When I visited Desa Kukusan I did so to meet the teacher and see the school. It was my intention to determine whether or not the school would be a good fit for the #100BOOKSprogram (ie, do they need books, and, if so, is there someone there to take care of them).
I have been exposed to more than one local village school in remote Indonesia but I was quite shocked to see the state of the school and the conditions in which the teacher lived and worked.
Ibu Fitri is a single mother from Bima. She has a daughter (at home in Bima) and has been in Kukusan Village for 3 months. She does not have a permanent teaching position and is therefor on the very poor salary of 300,000 Rp per month. That's roughly 30 dollars. The housing provided for Ibu Fitri is very poor - a bamboo shack on the verge of collapse with holes in the roof, floor and walls. She is not provided with basic household needs. She doesn't have a bed to sleep on or even a roof that keeps out the rain.
Ibu Fitri is not an isolated case. There are many teachers like this in Indonesia. They work far away from home, in poor conditions, in schools with no resources on unliveable salaries. As a result of these poor conditions the turnover rate for teachers in these already disadvantaged communities is extremely high leaving the children of these communities without consistent education.
Furthermore, without teachers at these schools they are at risk of being closed down by the government meaning that unless families can transport their children to another school they go without education all together.
It is my hope that by providing teachers with safe and comfortable housing, and basic necessities we can encourage them to stay in these remote destinations. By caring for our teachers we allow the teachers to do their job and care for the students.
Money raised for teachers in this program will go towards renovating (or rebuilding) substandard housing and provided basic comforts such as bedding and kitchenware.
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