a journal of a young lecturer

8/3/2019 A Journal of a Young Lecturer

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Sometimes in life, you need to take a leap When opportunity arises to do so, take it and dont hesitate

Because it could be once-in-a-life-time lottery orit might become a life-turning experience

Better regretting something we did than something we didnt do

A Journal of a

Young Lecturer

Bayu Adi Persada 2011

When the sunset comes. Priceless scene.


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A Journal of a

Young Lecturer

Bayu Adi Persada

The story of a young man in nding his passionand the very true meaning of life.


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A JOURNAL OF A YOUNG LECTURER DECEMBER 30, 2011

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A Journal of a How to get there?

You need to take a planefrom Jakarta to Ternate. Ittakes 3,5 hours. If you take Garuda Indonesia, you will be arriving there in the afternoon.Next, you wait for ferry until night. The ferry sailsoff the harbor around 8 or 9PM. It is a long voyage on thatferry. Ferry willtake you toBacan Island in SouthHalmahera regency for 8hours.You will be likely to arrive inBabang, a port city, arounddawn. No, you are not there yet. To get to my village, Bibinoi, you still need to wait until 2 inthe afternoon to board on

small boat. Yes, it is tiring.Of course. A dock to nd a small boatis still located in Babang butmore to the east. If the sea is calm, it just takes an hourto get to Bibinoi. After two whole days of a journey then you are there!Bibinoi, a lovely place tospend the day!

The story of a young man in nding his passion and the very true meaning of life.

Young Lecturer

At rst, the idea of me living ina place that has never been heardbefore was preposterous. For thetechno - geek and gadget -freak like Iam, living a life without electricity,signal, and internet is not a life.

I expressed my intention of thiscrazy idea to my parents anyway.My mother was in doubt the rst

time I mentioned Indonesia Mengajar . Because the program wasjust launched few months back andthere was no example of this young lecturer or Pengajar Muda, she wasnot in full comfort to let me go.

After I gave her someexplanations, she gave me an okay.She found out that this program was

Anies Baswedan idea and its purpose was concrete and sincere. Moreover,my mother is fond of Anies. Shealways says he is an intelligent andhumble person.

Unfortunately, my father did not react the same like mom did. Hedescribed my plan as ridiculous and silly. He said, You are gonna waste 5

years of studying and working in IT by being a teacher! It was harsh butI appreciated his opinion. I intended to prove he was wrong. Well, my intention was clear and my heart was rm.

Without full permission from my parents, I kept going and stillbelieved that being a teacher for the kids in needs was the right choice.

Turns out, I was right. I experienced the best one year ever in my

life. An amazing journey!

HOME

I was assigned to Desa Bibinoi. I just heardthe name when I got the deployment paper backin Bogor. Stated there, no signal, limitedelectricity and transportation. Sighed, I did.

Since then, I often told myself to be ready andalways remember what my objectives were. Ineeded to prepare for the worst in everything andexpect nothing.

Bibinoi is a coastal village located in middleeast of Bacan Island. The topography in that area is quite unique. You can nd a beach and a

mountain at the same time. Beach is at the north while mountain is separated by eight kilos at thesouth.

With population around 1300 people, thereare many tribes living there. Most of them are Tobelo, Makian, and Bacan while Islam andChristian are two main religions.

Finally, I could tell you that all the worries were gone when the rst time my feet touchedBibinois sand and my eyes saw their people faces. Those soothed me. I was grateful, really.

On boat to my village. Rainbow sighted

A view from my window in the morning.


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It is true that I could not nd a single bar onmy phone. Although electricity had been installedthere, but still it has never been stable. Theinstallation passes through the jungle so befall of tree branch on wires could make big news.

Electricity will go off

for days.Well, I was not there to nd luxury andcomfort. I was there to give kids dream, a realdream that they can hold onto their entire life.I was not gonna back down, not now, not ever.

SCHOOL

A public school, SDN Bibinoi, was a bestplace for me to start my teaching career. With thetotal student almost reaches 250, it is considerably a big school.

The building is proper. There are four mainbuildings, three are allocated for classrooms andone for o ffice and library. Large eld and a small wooden home complete the school compound.

Ten teachers are listed along with headmaster.However, the same problem existed in almostevery school in South Halmahera, a dedicated anddiscipline teacher is rare. Most teachers do notknow their value of their profession. Teachers

should be the best model for the student, not theotherwise. Teachers not attending class is normal and

people do not really care about it. Teachers acting as stranger to student outside school is common. They shout and hit at them, like there is no other way to give lessons. Such a pity.

I came there with numerous problems. Noneof them was easy. Low -capable students, lack of discipline teacher, less role of parents, suspiciousheadmaster, and so on. The list were not getting

less.

I remembered Voltaire once said, With greatpower comes great responsibility. I did notpossess power that great, I just had faith that Icould give hope for this kids, school, and society.Now God, please bless me with power.

STUDENTS

There are many reasons why I always like kidsthere. They are cheerful, bright, and skillful.Regardless of their potential, the rst two weeksteaching in that school was a nightmare.

Kids there do not speak proper Indonesian. They call Indonesian language as high language.So yes, most of the time, my students did notunderstand what I was telling. Without mutualunderstanding, my lesson had no point.

With an intense interaction with people andkids, I was able to master their language in justthree weeks. Important accomplishment, I mustsay. I could speak, understand, and interpret theirlanguage into Indonesian.

Good communication made everything easier.In a short time, I could become closer with every kids. In school, I treated them as my student, butoutside, I tried to befriend with them.

Together, we took a bath in the river, played along on the beach, or shing in the middle of the sea. Any activity would bring joy and fun. After that, it was very easy persuading them to study.

My rst target was to escalate their willingnessto learn. Because only with spirit and willingness,they have strong foundation to grow and becomebetter. For some reasons, I felt that I was doing a good job to make studying was a pleasure for my students.

