The Raja Ampat Research and Conservation Center (RARCC) has been supporting a remote village, Yarweser, in Raja Ampat, with education since 2018.
Answering to a help request from the community, the RARCC decided to invest by providing education; teachers, educational material, school building, and two houses for the teachers in Yarweser.
In May 2018, the RARCC sent the teacher Ritly Risakota to the Sekolah Papua Harapan (Papua Hope School, in Indonesian), in Sentani, close to Jayapura, to get a short-training. She also went to Wamena to get teaching material for the schools. Three months later, the senior teacher Astrid Wulan Sinadia also joined the project.
In 2019, the teachers Breysda Syauta, Patricia Maleke and Silfa Arimang joined the education center in Yerweser, where 69 students study. In July and August, all of our four teachers at the moment were sent to participate in two teachers’ training.
The RARCC also purchased hundreds of educational books, stationary and educational toys.
Every two weeks, the RARCC brings the teachers to Kri island for a day of rest. Since there is no electricity in Yarweser, they also use their time at the RARCC facilities to print educational material and to get food for their next two weeks in Yarweser.
Since they have no watches, some students often show up at the teachers’ house right after the sunrise looking for education. In a village where people struggle to make a living, many times the teachers replace the parents during working hours, and quite often their house is full of children.
Food and water shortages are common in many houses, but the teachers are overwhelmed by waves of generosity from everyone in Yarweser.
At our education center, we offer a holistic approach. We also put an emphasis on environmental education, which includes cleaning up the reefs, recycle, etc.
Besides following the Indonesian school curriculum, the teachers have been trying to build up the students in many areas. Once they found out the students didn’t know what a hug is, so they had to explain to them how to do it.
In 2019, we also started to build a school in Yerweser because the building where classes are provided is falling apart.
Furthermore, since 2019 the RARCC pays the salary of Ayu Pihuayuan, one of the teachers working at the school in Sauwandarek, managed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Papua and where 57 students get an education. Sometimes, the RARCC also helps the teachers working there with logistics, transportation, etc.
Indonesia ranked at 62nd among 70 countries analyzed by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2015. One in five teachers is absent from schools in Indonesia, a 2014 survey by the Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership showed.
This is not the first time the RARCC contributes to better education in Raja Ampat.
Our NGO couldn’t make this possible without your support. Thank you! If you want to support this or any other project, please find more information here.
