Project Cemadik came to life in 2006 and mainly aims to support children’s education in a playful manner, to improve their performance at school and increase confidence in their own abilities.
Schooling in Indonesia is only mandatory up to the 9th grade, and many children leave school then because their parents can’t afford the entry fee and yearly tuition fees to continue their kids’ education.
That means that many talented children can’t access the appropriate education to break the cycle of poverty, which certainly exists in rural Bali, to take up secure employment that will in turn provide for their families and finance their children’s education.
Girls in particular draw the short straw when it comes to schooling. From an early age they are raised to do chores around the house, work in the rice fields and mind their younger siblings – in most cases they are married at a very young age, too. If there are boys in the family girls often have no chance of getting an education – if the parents can afford to put one child through school beyond year 9, it will be the boy.
With my project I’m hoping to show them that learning can be fun, and to encourage independent thinking. That’s why I offer maths, reading and writing lessons to those kids in the village that show an interest in learning. Since three years ago I also provide English lessons, and computer classes since 2 years ago.
Through games and lending them books I want to awaken their curiosity. I want to show them – also through my own story – that there is a fascinating world outside their village just waiting to be explored.
I try to show them that they have a choice. The choice to stay in the village and work, like their parents in the rice fields and pigsties, and carry stones for construction, or to study and get an education that enables them to earn enough money to feed a family.
Read more about Peter and Marlis or discover how it started.