I taught my students after school almosteveryday, did not matter whether it was weekend.Most of the time, they came to my house at night

This should be a pride, SDN Bibinoi.

Amoi and Natalia studying at night with a charged lamp.


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after dinner. Usually, I ended this additional study hours after they, or me, were sleepy or tired.

I might be tired after non -stop teaching activities all day but their huge spirit to learn could

not be bought. I learned value of dedication fromthem.

PRIDE

Teachers pride lies on their student. Whenstudent can achieve something, priceless happiness will surely appear. When a child can spell his rstsimple word, work on Math, memorize Pancasila,or understand science well. Our pride is, notsurprisingly, simple.

Olan, eight years old, was recently able to read.One thing for sure, this boy has outstanding potential. Diligent, kind hearted, persistence, andfast learner. He was the best in my class, among 3rd grader. I had no hesitation to include him into my team to compete in National Science Olympic.

I had been teaching Olan along with ve otherstudents about science for a month or so. The teamhad to learn many general knowledges, doexperiments, and nish practices about science. Among the team, Olan was the one to put big

interest in science, like he was born to learn thissubject.

I did not want to expect much. After Iscrutinized the questions, even I was not sure to beable to answer those correctly. Then I thought,how about my students?

In the end, I was embarrassed by optimism andhard work. Everything was changed when I arrivedat the dock in Babang. Signal exists there. I couldnot describe how happy and proud I was that time when I got an email from a friend. Its content wasto congratulate Olan for achieving the SeminalRound of National Science Olympic!

I spontaneously shouted, I am the worldchampion!

BRILLIANCE

Genius kids are everywhere. Every kids haspotential. Every kids is smart. I purely believethose statements are true. But we can not simply deny that some kids are better than the others.Bibinoi has few, this genius kids. I called them thebrilliant kids.

I was lucky to meet those kids.Kids that are not only smart,but also humble, obedient,kind, and cheerful. Their goodcharacters are countless,serious.Beside Olan, there are Munarsiand Dila. Munarsi, just turned9 last May, is Mathematicenthusiast. I did not know when his interest started growing, but when I gave him

exercises, he always nished ahead of his friendsand rarely made mistake.

Munarsi is a son of a tailor. He is lucky to havehis father. Even his father did not get propereducation, he cares very much about Narsi. Healways tells Narsi to nish homework and read oneor two page in any book rst before Narsi goes outplaying. Yes, not all parents in Bibinoi are notattentive towards their children.

Another genius kid is Dila. Dila really likes toread. He loves encyclopedia and story book. Healways spends his time in a school break reading books in library. I often chose interesting books forhim to read. Some of the time, he then told meeverything he just read. A really nice boy.

Olan and Munarsi studying fruits and vegetables

Munarsi with his rsttrophy

Olan, Narsi, and Dila in academic competition.


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One time, he tested me with a question. Hesaid, Sir, do you know which nation has a symbolof Garuda ( eagle- red )? Of course Indonesia, my dear, I replied. Then, how about a bald eagle? I was in silence for a moment, thinking. Well, to tell

you the truth, I do not know the answer.It is United States of America, Sir! He giggledand ran.

It did not become a surprisethough when Olan, Narsi, andDila were the champion inacademic competition in MiddleEast Bacan sub -district event. I gathered this three brilliant kidsin one team. Competing withteams from other schools, their

hard work was paid off

as they couldanswer most of the questions correctly from thejury.

I am not trying to be conceited here but I havefull faith if they are in the same team, they cancompete with any school, even from town or letssay, Java Island. With Olan covers science, Narsitakes math problems, and Dila answers the generalones, could I ask for more? I do not think so.I am so grateful God chose me to be their partnerin discovering knowledge and learning the worldmore.

NATIONALISM

When I rst came to the school, I enteredfourth grade class. Because I did not really prepareanything to teach, I tried to teach them national

song. Surprisingly, or not, most of them did notknow our national anthem, Indonesia Raya.

Then came the most shocking experience thatday. I asked them, Kids, what is the name of ournation? Their answer was beyond expectation. They shouted, BIBINOI, Sir! Oh, dear God. I

was standing in front of the class,frozen. The problem I stated before wasproven. I did not want to blamelimitation, isolation, poverty orany inadequacy. Teachers had toknow Indonesia as our nation buthow come they had not yet toldtheir student. This was real matterand real action needed to be done,

immediately. Teacher was not my number one priority for

the rst three months. My students were. Before Icould teach math, science, social, art, or evenEnglish, I thought that time I needed to encouragemy students to know their nation, to gainnationalism.

I initiated ag -raising ceremony every Monday,taught how to sing national anthem and othernational songs, told stories about proclaimer andnational heroes, and encouraged them to speakIndonesian properly. It was indescribable feeling when I heard some kids humming one of nationalsong, Indonesia Pusaka on the way home afterschool ended.Indonesia, our homeland. Eternal and gloriouslegacyIndonesia tanah air beta. Pusaka abadi nan jaya.'

For us villager, we do not have the luxury tochoose our amusement. We do not have malls,

recreation park, or zoo. However, we can be proudof our nature. It is still, well, natural.I had redened pleasure for myself since the

rst time I stepped on Bibinois sand. Beach wasjust twenty steps away from my house. You couldalways ask any kids to climb to bring you a freshcoconut. If I was bored with beach, I could just goto the back of the village. Hidden paradise wasthere as the locals say.

I am glad to say that it was true. I have neverdreamed before I could have mount, beach,

waterfall, and river in my ground yard. I can go tothose places only by foot. Wonderful.

