by inserting all those letters into my plastic folder. I will keep them safe until I can hand them to AlFatih children or Waterfold Elementary school children. This trip has been so fulfiling. I just can't express how much a small gesture, small amount of money can stretch a long way here in Aceh. hope I can convey the message accross on my short blogs.


Ina Nasution

About Dayah Subulussalam

There are 223 children of Dayah Subulussalam (DS), a total of 102 children are live-in students. Dayah Subulussalam provides Islamic education as well as formal education. Out of 102 live-in children, a total 49 children are not able to pay monthly tuition of Rp 180,000 or $20 (including cost of living at dorms, cost of food and education). These students are orphans or very poor children. This was the reason why DS has been having problems affording themselves, let alone accepting tsunami survivors into DS.

DS has 19 full time teachers; they are bachelors graduate and associate degree graduates from colleges all over Indonesia.

Picture: Dayah Subulussalam's children in front of one of the refurbished dorms. They were holding Hope 4 Our Children banner.

Dayah Subulussalam school management

The school management is still not sufficient. Currently, the absentees list were not recorded, and the grading record are kept manually (means: hand written). There is so much room for improvement.

I took the opportunity to train three teachers who are computer literate, on different forms to simplify school management. I just derived them from simple excel tables: how to make simple attendance sheet, record students’ grades as well as list of final students’ grades and tuition payment record. We generated different tables and forms for the use of school management.

They just recently received a desktop and printer from Department of Education’s local branch. In addition, I brought with me a used laptop donated by Ratna Siregar (Hope 4 Our Children VP) and a new printer, donated by Pinky Mara, Hope 4 Our Children volunteer. They were very thrilled of the donation. Hopefully this can improve the school management.

Training the new Dayah Subulussalam teachers

Dayah Subulussalam just recruited six new teachers for the formal school. They came from universities all over Indonesia. Elly Risman, the Education Director and founder of Dayah Subulussalam, who is based in Jakarta, also visited Dayah Subulussalam with Ina Nasution. She took the opportunity to gave the orientation as well as train the six new Dayah Subulussalam teachers.

Picture: Elly Risman, conducted teacher training for the six new teachers.

Met Dayah Subulussalam children

On behalf of Hope 4 Our Children, I brought gifts for children in the form of school bags. The children gathered at a meeting place. Before that, the principal, Mr. Bambang Achiruddin, who was a graduate of prestigious teacher college in Jakarta, asked both Elly Risman and I to speak in front of the children.

It was a good opportunity to meet face to face with the children. I encouraged them to learn and read. I took the same quote (in Dayah Babulilmi), the first word from Allah in the Quran Iqro which means Read. I stated you all learn not only from the school, but you can learn merely from anybody and from books you read. Please always remember that today has to be better than yesterday, and tomorrow should be better than today.

To further motivate them, I shared an experience of my late grandmother, Tinur M. Nur, who came from a very small village called Pandai Sikek in West Sumatra. I told this story to Dayah Babulilmi students. She was only elementary school graduate, but she had such will power and motivation to read, to learn, and to give women opportunity to learn at school. At the age of 16 (it must have been in mid 1920), along with several of her girl friends, they were determined to build a school for girls. They picked up stone from a river nearby, and passed them one by one, hands to hands to build a school building. Finally the building was in place. It was the first school for women in Sumatra, called Diniyah Putri. (I didn’t mention to them that in the process my grandmother and her friends were arrested by the Dutch for trying to gather people). It is very important to have a dream and a goal. If you fail, don’t be discouraged. Keep on trying. Insha Allah, you will find your way.


Picture: Ina spoke in front of Dayah Subulussalam children.

New bags for the children

The children were so eager. Imagine Indonesian school system that did not encourage students to raise their hands. After I spoke, there were three students raising their hands to ask me questions. It took them a lot of courage to do that, and I am very, very proud of them.

Gift for the children – new bags! They were very happy. Alhamdulillah, thanks to Allah.

Bag for Dayah children

Picture: Ina and one of Dayah Subulussalam girl who just received a new bag. On the right hand side (wearing black) is Elly Risman, the founder and Education Director of Dayah Subulussalam.



Ina Nasution

Masjid in Subulussalam

Dayah Subulussalam has one- almost complete-masjid for its residence to pray. The construction is almost done. It has been used for praying since a couple of months ago. It still lacks bathrooms and a place for ablution.

