IBBY-Yamada 2014: Indonesia

Due to a lack of infrastructure, difficult access to remote areas and a low level of teacher training, the eastern part of Indonesia has fewer educational or reading opportunities than other parts of the country. INABBY has organized workshops in this region to bring books to children, teachers and educators.

In Bali a workshop was conducted in the village of Pakisan for 40 elementary teachers from 20 schools. The workshop was hosted by Yayasan Anak (Child Foundation), a European NGO that has collaborated with the Society of Advancement of Children’s Literature (SACL) to provide a motorbike library in the village since 2012. The workshop included training in storytelling, led by the well-known American storyteller, Margaret MacDonald. Instruction on how to use the scarce books effectively and how to relate books to the school curriculum was given by Murti Bunanta of INABBY. Finally, simple storytelling devices were explained by Tetty Pratiwi, a volunteer of SACL. The second day in Bali, the team visited the Amed village and conducted a two-hour storytelling session for more than 50 children.

The team also visited Jogyakarta in Central Java, for a workshop that was hosted by the Karina Foundation. The Karina Foundation has had a long partnership with INABBY and SACL, including operating a motorbike library that was sponsored by IBBY in 2005.

In the village of Banyumulek on Lombok the workshop took place over two days for 40 pre-school teachers from 20 schools. The workshop was hosted by Nurul Wathan Circle.

Thanks to the generous support from several Indonesian book companies, the team was able to donate books in Banyumulek and Jogyakarta.