A trip to Bibinois waterfall starts by walking tothe west side of the village. The distance is

approximately 4 kilos, that means 2 hours walking. To get there, we better start going in the

morning so we can reach the waterfall exactly whenthe sun is on thetop. No need to worry becausethe ambience iscool there. Werarely feel theheat. Then, wecan have lunch

under the waterfall. I betthat will be our

PARADISE ON THE BACK OF MY VILLAGE

Second waterfall, a twin.

The rst ag -raising ceremony.


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best lunch ever. Does not matter what you eat,even noodle tastes like spaghetti with pasta.

We can nd shrimp or eel under big rocks. If you are dared enough, you can roast them rightaway. It must be once in a lifetime experience.

You are not satised with one waterfall, arent you? We have two! Just by walking through theriver ow for 20 minutes, we will reach thesecond waterfall. This second waterfall is uniquebecause it has literally two waterfalls.

I had been there three times and I never gotbored. I always found it relaxing even the trip was surely tiring.

Going on a trip with my students, friends, orlocals would bring ultimate refreshment to mindand soul. Sometimes, I fell jealous with people inmy village who have their own place to seektranquility.

RELIGION

South Halmahera region was deeply a ff ected by horizontal -conict betweenreligions one decade ago. Upuntil now, even there is peaceamong people but it can not bedenied that the horrible tragedy still remains in everyones head.In Bibinois people is noexception.

Bibinoi is a home for more

than thousand people withdiff erent religion, tribe, andorigin. They live in undisturbedpeace and mutual respect.

As a teacher, I have to guide my students not only tobe good in interacting socially with parents, friends, elderly, orcommon people, but also how to maintain relation with God.I always tried to instill them

how important it is to pray andbelieve in the Creator.I took over Islam subject in

my class. Outside school, I alsotaught my students how to readQuran and sometimes I toldthem stories about Islam withinteresting way, like imitating sounds or making funny faces. They liked it very much.

Nevertheless, my studentsin school are half Moslem and

half Christian. I simply could

not treat them di ff erently.So every Monday, I always

checked which Christianstudents did not go to churchand gave a warning for those who neglecting worship week.

The same treatmentapplied to those Moslemstudents who did not go to themosque and join tadarus( reading Quran ) . I personally think that behaviorenforcement is necessary because many parents do nottake this matter seriously. Ibelieve with constanthabituation, their behavior andunderstanding of religion wouldbecome better and better.

I hope someday this kids would sow seeds of peace and goodness to everyone withoutlooking any background and

uphold their religion at any time.

The rst waterfall. Nice.

Ajrun with his calligraphy.

CAKALELE DANCE

Cakalele is a traditional dance fromNorth Maluku. It is a war danceperformed to greet honorable guestwho visit some certain places. It couldalso be performed on traditional event.

The mendancer usechopper andshield. This shieldis called salawaku.Meanwhile, thewomen usehandkerchief orso called lenso.

Men dancermust shout quiteloud like reallyfacing the war. Themusical accompaniment is unique. Byusing big drum ( tifa), ute, and largeshells ( bia), the dancer movement mustadapt with the music.

I did this Cakalele Dance once infront of South Halmahera regent. It wasvery exhausting because you needed towork all of your muscles. I had neverlearnt this dance before. I just sawpeople doing it then I came to thecenter of the crowd, dancing withcondence.

After that event, one of seniorCakalele dancer, Mr. Anwar (57 yearsold), came to me and said, Your danceis better than many locals here, Sir.Ah, I was over the moon.

You may laugh. Yes,it was me dancing


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North Maluku Province

South Halmahera Regency

Middle East Bacan Subdistrict

Desa Bibinoi

WHERE EXACTLY IS BIBINOI?

source: Google Maps

Complete itinerary : Jakarta-Ternate ( by plane; Rp. 1.100.000; 3,5 hours ) , Ternate- Babang ( by ferry; Rp. 100.000; 8 hours ) , Babang - Bibinoi ( by sma $ boat; Rp. 20.000; 1 hour ) A $ prices are a $ in economy class in November 2011.

ART

I have been given understanding about theconcept of left brain and right brain. About the leftbrain associating with analytical capabilities, suchcalculating or dening science. Right brain is related with creativity and imagination. Again, I havelimited knowledge in this, so correct me if I am

wrong.Based on this comprehension, I tried to developpriority and proportion of subjects taught in the

class. In my opinion, being a homeroom teacherbrings big benet. I was a homeroom teacher for 3rd grade students. So I could create detailed planning for a whole semester to be implemented andevaluated.

Art is one of my major concern in my development agenda. Because as expected, students

there were rarely getting art subject whereas artapproach would balance the curriculum.

ART PROJECTS1. Kids after creating

little windmills.2. This is you, Sir, Siane

said to me.3. Coloring by imagina -

tion

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Rumah Belajar Bibinoi Inauguration& Sub-district Level Competition

Another big event was Sub -district Level Competition with

inauguration of Bibinoi House of Study ( Rumah Belajar Bibinoi/ RUBI ) . It might be said, thisevent was too ambitiousremembering our time there justone month left, more or less. Wedid not have any resources, evenin human and funding.

By just having faith, westarted this event fromdeveloping and nalizing ideas.

Next step was look for partner asour vehicle. I was aware if weused Indonesia Mengajar as ourfront door, it would be very easy to gather resource and support.

However, we could not learnmore by doing something theeasy way. Our founder, Mr. Anies,said, Choose river with swiftow, you will be tougher there.So, we took the hard way.

We engaged youthorganization, called BibinoiYouth League ( Ikatan Remaja Bibinoi/ IRBI ), as a partner. Webelieved although they did nothave experience, they hadpotential to create an event thisbig.

We had the vehicle, we have

human, then how about funding?We asked them to be initiativeseeking ideas how to collectfunding independently.Outstandingly, they did it! They

sold banana chips, pickle, and ginger ale. They gathered enoughmoney to buy some equipments.