Masjid's Bathroom

Masjid's bathroom is still not yet built (see picture).

Cultural notes

Here is my picture riding a becak at Subulussalam. Becak is a mean of transportation in many cities in Indonesia. I thought I should share this picture (to my son).

Becak

Here is a picture of becak in Sigli, Aceh. Surprisingly, you can find women drivers also in Aceh. Interesting.

Dayah Subulussalam, Singkil, south of Meulaboh, Aceh

Following the trip to Banda Aceh and Sigli, Ina Nasution visited Dayah Subulussalam orphanage boarding school, that is located in south of Meulaboh. Dayah Subulussalam is located in Singkil - it is about 7 hours drive from Medan.

Hope 4 Our Children allocated funds for the refurbishment of the Dayah Subulussalam orphanage boarding school's dorms. Ina's trip was to monitor the progress of funds allocated for Dayah Subulussalam, train the staff in using the computer as well as report the progress of Dayah. The principal and Head of Dayah Subulussalam is Ustadz Bambang Khoiruddin, a bachelor degree graduate, Jakarta native, who has dedicated more than 10 years of his teaching career in Dayah Subulussalam.

Elly Risman, the founder of Dayah Subulussalam also accompanied Ina during her trip.

Picture: the girls dorms refurbished with funds from Hope 4 Our Children. The girls posed in front of the dorm holding Hope 4 Our Children banner. Ina Nasution, from Hope 4 Our Children (wearing the blue head cover) is standing on the right hand side of this picture.



Hope 4 Our Children funds allocation

Note: From tsunami fundraising held by Hope 4 Our Children and Dragonslayers Application, as well as matching funds from Sterling Charitable Gift Fund, Hope 4 Our Children was able to help Dayah Subulussalam by refurbishing the existing dorms: installed ceilings, paint the dorms, as well as build toilets inside the girls dorms. In addition, the water systems as well as toilets were built. Those children do not need to go to the river to bath.

Girls dorm

Picture inside the girls dorm. They were given beds and mattress.

Girls dorm sitting area

Picture sitting area inside the girls dorm. Fully refurbished and freshly paint.

Mattress for the children

Picture the mattress for Dayah residence

Dorm (after refurbishment)

This is how the ceiling looks like after the refurbishment and painting. The construction of ceiling and painting of the 4 dorms inside out were for a total of 4,000. However, it gives a great impact, totally new energy, better living condition for those children and most importantly, it gives those children's hope to go on with their lives and to look forward to their future.

Poor dorms condition (roof before refurbishment)

The dorm condition was very poor. It was not painted. There was no ceiling, the bare roof was what those children saw when they went to bed at night.

This was the picture of one of the dorm's ceiling before the refurbishment.

With the fundraising event organized by John Stevens and Hope 4 Our Children in April of 2005, as well as donation from friends and colleagues in Washington D.C. area, Hope 4 Our Children is able to help Dayah Subulussalam orphanage boarding school improved their dorm condition.

Inside Boys dorms

Picture inside the boys dorms. Freshly paint, new ceilings, bunk bed and mattress.

This was the boy's dorm before the refurbishment

Boys dorms

Picture in front of boys dorm. They prepared a banner Terima kasih untuk NGO Hope 4 Our Children translated as Thank you for the help of Hope 4 Our Children.

Picture of the new bathroom

Picture building for bathrooms and place for ablution. They don’t have to walk 1.5 miles to go to the bathroom

place for ablution

Picture place for ablution in the bathroom

New bathroom

Picture new bathroom, located near the girls dorms.

River

This is a picture of the river located 1.5 miles from the dorms. Before they have the new bathroom, they used this river to bath and wash.

Home Industry at Dayah Subulussalam, Singkil, Aceh

Picture: in front of the newly built home industry building.

One of the programs designed by Hope 4 Our Children for Dayah Subulussalam is to help them become self sufficient by providing them with (limited) capital for home industry and mixed farming.

Dayah Subulussalam received donation worth 1/5 cost of constructing a 5 meters by 5 meters building for home industry use. They requested loan from the bank for the remaining 4/5 costs.

Hope 4 Our Children provides equipment for home industry use (huge mixer, plastic wrapper and coconut milk presser). After school hours, the girls are encouraged to learn how to cook, make cookies, and various traditional cakes.

