Children can naturally develop their potentials if they are given the right environment. Teachers from the Tzu Chi Elementary and Secondary Schools in Indonesia agree with this. They have seen how their students have grown: Wahidahtun, Heri, Nurjana, and Rizky have changed a lot in the one year since they moved into the Tzu Chi Great Love Village. They will certainly become pillars of society in the future.

The school is close to home, and the campus is very clean. Teachers teach with love, and parents have their homes and work. The essence of the Tzu Chi humanities fertilizes local education and nurtures new seeds of thought. The children are growing up happily. Their aspirations have become clearer and their bright future is no longer a dream.



Wahidahtun, 14, lives in the Tzu Chi Great Love Village near Jakarta, Indonesia. She is an eighth-grade student in the Tzu Chi Secondary School in the village. She is the eldest among the five children in the family. Her room is clean and neat. The walls, closet and ceiling are decorated with pink paper flowers and stars. Her notebooks and assignment books are wrapped with transparent plastic. A piece of paper with six study mottoes is glued on her desk; it shows that she is very self-disciplined in her studies.

Wahidahtun likes Chinese and English language classes very much. She feels that Chinese is very useful and will help her find a decent job more easily. She often uses the language to greet Chinese visitors at school or in the village.

She hopes to be a doctor, so she often volunteers at the free clinic in the village. She is a little frightened by the medical equipment, but like she says, "I have to be brave so I can be successful."

Pillars of society

Every morning, students from the Tzu Chi Village carry their schoolbags and walk to school. After school, they fly kites, kick soccer balls around, or study together.

Heri Driatmoko, another eighth-grade student, likes to play chess with friends in the hallway. He learned the game when his family was living in a shack next to the polluted Angke River. Heri says that he loves life in the Tzu Chi Village and the environment of the Tzu Chi School. "The school is close to home and I have many friends in class. Now I have more time to play chess."

Heri's teacher, Erwizadly, sees that the boy is very industrious. He has a very strong desire to learn, and he asks questions so often in class that his teachers especially remember him. In addition, Heri is very active in extracurricular activities: stage plays, dramas, musical performances, and physical education. Erwizadly feels the boy is independent and shows a flair for leadership. He will surely become a pillar of society in the future.

Nurjana, also in the eighth grade, often gets the highest scores in her class. She is happy that the school has such good facilities and that the school teaches people to spread love. "The life and environment by the Angke River were very bad. The new campus is very good, and I'm clearer about my life and goal."

Rizky Gitamuria, a seventh-grade student, feels that the teachers are very creative in their teaching, quite different from before.

There are many smart students like these. Before they moved into the Tzu Chi Village, they simply wandered around and did nothing. The wonderful environment and the good teachers on the new campus give these students a good place to study and to change their lives.

A gloomy past

Looking back at the past, Wahidahtun said tearfully, "What can I say... The environment at the Angke River was very dirty. Our new home and school in the Tzu Chi Village are really wonderful."

Indonesia has a total population of 205 million, of whom 19 percent, or around 38 million people, live under the poverty line. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Many young people in the countryside have problems finding jobs in their localities, and so they end up looking for work in big cities. These wanderers become the marginal people of the city--they live by rivers or by railways, and they build their homes with wooden poles, tarpaulins, or boards.

Many of these migrants settled on the banks of the Angke River, which flows five kilometers (three miles) to the sea in Jakarta. The river was filled with mud, garbage, animal carcasses, and human and animal waste. A foul stench hung in the air, there were frequent floods, and the living conditions were awful.

The migrants had little education and few working skills, so they simply set up food stands, worked at odd jobs, sang songs on the streets, picked up garbage, or begged to make a living. Since it was so difficult to make a living, it was even more difficult for their children to go to school.

In addition to the monthly tuition, residents also had to pay between 30,000 and 100,000 rupiah (US$3-10) to school foundations; furthermore, they also had to pay for textbooks, uniforms, tests, report cards, and graduation certificates. Such expenses were burdensome to poor families, so the children's education was often ignored.

Moreover, many schools were in bad condition: some had broken walls or leaky roofs or suffered frequent floods. Students had to attend classes either in the morning or in the afternoon, because there were more students than schools could accommodate. Students usually had nothing to do after school, and they often got into trouble. Many third-grade students couldn't even read or write. Since these children could not receive a proper education, they could not find good jobs or be freed from poverty.

In July 2003, the Tzu Chi Great Love Village with its 1,100 housing units was completed. Many residents moved in from the Angke River and were freed from the floods and stench forever. The excellent facilities in the village and the good environment of the Tzu Chi School meant a turning point in their lives and a farewell to their poverty.

A quality life

The Tzu Chi Great Love Village in Jakarta occupies five hectares (12 acres) of land. There are five residential complexes with a total of 1,100 units. The Tzu Chi School occupies an L-shaped, three-story building. The majority of the 497 students are from the Tzu Chi Village.