Of course, we did not let

them doing it alone. Using socialmedia, I invited my friends tocontribute succeeding this event. Thankfully, some of my friends were willing to donate theirmoney. I owed them much. Thank God, I nally couldcollect enough fund.

We were inviting neighboring villages in the same sub -districtto participate in this event.

Unfortunately, we could notinvite them by sending mail.Location among villages is quitefar and separated by either sea orjungle. So it was set then, we

RUMAH BELAJAR BIBINOI INAUGURATION & SUB-DISCTRICT LEVEL COMPETITION1. Guests and participants sitting in front of Rumah Belajar Bibinoi ( RUBI ) .2. South Halmahera Regent opening RUBI o fficially.3. Regent and some local government o fficers talking about RUBI development in the future.4. Participants in academic competition.5. Rusmi ensoul her poem in reading poem contest.6. Diala, Meme, and Norma, winners from coloring contest.

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needed to visit those villages oneby one.

I always accompanied thesending -invitation - group. We

were exploring the sea to the eastto visit Tabapoma until Wayatimand going through the jungle atthe west to visit the last two villages, Songa and Tawa. It wasunforgettable experience. Thejourney was quite hard core.

I was seeing the same typicalof people. They welcomed us warmly and never treated us asstrangers. They invited us for a

drink, taking some rest, evenhaving dinner. I saw trueIndonesia and in my opinion,they are the real Indonesian.

In the day of the event, every preparation had been done. Three weeks of hard work wasbeyond paid by the arrival of South Halmahera regent toannounce o fficially Rumah Belajar Bibinoi and open Sub -districtLevel Competition. We did invitehim to come but we did notexpect that he would spare histime.

His arrival made oureducation advocacy advancing thousand steps. Here comes thereason. People there have top -down paradigm. They like to wait and ask for help from thetop, the local government. Theeff ect is clear, there is no

initiatives from people for theirown development.

Whatever their regent says,that is what they do. So when

their regent stated to supportRUBI fully then he even donatedquite amount of money todevelop our RUBI, people wouldalso be encouraged to supportRUBI in particular and educationin general.

Now, RUBI has been built with stout. It is ready to serveevery person thirst of knowledges. Our hope is simple,

so that RUBI can be used as a study center for everyone who wants to increase his knowledgesand skills.

Dictionary

Kita; kitong : I, meKitorang; torang : we, usTara : not (negative)Tarada : not, none, nothingNgoni : you (plural) (polite)Ngana : you (singular)Dorang : theyDong : he / sheBikiapa : whyMakang : eatDabu-dabu : chili sauceRica : chiliRica jawa : pepperBakudapa : meetPigi : goLao : seaDara : landBatobo : swimMengail : shingSwanggi : ghostBabalumpa : jumpUba : medicineSo : alreadyTete : grandfatherPaetua : man (polite)Maetua : woman (polite)Batatas : cassavaSogili : eelLeper : spoonForok : fork Bakutumbuk : hitting each otherBaramain : playingGorango : shark Tuturuga : turtlePele : stand in the way

Sadiki : littleKase : giveSebentar : later

The idea of establishing Bib -inoi House of Study ( Rumah Bela- jar Bibinoi/ RUBI ) was startedaround April. After doing thor -ough assessment for more thanfour months, we considered oneof the main problems for kids was they had never studied out -side school hours.

Their parents factor was be -ing so much signicant here.Most of the parents did not getproper education even somecould not read. They felt thatthey did not have responsibility to help their children study athome.

Their work demanded themto rise up early and go to thefarm or sea. Spending most of the time there then backed when

the sunset came. They did nothave enough time taking care of their children. Their childreneducation was just teachers re -sponsibility. Then how if inschool, teachers was absent fromclass? It was really sad just toimagine.

One of the reasons why kidsnever studied outside the school was they did not have the placeto do so. For that reason, we ini -tiated to build a place for themto study.

Developing our RUBI formonths was not without prob -lems. Partnering with IRBI, wehad to bear many obstacles, fromlack of resources to resistanceand pessimism from some peoplethere. But in the other hand, we

RUMAH BELAJAR BIBINOI


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also gained many supports. Those were the rea -sons we still kept going no matter how high the

wall was in front of us. After nearly half a year of development, I was

so grateful and proud we could nally build RUBI.RUBI was o fficially opened by the regent of SouthHalmahera, Muhammad Kasuba, on Ocotober29th 2011. On that special occasion, he gave us fullsupport and was ready to provide any assistanceregarding its further development.

RUBI is a library -based study center. Up untilnow, it has more than 900 books with variouscategories, from storybook, science, encyclopedia,English, general knowledges, to religion. Its bookcollection is quite complete.

With those books stored safely in RUBI,every person in Bibinoi, from child aged 3 untilthe grown up, can come and use every facilities init. Beside books, there are also some creativelearning tools, musical instruments, and othercreativity -enhancing games.

Its interior was designed with many colors. The purpose is clear, to make kids more inter -ested to come. The environment is so cozy andpleasing so every visitor will feel comfortablespending time in it.

RUBI is situated at the center of the village. Itcould be accessed from all directions with only walking distance. RUBI is never empty of visitors.Everyday, kids, teens, and adults come to RUBI tolearn and do many things, from reading to singing,drawing to having discussion.

Now, Bibinoi in particular and Middle EastBacan sub -district in general, have proper educa -tion facility. In the future, there will be morebooks to come, also many other additional educa -tion and creativity tools.

In the end, I could leave Bibinoi with morerelieved feeling. Seeing RUBI stood by gallant, I was really happy I could give long -lasting legacy inBibinoi. Thanks God, Alhamduli $ ah.