Home industry program produces different kind of snack. For the past couple of months, these products have been supplying the local market and "warong" (small restaurant) all over Subulussalam. With about Rp 15,000 worth of raw material for a cake equivalent to about $2, they can sell the cake for Rp 60,000 or about $8 at a local market. This extra income helps support the Dayah.

In addition to the extra income, this skill can help equip the students with the necessary skill, as source of their income in the future.

Cookies production

Picture: junior high school and high school Subulussalam students make cookies to sell.

Production room

Picture: here is the 'production room'. Hope 4 Our Children helped this home industry by funding the cookie making equipment.



Ina Nasution

Training for tsunami survivors

Hope 4 Our Children funds training for tsunami survivors. Some were taught how to sew, how to embroider, how to process dried fish; some others were trained how to make swing. Their trainings range from three classes to ten classes, depending on the complexity and target of the training. Funds are allocated for cost of training, materials as well as equipment.

Hope 4 Our Children works with a local partner, Yayasan Ilham and Rodhiah, a contact representative and workshop coordinator. Since its launch, the programs have trained many widows and youth tsunami survivors by providing skills to become one of the sources of their livelihood. This program was directed by Faizah Badeges, Hope 4 Our Children's Board of Trustee, and initiated on her last trip to Sigli in February 2006.

Photos of widows trained by Hope 4 Our Children & Yayasan Ilham

Here are photos of widows attending workshops funded by Hope 4 Our Children through the cooperation with Yayasan Ilham, a local partner (photos: courtesy of Faizah Badeges)

Article about Hope 4 Our Children in www.dailymuslim.com

In February 2006, Hope 4 Our Children volunteers (Faizah Badeges, Debra Dirks and Stephanie Parlove) traveled to Indonesia and identified possible programs to help widows and youth tsunami survivors in Sigli area. Here are some of the trainings that have been implemented since February 2006:

-Hammock Making Program, the students are paid 25,000 rupiah to make each hammock and the Dayah sells the hammock 100,000 rupiah.

-Furniture Making Program, the students built dining table, bed and large cabinet. They are hoping to sell the product for further project.

-Embroidery Project, classes participants can make a fully embroidered hijabs. When proficient, one person can make three, fully embroidered hijabs per day.

-Sewing Project, the students gets donation of material to make clothes for the children in the refugee camps.

-Fish Shredding, This is a seasonal industry and was not in operation while the team was in Indonesia due to seasonal fish in Aceh.


Here is the article written by Jerard F. Dirks about Hope 4 Our Children, the February trip to Aceh, and "A Cry for Help":

http://dailymuslims.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1603&Itemid=238

Faizah Badeges (Hope 4 Our Children's Trustee) on her February trip

There was no workshop conducted when I visited Sigli and met Rodhiah, Hope 4 Our Children's representative (I came about 2 weeks too late from the most current workshops conducted).

I wanted to share a picture courtesy of Faizah Badeges, Hope 4 Our Children's Trustee, attending one of the workshops for tsunami survivors during her February 2006 trip.

Widows - tsunami survivors -in Sigli area

Children - tsunami survivors- in Sigli area

Free clinic in Sigli

Picture: The two nurses in front of medication supply.

Hope 4 Our Children provided equipment and medication for free clinic in Sigli. This free clinic was established by AL-Irsyad-PPI. It operates from 2:00 p.m. to about 6:00 p.m. daily. There is one doctor and two nurses who volunteer their time for this clinic. They work at a local government hospital (called Puskesmas).

There are about 40 to 60 tsunami survivors who visit the clinic daily. Before donated by Hope 4 Our Children, the clinic did not have scale, blood pressure measurement, lights, examination bed and some basic medication.

Tsunami survivor - Khalfawi

Tsunami survivor - Khalfawi

Khalfawi M. Amin, a fourteen-year old boy, is the soul survivor of the family of eight. His younger and older siblings, from 2 years old to 17 years old, as well as both parents were all gone. With a low tone, he retold his experience that day.

Water came all of a sudden after the earthquake. He was able to cling to the roof of a two-story-house. He stayed there for a couple of minutes, only to be hit by the second wave which collapsed the two-story house. Khalfawi noted that he went under the water again, until he finally hung on to logs of wood, and tried as best as he could to hold on to it. It was God’s miracle that pulled him up and with last energy he had he hang on to the log.

The water wiped him out about 1.5 kilometer away from where his house located. He never found the remains of both of his parents as well as his seven siblings.

One of his extended family lives near Dayah Babulilmi, and brought him there. He has been living in Dayah Babulilmi orphanage boarding school ever since.