The campus has classrooms, a library, an activity center, labs, a music classroom, a computer classroom, a basketball field, and a convenience store. Classes include religious education, ethics, Indonesian language, math, science, social studies, arts, crafts, music, and physical education. With permission from the department of education, there are also special classes in Chinese language and Tzu Chi philosophy.

Arie, a physical education teacher, said that good schools in Jakarta are for children of the middle and the upper classes, but Tzu Chi is willing to provide good equipment and train teachers for students from the shantytown. He is happy to be able to teach here.

One year after the school opened, students with white shirts and gray pants or skirts voluntarily smile as they greet visitors. This shows that they have good manners and good discipline; they are cheerful but not boisterous.

Arie said that at first, students would throw garbage from upstairs windows down to the ground, just as they had been accustomed to doing while living by the river. Now, teachers guide them to do recycling, and the students don't litter anymore.

Tzu Chi volunteer Chao Feng-chen, who serves as an assistant teacher, recalled that when the school first opened, the teachers had a hard time because the students did not have good living habits, were very disorderly, and never greeted visitors. There was garbage everywhere. However, it is different now.

A teacher named Iwanti added that aphorisms from Still Thoughts (by Master Cheng Yen, the founder of Tzu Chi) help students to nurture Great Love and a humanitarian spirit. She hopes that the students will spread the Tzu Chi spirit and become useful citizens.

Most villagers are Muslims. At lunchtime, Wahidahtun goes home for prayer, a token of her devotion to Allah. "The Great Love Village and the school were given by Allah. Allah is as compassionate as Tzu Chi."

Ojah, a villager, says that her life has improved greatly since she moved to the Tzu Chi Village. She is happy that her children are receiving a good education. "I'm happy that the kids have become more knowledgeable, and I hope they will become useful in the future."

Rizky's mother Lili once dreamed about living in a house with solid walls, and being able to live in the Tzu Chi Village is like her dream coming true. She keeps thanking the teachers for educating her children well so they have good manners and respect their parents. "The school is close to home, and my kids don't run off and get into trouble anymore. I'm happy."

Chaeruddin's two children are in third and sixth grades. Chaeruddin never went to school because his family was too poor, so he is happy that his children can study in a good environment. "The facilities are very good. The teachers' love has also changed the children. They've become happier, and they have a good future."

Every evening, residents push their carts to the vender area inside the village. Residents can simply come here and buy any food they need. Some residents work as security guards, cleaners or laborers in small processing factories in the village.

Adults can make their living here, and children can go to school. Even preschoolers can go to the newly established kindergarten.

Prayers for all children

In late October 2004, 26 students with good grades were chosen to attend the Tzu Chi Annual Education Fair in Taiwan.

Their train dashed along Taiwan's east coast. This was the first time that Wahidahtun had ever left Indonesia. She happily enjoyed talking with her friends and seeing the scenery outside the windows.

While they were enjoying the beautiful scenery, they passed by several gray buildings hiding among the lush green foliage. When a volunteer told them that it was the Abode of Still Thoughts (the spiritual home of Tzu Chi), the students and teachers stopped talking and stared at the buildings.

During her time in Taiwan, Wahidahtun noticed how Tzu Chi education was carried out in many different ways. What she liked the most was that everything from attending classes to having meals was on time and yet casual. "I learned how to plan a trip and how to schedule my time more efficiently."

In one class, a video presentation displayed images of children from an unfamiliar country. Many were still living in poverty, and some had no parents. Wahidahtun said with tears in her eyes, "Now I know that there are still children more miserable than us. I will pray for them and hope that they will have more blessings."

Like Wahidahtun, 15-year-old Ayu Ratna Dewi also felt sorry for unfortunate children around the world. She said, "I thought I had it hard, but when I saw the video, I realized that there are still many people who are even worse off than me."

Ayu's father lost his job after floods in Jakarta in 2002, so Ayu wasn't able to go to school for a while. "Tzu Chi gave me a chance to study, and I'm very grateful that I have so much."

Rizky said, "I saw on TV that children in Guizhou, China, had to walk for two hours to school. I live in the Great Love Village and go to school inside the village. I'm very lucky."

The education fair coincided with Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, so the Indonesian guests ate nothing during the day, and they still had to pray five times a day as always. Eko Setiyawan, an ethics teacher, was touched by the thoughtfulness of Tzu Chi people: volunteers would give them food at four every afternoon, when they were finally allowed to eat, and they also prepared a prayer room in the Still Thoughts Hall for them.