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1. Two young man painting RUBI.2. RUBI seen from the front.3. Activity in the afternoon, reading

books together.4. A corner in RUBI. It is called a dream

board.5. Books stored neatly in shelfs.6. RUBI banner. With knowledges, we

can make our dreams come true.


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IKATAN REMAJA BIBINOI

Our rst president,Soekarno, once said, Give meten young man and I willchange the world. For me atrst, that remark soundedirrational and exaggerating.

Later, I nally realizedSoekarno said that for a

reason. During one year as a lecturer, I witnessed how young people could changecivilization. Remarkably.

Coming to a society tochange paradigm has neverbeen easy. We need to bepatient and clever in making moves. The most important, we have to nd the reliablepartner. IRBI was and willalways be my partner.

In Bibinoi, there arecomplete education units.From elementary school,junior high, and senior high. As the capital of Middle EastBacan sub -district, Bibinoibecame a quite vibrant village.

Many school -age kidsthere. However, they facejuvenile delinquency as major

challenge. Cigarette, alcohol,rough behavior, until freesocial intercourse among

teens. This bad inuence they got mostly from television and wrong social interaction.

To deal with thosechallenges. A group of young man decided to createorganization. Led by Syamil, a bright Bibinoi son graduatedfrom university in Makassar,they set up Bibinoi YouthLeague ( Ikatan Remaja Bibinoi / IRBI ) .

As predicted, IRBI wasseen skeptically by somepeople. They regarded them as

useless organization for just gathering teens around.It did take a lot of time

until they had proved to beable to contribute positively tosociety. But it was worth theeff ort. They had been doing concrete and useful activities,such as village-cleaning movement, being caretaker formosque and church, planting mangroves, and some more.

I was appointed as coachfor this organization. I helped

them creating organizationalstructure and nding its visionand mission. It was an honorto be able to help theseoutstanding young men and women.

In some routine activities,I gave lecture about computerand technology, English, Math,and self -development. Those were the least I could do. They had strong spirit to grow andit needed to be facilitated as well as tutored.

Now, their member hasreached more than 70 people. They are all active doing usefulactivities every weekend. Ihanded over the managementof RUBI to IRBI. I had nodoubt they could keep anddevelop RUBI to be biggerand better.

Well done, IRBI. Keep up the good work!

Light up the candles forpeople in Bibinoi!

Computer course every twice a week.

Me giving character building training

CULINARYPAPEDA is a traditional foodfrom the people in east Indone-sia, especially in Maluku andPapua. People living in rural areausually make Papeda as theirmain food.

It is made from sago our. Itsshape is abby with clear color.The rst time you eat, you will

feel like you are chewing glue.Anyhow, it is delicious.It is commonly served by yellowsauce from sh stock. This saucewill enrich its savory. To eat Pa-peda, you do not use spoon. Justuse your two ngers, thumb and

index nger. Do it like pinching.Finally, eating Papeda for lunch isperfect. Happy trying! Papeda with sh yellow sauce. Yummy!


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LOVELove is all around. I

personally believe love is whatmatters in our life. To be able tolove God, family and friends,nation, football club, or the world is the greatest feeling inthe world.

After all, I have never felt tobe loved this big by peoplearound me beside my family.From my students and theirparents, host family, teachers,and people in my village. It isindeed an exquisite feeling.

---------------------------

That day, I was not feeling well after having fever the day before and bad cough. I did takesome generic medicine and multi vitamin. It did not work out. It was very uncomfortable to teachnot in best condition.

I thought I might needantibiotics. So I planned to go tothe clinic after school. That

meant in the middle of the day when sun was blazing his light. Ihad no choice.

Clinic is located in the westside of my village outside peoplehousing. The distance is not far,just half a kilometer. But still, walking by myself in the middleof the day was boring. I needed a friend.

In the last subject taught that

day, I asked the kids who want toaccompany me going to clinic. Idid not expect anyone to join.Kids were surely tired andhungry. They might choose to gohome, having lunch then playing.

But their answers wereunexplainable. Munarsi came tome raising his hand, Choose me,Sir. Choose me! Then many others ran to the front of the

class raising their hand wanting

to be picked. I did sweep out of this.

Then I was asking allstudents to come. They were very happy like it was going to bea picnic.

We were really enjoying thetrip. Even just going to clinic, but with togetherness, it felt like going to the zoo.

After getting treatment andmedicine, we went home. Butsome clinic o fficers there invitedme to ride on the ambulancebecause I looked pale and weak.

My students said, Sir, youshould ride the ambulance. Wecould walk home by ourselves.My heart cried feeling their love.

I did not have heart to letthem walk home alone. With therest of my energy, I forced myself to walk with them. I refusedpolitely to take the ambulance.

On the way home, Lia said tome, Sir, you must get married

here so you can teach us until weare adult. Girls there are watching you, everyone in this village likes you, Sir, she added while pointing to a group of girlssitting under the tree.

Then, the others shouted, YESSIR, YES SIR! GET MARRIEDHERE!

They walked me home. They kissed my hand afterward andsaid, Get well soon, Sir. Behealthy and teach us again. Atrue love.

---------------------------

Most of my students did not

go home every school break. Iknew they might be hungry but

they stayed in school by choice. They knew I always stood by inschool to serve every students who wanted to learn something.

After the bell rang, somestudents came close to me asking to give them books. I always didthis with pleasure.

Under the tree, we werereading books together, joking around then laughing, or doing anything interesting. That wasthe moment when I was nottheir teacher but a best friend.

After school ended, I stillneeded to do some routines rst,like tidying up my desk andclosing and locking all doors. Thebest thing was my students werealways waiting for me.

They did not want to gohome rst. They wanted to walk with me, walk me home beforethey could back to their home.We want to kiss your handeveryday, Sir! a studentexpressed why he and his friendsalways waited for me after school.

When we arrived in my home, they struggled with eachother to kiss my hand. Like tokiss my hand was to win a lottery. Again, a true love.

