Indonesia

Establishment Education Centers

The project has a beautiful history. One of the board members initiated this project by welcoming children from Mentawai Islands who did not have the economic conditions to study in his home. Out of this private initiative grew a project serving nearly a 1000 children or youth..

The project contains three complementary activities:

• Vocational Training: Since 1999 this project offers a two-year training program in Medan to empower youth with the capacities necessary to provide early childhood education to children aged 3-5 years. So far, 189 youth have received the training. 98% of trained youth belong to underprivileged families from rural areas with very little chance to compete in the employment market. Most youth were offered employment as teachers in one of the education centers.
• Early childhood education: Since 2000 this project included the establishment of 15 pre-schools, often in remote villages, providing currently pre-school education to some 700 children, which often are excluded from the formal education system.

Moral empowerment: Since 2008 this project offers extracurricular activities for students aged 12-15 in the education centers. It gives youth the tools needed to recognize the moral issues underlying the choices they make. The curriculum is designed to achieve specific goals, including step-by-step problem-solving, nurturing virtues, and social awareness.  There are currently 300 youth benefiting from this activity.