Setiyawan pointed out that he was touched by the volunteers' kindness throughout the trip. What was important was that the volunteers were very patient. Setiyawan explained that some of the Indonesian children were very naughty and bad-tempered, which was a challenge to the teachers. But as he had learned in Tzu Chi, education meant setting oneself as a personal example that the students could follow. "I want to bring Taiwan's experience back to Indonesia, so I can train children to have patience."

Setiyawan also noticed that Tzu Chi emphasized teamwork, communication and solving problems with love. "Cleanliness, cooperation, unity, and respect are part of Indonesian culture, and Tzu Chi's ideology and way of doing things can bring back mutual help and love to Indonesian culture."

Jafriansen Damanik, principal of the Tzu Chi Secondary/Elementary School, has come to Taiwan twice. In Hualien, he deeply sensed the importance of the Tzu Chi humanities. "Our school and the Tzu Chi schools in Hualien are sister schools. Ours might be younger, but we can't be too far behind and we have to catch up."

One year after the school opened, 51 graduates from the Tzu Chi Elementary School won high scores on their national certification exams (Ebtanas Ujian Nasional) and received their certificates. Teachers and volunteers were overjoyed.

Roslina Sinasa, the principal's wife, works in the department of education. She feels that the purpose of education is to make children better persons. Throughout the past year, she noticed that students at the Tzu Chi School have gotten good grades and have become very polite. "I'm a Christian, and someone asked me if that was a problem in my work with Tzu Chi. I don't have any problem, because Tzu Chi has the best education and provides it to everyone. I have confidence that Tzu Chi will change these children's future."

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An Active Friday

By Chen Mei-yi
Translated by Lin Sen-shou

Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. Since the noon prayer on Friday is particularly solemn, the Tzu Chi Secondary/Elementary School closes at 11:20 in the morning. Students attend prayer in a nearby mosque and listen to sermons from the elders. Although they spend less time in class, the teachers don't slack off. They take this chance to teach the students about love for all mankind and for all nature.

Save the earth

At 7 in the morning, when teachers and students come to school, Volunteer Chou Shih-tien and the Physical Education teacher Arie have already set up red baskets. Each has a label on it so that students know which baskets to put recyclable materials in.

In casual sports clothes, Arie walks around the baskets and cleans them out. Some bottles still have straws or leftover juice in them. It seems that the students were happy to drink the juice.

Used paper has filled a basket to capacity, and thick cardboard boxes have to be pressed down to create more space for more paper.

A little girl strenuously lugs a cardboard box bigger than herself to the recycling station. "What did your family buy?" "We bought a new fridge!" Arie takes the cardboard and puts it aside.

Local residents also bring recyclable items to the station. One mother says with a smile, "My children were too shy and they wanted me to bring this stuff." As the class is about to begin, Arie and Chou hurry to clean up the station. They have an abundant "harvest" this morning.

Donating compassion

In addition to recycling, the school also asks for donations--every Friday a teacher goes to every class to solicit donations. Pahru is responsible for the elementary school section this week.

Pahru, 28, teaches religion classes for grades one to three. Carrying a can, he knocks on the door of every classroom. "Good morning!" Pahru greets the teacher and the students in the classroom, and then he goes to every student so he or she can put money into the can. The donations aren't big, usually between 100 and 500 rupiah (US$0.01-0.05). Someone deposits a 1,000 rupiah banknote and then puts his hand into the can to get change. Some students join their classmates to donate 1,000 rupiah together. Pahru always smiles at the students no matter how much they donate.

"Please raise your hand if you need change." Time has passed by quickly when Pahru comes to the last classroom. The teacher in this class doesn't want to waste time, so he gathers all the donations and hands them over to Pahru; then those students who need change can pick up coins from the can.

In about half an hour, Pahru has gone to the 13 classrooms in the elementary section and taken the money back to his office.

Enormous blessings

"How much have you got?" "30,000 rupiah." "How about you?" "I'm still counting."

In the office, Pahru, Chou Shih-tien, and others are busy counting the donations. The tables are dotted with bills and coins in all denominations.

"How much can you usually raise?" "Around 80,000 rupiah." Students don't have much pocket money, so they can't donate much either. From past experience, they can solicit around 200,000 rupiah (about US$22) a month.

Chou points out that the donations can be used to pay for a student's medical fees, for instance. So even a tiny donation can be useful in this way.

"I got it!" "How much?" "121,700 rupiah (US$13)! " Pahru says with a smile, "It beats the previous record by 40,000!"

It is indeed an enormous blessing.

The Tzu Chi School starts every Friday morning with this action of love. At noon, the call to prayer sounds from the mosque. The students leave their classrooms, and villagers also stop their activities. The whole village is saturated with a solemn religious atmosphere as everyone goes to the mosque to pray.

Before the prayers, teachers and students actively carry out the Islamic demand to love mankind and nature. I believe that when Allah sees the actions of these innocent children, He will grant them a lot of blessings.