---------------------------

To be loved by their studentsis teacher greatest gift. It isindeed a pity for teacher who didnot know how the feeling isbecause they do not ensoul theirprofession.

I imagine if all the teachers,particularly in Bibinoi, do know how to treat their students withcare and respect, then there will

My students said, Sir you should ride the ambulance. We could walk home by ourselves.My heart cried.


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PAGE 14

be a bright future for every singlekids there.

Yet, it is still a dream to havean ideal teacher in Bibinoi.However, I believe hope is rising.I really hope teachers could atleast imitate how I had beentreating my students. Becauseteacher is their light, their rolemodel.

A wise man once said, Toteach is to touch lives forever.I could not agree more.

REGRETI was not a perfect teacher

even though I did my best trying to be. Did not matter how many good things I had achieved, I haddone many misdoings here andthere. I was not, simply, awless.

On several occasions, Iadmitted defeat with limitations

as human. Human that hasemotion and can get furious. Actually, I learned how tocompromise many things andextend self emotionally. Butsometimes, there were stillfactors making myself reactedout of control.

---------------------------

Just two teachers left, meand senior teacher Mr. Malik, in

school that day. Two teachersteaching more than 200 students was as difficult as governing a country. You might say thisexaggerating until you feel this yourself. Just kidding.

I could not let classes leftunattended by teachers. I did nothave heart to watch kids going toschool without getting anything.So beside teaching my class, I

spared time to visit from class toclass giving substantial lesson,

like math or science. That day was wearisome.

In the last hours beforeschool day ended, I was teaching foreign terms in my class. I spokethe word, then they wrote it onthe book.

Then students from otherclasses became naughty, trying toenter my class. Some of themeven climbed the window and went outside the school to peepfrom the other side the building. This was unacceptable.

Once, I tried to remind them with kind words. They did itagain. Twice, I gave them a stern warning. They still did it again. Third, I nally threaten them if they disturbed us once again, I would not be hesitate to use my

hand. Oh dear kids. They keptdoing the same thing.

Its peak happened when Ispoke the word, photosynthesisloudly, a kid outside shouted thesame word then laughed hard.

My brain was like an erupted volcano. I could not standanymore. I could not help it. This attitude must not becompromised. He did not

respect his teacher.So, I rushed out of my class

and found the boy. Riki, 10 yearsold, 4th grade student. I askedhim to come closer. I slappedhim on his cheek.

There went the deepestsilence. No one was talking except me. Riki moved two stepscloser to me. He cried. I still felthis tears on my hand. I was sorry.

Really sorry.

I told the crowd to respecttheir teacher. Did not take my kindness for granted. I loved good students while bad studentshad to learn how to behave.

I was afraid there would betrauma from other students. Ricehad became pulp. There was noturning back. I realizedconsequences would follow and Ineeded to be ready to face those.

---------------------------

After that case, there wereno students brave enough todisturb our class again. So it wasa good eff ect.

I did not have grudge againstRiki. I still cared for the boy. Turns out, his family did not takecare of this boy. Some of hisbrothers even left school. In my

opinion, his family took thebiggest responsibility for hisreckless behavior.

Regardless the incident,every time I met him, I alwayssmiled. He replied with shyness. This kept happening for months,us greeting each other warmly.

Two days before my last day in Bibinoi, Riki and three otherboys came to my house. I just got

rhomb-shaped cookie from my neighbor. I had four of it.

Because I was not hungry, I gavethem one cookie each.

After receiving that cookie,Riki said, This is your last gift,Sir. I will keep it until you comeback here. I was stunned. Riki, you should eat this. If not, it willbe spoiled. No, I will keep thisfor you. In my heart, This kidmust be joking.

To teach is to touchlives forever.

My brain was like an erupted volcano.I could not stand anymore. I could not help it.This attitude must not be compromised.


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Two days later, in the last minutes I

was about to leave Bibinoi, there wasRiki in sight. He raised his hand, waving. Wait, he held something in hishand. That rhomb -shaped cookie. DearGod.

---------------------------

Ajrul was just an example of a boy who received less attention from theirparents. He often skipped school andjust went out playing. Moreover, hebefriended with older people even

though his age was only eleven.In school, he did not put high

respect towards his homeroom teacher,Mrs. Marwia. For me, Mrs. Marwia isthe kindest teacher in my school. Shecares very much for her student. A rarekind.

One day, Mrs. Marwia told meabout his mischief. He ran out of classand never went back while his teacher was teaching in front of the class. She gave him punishment many times buthis attitude did not change a bit. Thiscould not be allowed and neededimmediate action.

His mischief list was getting longer.Some kids witnessed him peeing inRUBI. I still could not believe hisbehavior was so bad.

That morning, after every studentsentered classes, I asked him to follow me. At that time, I did not have any other way to urge massive change inhim except the hard one.

I asked him whether he had peedin RUBI. He nodded. Then, I told him,Ajrul, Im sorry. I have to slap you. Heshocked hearing my word. Then, I did.

He started to cry. I said to him the

reason why I had to do this. Why did you do that? Why dont you respect your teacher? You dont respect me, Ajrul! And you dont respect Mrs.Marwia! What have I done you

wrong? I asked. Nothing, Sir. Its me who made mistake. You repeat thatagain? No, Sir.

The day after that, Mrs. Marwia came to me and asked, Sir, what have

you done to him ( Ajrul ) ? Why do

you ask, Madam? Hes really changed.Now, he wants to write and work onexercises. Wow, its a good thing then.Im sorry, Madam. I slapped him

yesterday. She just smiled.I was not surprise with her smile.

Teachers there used to do worse. I saidto her although Ajrul had changed, Idid regret.