His bitter experience just crushed me. I admire his unbelievable strength and his spirits to move on.

I asked him to write a letter to a friend in the U.S. He nodded and gave me the letter about an hour later. "Please send my regards and my thanks to friends who donated and who were thinking of us here" – he stated.


Ina Nasution

Spoke with Dayah Babulimi's children

Picture: Ina Nasution spoke with Dayah Babulilmi's children


Spoke with Dayah children

I took the opportunity to talk to these children. I want to learn more about their background, and most of all, I would like to give them motivation and spirits to move on. They came from very poor family. Most of their parents did not even graduate from elementary school. They lack the motivation, guidance, let alone vision to improve their condition.

I use the Quranic approach to talk to these children. I quoted the first sentence that came to Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel, Iqro , means Read!. I said Allah gave all of us instruction to read from early on. If you read, if you keep on reading, you will gain some information, some knowledge that might be useful for you, for your future. I took an example of my late grandmother, Tinur M. Nur. She came from a small village in West Sumatra. Her parents were not educated. However she went to school, he loved to read a lot. She learned a lot from books she read. She was a determined woman, she became an Islamic study teacher ustadzah for more than 30 years in Central Java, and traveled to many countries, including going to Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. I encouraged them to have a vision, to have a dream. Insha Allah, you will find your way.



Gift for the children

I brought a little gift for the tsunami survivors: school bags. I asked Tengku Munir, the principal of Dayah Babulilmi to distribute the bags for these children. They were extremely happy. For some of them, this bag is their first bag.

(I am glad to take the time to shop for bags for these children. These bags cost only Rp 15,000 to Rp 22,500 per bag – equivalent to about $2 to $3 per bag- , from donors through Hope 4 Our Children. The thrill of sharing this happiness with them is priceless.)

Ina spoke with Dayah Babulilmi girls.

New dorm in Dayah Babulilmi

Picture: Elly Risman, Ina Nasution, Tengku Munir (Principal of Dayah Babulilmi) and Pak Ian (Dompet Dhuafa). Background: the foundation of the new dorm.


Dompet Dhuafa-Hope 4 Our Children's local partner

The construction of Dayah Babulilmi is managed and supervised by Dompet Dhuafa, our local partner (their website: www.dompetduafa.or.id).It is important to have a professional partner oversees the project to maintain quality and to ensure the project is implemented as planned. Dompet Dhuafa was founded 13 years ago, and has presence all over Indonesia. Last year's revenue was Rp 34 billion (equivalent to about $3 million). Their visions as well as many of their projects are inline with Hope 4 Our Children's vision and purpose: that is to provide children with 4 basic needs: food, shelter, education and health.

Dompet Dhuafa representative, Arif Abdullah and Ian, accompanied us throughout our trip to Sigli. I asked Pak Arif to reassess the budget for constructions, and whether or not it is possible to allocate some funds to refurbish the existing dorms, as well as to support some students with tuition.


Ina Nasution

Tsunami survivors - Hasan, Husain and Ibrahim

I spoke with these three brothers, Hasan, Husain and Ibrahim. They lost their youngest sibling of 2 years old, and both parents. That morning, their mom left the house early to meet some neighbors. That was the last time they saw their mom. A couple of minutes after that, water came and they were running for their lives.

It was not until a week later that they found each other. Their dad was crying but thankful that he found his three sons. He never recovered remains of his wife and his youngest child. His health and respiratory system deteriorated after that, and he passed away.

(A far relative took them and placed them at Dayah Babulilmi where they stayed until today.)

They cried and cried when they remembered their parents, especially their mother. I saw a tear dropped from Hasan’s eyes. He looked down to the floor. From his eyes, I imagined him longing for his mother’s hugs and for her to sooth him. She was gone forever, on December 26, 2006. I can’t express how sad I am by their stories.

Hope 4 Our Children's construction in Dayah Babulilmi

Picture: their current dorm, Dayah Babulilmi.



Hope 4 Our Children will build a dorm of 12 rooms and 12 bathrooms for tsunami survivors in this Dayah orphanage boarding school. When we visited this Dayah, the dorm construction is under way.

As a result of this assessment, I would like to recommend that some funds be allocated for children’s tuition and books as well.

Current dorm's ceiling: Dayah Babulilmi

Picture: Here is a picture of how the ceilings of the current dorms looks like. It's made out of dried leaves.

