PESISIR

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EDUCATION IN S.E. SULAWESI

   INDONESIE

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BACKGROUND

The Indonesian foundation PESISIR is active in Southeast Sulawesi. The objective of the foundation is to enable children to attend school. Children often do not go to school because the families cannot afford the uniforms, shoes, books, and transport costs. Education improves the chance of a better future for these children and thus on an improvement in the living conditions of the population. PESISIR works with the local communities. The staff are mainly volunteers from the area so that the projects are developed and carried out in a culturally sensitive manner.

PESISIR meaning bay or coastline, is active in the harbour town of Bau-Bau on Buton Island and in the villages on the islands in the Tukangbesi archipelago.

All along the shores of the islands are villages build on stilts. The sea nomads, known as the Bajau people live here. Originally the Bajau are a seafaring community, but nowadays they live in one place, but still on the sea. The facilities in the villages are often minimal as they get very little support from the government: the Bajau communities are often discriminated against. There is an enormous lack of teachers and teaching materials.

The most important means of living on the island is fisheries. Because the island children eat a lot of fish they are often healthier than those living in urban areas. Unfortunately, the future of the fish populations in this area is far from rosy. Now already there is far less fish on the market than before, because of over-exploitation and destructive fish methods. As the traditional sources of income will not be sufficient in the near future, education is very important in increasing the job opportunities for the youth.

   

 
   

PROJECTS

  • The back-to-school project in Bau Bau and surroundings
     PESISIR helps children in the town and in nearby villages to go back to school. PESISIR provides the uniforms, shoes. and schoolbooks, and shares the transport costs with parents of the children where possible. We work with children from low income families who could otherwise not afford to go to school. By working in partnership with the parents we ensure that the family continues to be responsible for their child's education. 
    Click here for more information on the children from Bau Bau. 
     

  • Schoolboats for the children of the Tukang Besi islands  
    -Schoolchildren from Furake
    Furake is a small fishing village on the island of Hoga. Until a few years ago there were no schooling opportunities available to the village children. The foundation has organized transportation by boat. The children go to school now in Kaledupa, the school ferry takes them back and forth each morning and afternoon. Some of the children are attending secondary school now. The children also get uniforms, shoes, PE clothes, books and writing materials. Without the aid of PESISIR these children would not have been able to go to school at all.
    -Secondary schoolchildren from Sampela
    Sampela is a sea nomad village, where the Bajau live. There is a primary school here, but there are few teachers, and many teachers fail to teach regularly. Approximately 300 children live in Sampela, but only an average of 10 children finish primary school each year. Of those only very few attended secondary school. The headman of the village, Pak Ili, has asked PESISIR for help. To enable the older children to go to secondary school, PESISIR has bought a small school boat which ferries these children to and from a nearby island each day.
  • Sampela student teachers
    In order to structurally improve primary education in Sampela, PESISIR has decided to sponsor four young sea nomads to follow the school teacher education at the university of Bau Bau. In 2009 they will be finished and will then go to teach in their own village. Already now they use their holidays assisting teaching in Sampela. PESISIR rents a house for these students close to the university. For more information on our students click here.
     
  • Libraries on the Tukangbesi Islands
     PESISIR brings books to small villages where before the people did not have an opportunity to get a hold of books. Even schoolbooks were not available. PESISIR has established small libraries in seven villages on the island of Kaledupa. The libraries are hosted and managed by the village teachers. More than 3000 new and second-hand books have been bought and distributed among the libraries over the last few years. On the same day that the new books arrive, they are generally all borrowed by the children, so much is their enthusiasm for reading.

 

  

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