I was really happy Ajrul hadbecame a good boy. Up until now, he

always does prayer on Maghrib and Isya time. He even joins tadarus.One night after doing prayer, he

walked with me and said, Sir, pleasedont go home to Java. I replied softly,Ajrul, Im not going anywhere.

---------------------------

Making mistakes is very humane.How we react after that is whatmatters. For me, I never let one day passed by without regretting what Ihad done to Riki and Ajrul. If I couldturn back time, I would have treatedthem di ff erently.

In any case, treating students withtemper and violence is alwaysprohibited. That must be another way to take care of reckless behaviors. Atthat time, unfortunately I was sorry tosay I did not see other ways.

One thing for sure, I did not dothat because of hate or grudge, I didbecause I cared and loved them.Because if I let them doing that, I was

Making mistakes is very humane.How we react after that is what matters.

AIM HIGH.Our students need to be encouragedabout their dream, their future. They have to know how it feels tohave dream in their life.


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PAGE 16

afraid what they would do next and theconsequences might be more harsh. I needed to

explain them rationally why I had punished themharshly. They did need to know that so they would not do the same misdoing in the future.

To know my student had changed drastically to be a better person brought huge satisfaction

and relief. I learned physical contact might beneeded, but only in certain occurrence,

appropriate time, and proper way. Having a bright brain is not the only important thing, buthow to behave good socially takes signicantpart in our child growth.

FAREWELLLeaving home without

knowing when we could go backis killing me. It happened to me

when I had to leave my beloved village to come back again to my origin civilization.

After one year knitting deeprelation with every single personthere, my service time wasnished and I needed to say goodbye to them. I hated thishardest part.

I could not realize how thatday was the best and the worstday of my life at one time. Thebest because I could go to my real home again, to meet my family. The worst because I hadto leave my new family and didnot know when to come back.

---------------------------

Oscar Siruang, Bibinoispriest, asked me to come to the

church. The parish wanted to seeme for the last time. Thatmorning, I walked to the eastside of the village. I did not

possess enough spirit to keep walking. Remembering I would

not be able to visit them again.In the church, the priestbegan with speech aboutme leaving that day. Theparish was in deepsilence. Some kids andadults began to cry. Ipromised myself not tocry. If I did then they would do the same. I didnot have heart to see

them crying.Priest allowed me to

speak in front of them. First, I was saying sorry for the mistake Ihad done, intentionally or not. I was grateful to be given pricelessopportunity to teach their kids. Ihoped parents would help theirkids to grow by keeping them

study at home and giving moreattention towards them.

At last, I had to say farewell.I was giving my biggestappreciation and gratefulness forevery support, cooperation, andlove they had been giving mesince the rst time I arrived.

Then the priest gave a chance for the people to speakone word or more. A man stoodup and said, Sir, in 30 years of my life, youre the best teacher

for our children. Ive never seenteacher like you, who are willing

To know my student had changed drastically to be abetter person brought huge satisfaction and relief.

Sir, in 30 years of my life, youre the best teacher

for our children. Ive never seen teacher like you.

People there did not only shake my hand. Theyhanded me an envelope, from every one of them.

Me with the parish in a their small church.

We shook hand and said goodbye.


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PAGE 17

to teach our children until night, playing withthem, and caring so much. We are so grateful tohave you here.Listening to this man, I was deeply moved.

Another man rose and talked, If youre a president candidate, we are the people in Bibinoi will surely pick you, Sir. One last man said,Thank you so much for bringing change in ourchildren. Im watching by myself how my daughters grow academically.

I could not hold my tears from owing down. Icried, out loud. Then the whole church was lledby tears.

I said, Thank you so much everything. I couldnot reply you no matter how hard I try. I was noone before I went here. But here, I feel honored tobe called, teacher every where I go. Thank you,thank you.

---------------------------

Afterthat, I waited

outside thechurch toshake hand with every one of them. Somekids couldnot stopcrying.

Olans mother was oneof them who still sobbed.She really trusted me in guiding Olan. Olan now has been a much better child to be a pride for hisfamily.

People there did not only shake my hand. They handed me an envelope, from every one of them. Idid not receive it and return it back.

They were not out of option. They collected allthe envelopes and put them in a plastic bag. Thenthey gave it to the priest.

The priest invited me to come to his house. Wehad a tea and tasted some cookies while we were

chatting. Not long, he wanted me to have that allthe envelopes. I refused it. He insisted. I still

refused it. He said, Those were yours. I did nothave right to keep it.

Sir, please use it to expand your church. Youneed this more than I do. Please. I replied. Thenhe rose from his chair and put them in my pocket.Keep it. This is a mandate from my parish.

I kept thatplastic bag in my pocket. But I did

not want to keepit any longer. So,I excused myself to go to thebathroom. Inthat bathroom, Iopened thoseenvelopes one by one.

My tears were owing down again while I opened the rst envelope.

That envelope was worn out and there was twothousands bill in it. It was written in the envelope,

For your cost to back home, my teacher. Then, I kept opening those worn out

envelopes. A thousand, two thousands, or vethousands bill were in it. I was moved again withan envelope and twenty thousands in it. It might betheir whole earnings in one day but they gave it allfor me.

I collected that money and counted. It wasmore than one hundred and fty thousands. After

leaving the priests house, I sought a young man who couple days before that day asked me to help

After I finished my speech, Thank you, my teacher song was played.

Tears started to come again. Then, the crowd was in tears too.

Some mothers shed in tears.

Bibinois people. They will always be my family.


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PAGE 18

him creating Christmas event. I met and gave himthe money.

He was so grateful he could not say anything. That money meant a lot for the event because it

was really difficult to gather funds. For me, it wouldalways be nice to be able to help people. To seethem smile because of our simple action. Lovely.

---------------------------

In Moslem society, there was an event to escortme home. It was attended by South Halmahera regent. He spared his time not specially because of me. His purpose was to visit his family in Bibinoi.

