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DAYAH SUBUSSALAM PROJECT
Trip to Dayah Subussalam
After 2004 tsunami, Hope 4 Our
Children sent a team to conduct assessment and teacher trainings in Dayah
Subulussalam. Member of the delegations: Faizah Badeges, Founder and Board
Member, Hope 4 Our Children; Afeefa Syeed, Board Member, Hope 4
Our Children & Director, Al Fatih Academy; Fatima Salaam, Teacher, Al Fatih
Academy; Nia Seale, Teacher, Al Fatih
Academy
Assessments of Dayah
The delegation concluded that based on numerous interviews
and neighborhood visits, the children attending the orphanage boarding school
come from highly impoverished families who are not able to afford easily the
children's basic needs. The Dayah serves these low income families who are
striving to maintain their cultural identity in the midst of many pressures that
would have them compromise their values, heritage, and culture.
The objective of the visiting delegation was also to find
out how orphans surviving the tsunami could be served at the Dayah. The
surrounding area around Subulusalaam has a great many survivors of the tsunami,
many of who did come to the Dayah for education and shelter. But because the
structural facilities could not support so many more students, some of the
tsunami affected children had to be transferred to other places, leaving only 12
tsunami victims. The delegation found that if the basic needs of water, housing,
and staffing are met, the school can accommodate and serve more orphans from the
surrounding area. As the infrastructure is improved, those children who
otherwise would have to be placed in farther locations can be brought to Dayah
Subulusalam.
The physical condition of Dayah
1. No
toilets or running water. The dorms do not have running water,
toilets. Children and teachers must walk to the river twice a day to fetch water
with buckets. The toilets are shared outdoor facilities that also are accessible
only by walking. The students have to go to the nearest river to bath.
2. Bunk
beds. The bunk beds are only the frames, and children sleep on straw mats
instead of mattresses.
3. Electricity.
The dorms do not have electricity. The electricity bill is very high, and since
the Dayah cannot afford to pay the total amount, the lights are dim in all
places. Staff told delegation members that some children graduate the Dayah with
worsened eyesight because of this.
4. No
ceilings. The buildings that do exist are in need of repair for continued use.
In the dorms as well as the classroom buildings, the ceilings are not finished.
In the cafeteria,
neither the ceilings nor the kitchen is completed.
5. Classrooms
and mosque - under construction.
Construction
Hope 4 Our Children refurbished and
painting of the four existing dorms, construction of running water system that
can provide necessary water in the dorms, and built a bathroom in each dorm. The project made an impact in the lives of 223 children (existing disadvantaged students/orphans as well as
tsunami victims), 102 of them are live-in children. In addition, Hope 4 Our Children also provided mattresses for the live-in students in Dayah.
The current condition of the Dayah, both physically and
financially, makes it almost impossible to accept more children. Therefore, Hope
4 Our Children is supporting Dayah to be self sufficient by disbursing a capital
to start small business of crafting and mixed farming.
During the course of this year, Hope 4 Our Children has
also allocated:
- funds to cover food for children for
several months
books, towels and
sarong and hygienic supplies for the children
Dayah Subulussalam's Progress
Report
Before the interventions by Hope 4 Our Children, Dayah
Subulussalam's students slept on the floor, they also had to walk to the closest
river to bath. With more than half of live-in children live in poverty and fail
to pay the Rp 180,000 tuition (equivalent to $20/month), it was very challenging
for the administrators of the Dayah to run the boarding school with its nineteen
fulltime teachers, four full time support and admin staff, and one principal.
Hope 4 Our Children allocated a total of $12,040 for Dayah
Subulussalam (DS) boarding school. The fund was allocated for:
� Refurbishment
and painting of the existing dorms
� Procurement
of mattresses and beds
� The
construction of water system, public toilets and place for ablution
� Seed
money for home industry and mixed farming to provide capital for Dayah
Subulussalam to be self sufficient
In June 2006, Ina Nasution visited DS to monitor the
project. The progress was significant. The constructions of public toilets,
water system, and place for ablution were completed. In addition the project to
refurbish the dorms was completed already at the time of the visit, the
ceilings were installed and painted, and each student was given mattress and
bed.
Additionally, to support DS to be self sufficient, Hope 4
Our Children bought an oven and various cooking machines so DS can generate
extra income through selling home-made cookies. Hope 4 Our Children also
subsidized the mixed farming project that has produced eggs for DS's residence.
The additional benefit of the home industry and mixed farming is that the
project allows students to learn vocational skills that they could use after
they graduate.
During her trip, Ms. Nasution also conducted one-short
motivation training for the students. Through funds collected from individual
donors, Hope 4 Our Children bought school bags for each child in Dayah
Subulussalam. For some of those children, these were their first bag.
Furthermore, Hope 4 Our Children's volunteers donated one
laptop and one computer to improve Dayah's management. Ms. Nasution took this
opportunity to train DS's principal and two teachers on how to use computer. Ms.
Nasution, as part of the training, also prepared templates for attendance sheet
as well as students' records. Before the training and donated computer, DS
recorded students' attendance and grade manually by hand.
The students are very grateful for all the aids given to
them. They are in high spirit and excited for the new responsibility in managing
the home industry production project and mixed farming.
For more stories of Ina's visit, please click:
www.hope4ourchildren.blogspot.com
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