Current dorm's floor - Dayah Babulilmi

Picture: Here is a picture of the cement floor in Dayah Babulilmi's dorms.

Hope 4 Our Children's Visit to Aceh

On June 21st, 2006, Ina Nasution, Hope 4 Our Children current President will visit Hope 4 Our Children's existing project in Dayah Subulussalam. Hope 4 Our Children helps with the refurbishment of four existing Dayah Subulussalam dorms as well as construction of sanitary system and toilets for the children, so the children don’t need to go to the river to bath. Beside that, Hope 4 Our Children help provide the Dayah with food, books, sanitary supplies and mattress.

In Sigli, Hope 4 Our Children provides help for tsunami children by constructing a dorm with 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms in the eisting Dayah Babulilmi Orphanage-Boarding school. The construction is in progress.

Dayah Babulilmi orphanage boarding school in Sigli, Aceh

We arrived in Banda Aceh at 10:30 a.m. Dayah Babulilmi is located in Sigli, south of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh. It took us about 4 hours to reach Dayah Babulilmi, orphanage-boarding school.

Dayah Babulilmi' condition is far worse than I imagined. I was mesmerized by the dire condition I saw here. This dayah's condition is already very poor to begin with. Following tsunami, they had an influx of 55 children to the dorm. A room (of 3 meters x 4 meters) is occupied by 8 students. Each dorm has cement floors and roofed with dried leaves. No bunk beds or mattress to sleep on (only straw mats); no bathroom or sanitary system (they have to go to river to bath). Most of all, some of these students can't afford going back to school. They cannot afford tuition (for kindergarten) of Rp 1000 per month (equivalent to $0.15, some of them can't even afford fifteen cents per month!!!).

As a result of that, they did not go to school. They just stayed at a dorm, and learn and read the Holy Quran.

The Dayah has 472 children, only 106 are live-in children, 55 of them are tsunami survivors. Most of the children live outside Dayah; they attend Quran study classes at Dayah Babulilmi.



Ina Nasution

They are so happy

I am just so thrilled to see how happy these children were, despite of their condition. They were so overwhelmed by the attention of my camera. These little girls attend Dayah Babulilmi for 2 hours each afternoon to attend Quranic study class. The class costs Rp 1,000 per month, which is equivalent to $0.15. Still, many students can't afford to pay this tuition.

Dayah Babulilmi: Out of 12, only 4 go to formal school

Picture: Nurhayati (18 years old), Yusniati (14 years old), Nurazizah (13 years old), Zarnati (22 years old), Megasatrika (14 years old) and Ina Nasution, Hope 4 Our Children.



Ideally, the students who live in this Dayah go to this public school, and in the afternoon, they study religion and Quranic study at Dayah. Because of lack of money, some of these children cannot afford going to local public schools.

I spoke with ten girls at the dorm. I met Nurhayati (18 years old), Yusniati (14 years old), Nurazizah (13 years old), Zarnati (22 years old), Megasatrika (14 years old), Rafika (15 years old), Nurbaiti (15 years old), Zuhrati (13 years old), Nina Dewi (14 years old), Sarwana (13 years old), Nur Eni (18 years old) and Dewi Fatma (15 years old).

Out of these 12 girls, only four girls go to school. I asked them why. Their reply was "we have no money to go to school". There are public schools (Elementary school and Junior High School) about 1 mile away from Dayah Babulilmi. Junior High School and Elementary schools are free of charge (tuition wise), however, the school requests students pay book fees, uniform fees, final tests fee. Some of the children have extended family who still send them money. Some of them don't have family to support them. They can't afford merely less than $10 per month!!!

Ina Nasution

Journal of Ina Nasution

I began my journey to Aceh on a Wednesday, June 21, 2006 morning. I have with me one small luggage with four boxes containing school bags for the orphans & disadvantaged children of two dayah orphanage boarding schools in Aceh. I was a little anxious about the whole trip. This is my first time going to Aceh. I remembered my last trip to Aceh 10 years ago (when I was working at Sampoerna) was cancelled because of instability in Banda Aceh as a result of on-going conflict with GAM (Aceh rebels).

The four boxes were 12 kilogram overweight. However the person at the check-in counter let me go without charging overweight fee (Bless her heart).

I am accompanied by Elly Risman, the founder and Education Director of Dayah Subulussalam orphanage boarding school, a school located at Singkil, south of Meulaboh.