Anyway, in his speech, he said thank you to Indonesia Mengajar who was able to promote bettereducation in this country especially in our village,Bibinoi. He ensured that local government wouldalways support its movement.

I was given time to speak in front of the crowd.I told them the same thing I had spoken in thechurch hours before. I added that I always felt as

one of the people here. If I could turn back time, Ihad no hesitation to repeat this one year again.

After I nished my speech, Thank you, my teacher song was played. Tears started to come

down again. The crowd was in tears too. I wasattered with all this warmness. What a feeling.My boat was waiting on the beach. I started to

walk leaving that event. Kids a nd people are walking beside me. They could not stop crying.People from every direction came down to thebeach to wave me home.

They helped me boarding my luggage on boat.I still had time to deliver my l ast words for ki ds,Kids, remember. You have to be kind and ...? They shouted, SMART! Alhamduli $ ah, thanks

God. This was the end of my amazing journey. The rope was pulled back. Boat started to get

far from the beach. I saw a lot of people there. My kids. My people. My family. Good bye, everyone. I will come back one day. END

ABOUT AUTHOR

Bayu Adi Persada was born 24 years ago. He gradu-ated from Institut Teknologi Bandung in 2009. After

graduation, he was working in a private company inBandung for almost a year.Fate brought him to South Halmahera, to be exactin a small village called Bibinoi. It was all startedwhen he received a letter in his mailing list. Thatletter was sent by Anies Baswedan, a gure that hehas adored. Its content was to give chance to bestuniversity graduates to work as a teacher in ruralarea for one year. He did not wait a second towrite essays and then apply.Luckily, he was chosen as one of 51 rst batchmember of Young Lecturer ( Pengajar Muda) aftertough selection from 1383 applicants. In one year, he experienced the best journey everduring his entire life. Happy, sad, joy, grudge, brave,fear, pride, worry, delight, and many more feelingswere mixing up as one. There, he found his passionin people. He wants to devote the rest of his age tothe people in needs for a better future, better In-donesia.According to him, we are all created for a reason.One should nd his or her own purpose of life.The best person in the world is the one who givesbenet to others. Even the smallest one, even just asimple but sincere smile.

@adipersada

adipersada.wordpress.com

Bayu Adi Persada
http://facebook.com/adipersadahttp://twitter.com/adipersadahttp://facebook.com/adipersadahttp://facebook.com/adipersadahttp://adipersada.wordpress.com/http://adipersada.wordpress.com/http://twitter.com/adipersadahttp://twitter.com/adipersada


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PHOTO JOURNAL

School and Around

WE DID IT!Sixth grade students on science prac -tical test. The light is on!Photo by Edward Suhadi..

THATS MY SCHOOL!

SDN Bibinoi seen from the eld.Green is all around.Photo by Gatya Pratiniyata.

LEARNING BY DOING.We learned what motion energy is by creating windmills.

Photo by Bayu Adi Persada.

TEACHERSHere comes teachers from SDN Bib -inoi.Photo by Edward Suhadi.

OUR BELOVED CLASSROOM This was the place where I taught them

everything. Simple but comforting.Photo by Bayu Adi Persada.
http://edwardsuhadi.com/http://edwardsuhadi.com/http://www.facebook.com/gatya.pratiniyatahttp://www.facebook.com/gatya.pratiniyatahttp://edwardsuhadi.com/http://edwardsuhadi.com/


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Daily Life

HELLO THERE!

With ipped-screen camera, we were ableto take this photo after playing on the

beach. Oh, so lovely!Photo by Bayu Adi Persada.

WITH VILLAGE ELDER

Tete Haji is the most honorable gure inBibinoi. One of our big supporters there.Photo by Gatya Pratiniyata.

BESTFRIENDEven though they come from di ff erent tribe,religion, and origin, Narsi and Olan will al - ways be there for each other.Photo by Bayu Adi Persada.

TELLING RELIGIOUS STORYKids were interested in listening religious stories with some silly facesand funny sounds.Photo by Mamun Ote.

WITH ADHI Adhi was the best partner to share

and develop ideas. Great person.Photo by Edward Suhadi.
http://edwardsuhadi.com/http://edwardsuhadi.com/http://www.facebook.com/gatya.pratiniyatahttp://www.facebook.com/gatya.pratiniyata


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Events, here and there

BRILLIANT BOYSOlan, Dila, and Narsi received charter award fromthe local government o fficer for being the best inacademic competition.Photo by Nasaruddin Kamarullah.

SCIENCE OLYMPIC TEAMOur National Science Olympic Teamposed before ghting against the test.Photo by Bayu Adi Persada.

BIG EVENT COMMITTEE All committee gathering around totake a photo or two.Photo by Mustawan HI. Ahmad.

COLORING CONTESTKids coloring with their wild imagi -nation.Photo by Adhi Nugroho .
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1668534103http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1668534103http://www.facebook.com/nash.kamarullahhttp://www.facebook.com/nash.kamarullah


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My Football Diary

GIVING INSTRUCTION As a coach. Me giving instructionsfor the team. We reached the nalbut unfortunately only made thesecond best.Photo by Adhi Nugroho .

MY LAST MATCHI was playing my last match withthese men. Unforgettable.Photo by Pardi HT. Kasuba.

GO CAPTAIN GO!My rst match in Dagasuli Cup. They

trusted me a captain ban. An honor.Photo by Nasaruddin Kamarullah.

COME ON GUYS!We were a goal down. I kept motivat -ing my players to raise their level.Photo by Adhi Nugroho .
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1668534103http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1668534103http://www.facebook.com/nash.kamarullahhttp://www.facebook.com/nash.kamarullahhttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1668534103http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1668534103


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a journal of a young lecturer

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