The Sumba Foundation

Home » Community Development Program » 2009 Community Development Projects » Education

Education : Rebuilding and Renovating

With generous donor support we have been able to complete major work on six primary schools. They have been renovated and in some cases completely rebuilt from the ground up. These schools are now prospering and providing the children with a safer and a much improved learning environment. Enrollments are up, children are staying in school longer and in just four years there is more than a 300% increase in the number of 6th grade graduates. Clearly these schools have proved to be a good investment!

In 2008 we added two more schools bringing the number of schools we are supporrting to eight and in 2009 we will be adding another two schools. We also continue to constantly improve the first six schools by providing more of what each school needs to teach its children better. We also now reward the best students with the opportunity to further their education by providing scholarships.

Now that the schools we support are functioning as they should be we are focusing on seeding basic health, hygiene and dietary information to the students. The large majority of these children will return to their villages between third and sixth grade and within only a few years they will marry and have children of their own.

The more knowledge they have the better prepared they will be to help their families stay healthy, to be more productive and to live a better life.

We also want to get this vital information out to the villages, to those that are not in school. A simple and effective way to achieve this is by having movie nights in villages. With a small generator, a projector and screen mounted on our truck we can pull into villages and teach at night. Subjects will vary from basic hygiene and health, malaria, diet and farming and environmental issues.

Projects with which you can help

Rehabilitate the Borgawatu Primary School

This is one of the new schools we are starting to work with. Like all of the others this school is in need of repairs, tables and chairs for the children and tools for the teachers to work with.

We know from experience that fixing the basic needs of schools improves enrollments and keeps the children in school where they need to be. We now hae 300% more children finishing and graduating from 6th grade in the six schools we first started working with. The investment is minimal compared to the return. If you are interested in helping this new school here are ways you can get involved.

Health Education in Schools

We need to purchase teaching aids such as books and posters and some translation services will also be required in order to further develop our in-school education program. As a start we are already teaching nutrition courses in the schools but there is so much more we can and should do. We intend to create courses in hygiene, ecology, water issues, malaria and other diseases that affect the region, farming and even English. (a huge request from both the students and the teachers).

Education in the Villages

With a small generator, a projector and a screen mounted on our truck we can pull into villages and teach at night. Subjects will vary from basic hygiene and health, to malaria, diet, farming and environmental issues. With this equipment we can educate thousands of villagers on how to live a healthier and better life.

School Supplies for Children

Each term we distribute to every one of the 2,000 children we support with a complete set of writing and coloring books, pencils, pens, crayons, rulers, erasers, pencil sharpeners and compasses. Without our help most of the children would not have them because the parents just cannot afford it.

Libraries in the Schools

This year donors helped us to create wonderful libraries in six of the eight schools we are supporting. With your help we can build two more libraries in the schools who do not yet have them.

High School Scholarships for our Best Students

At last we can offer the best students with an opportunity to further their education and not only help themselves but also their community. Two to three of the best students from each the schools we support are picked by their teachers as candidates for Sumba Foundation Scholarships. The final decisions are made by us after interviewing all of the candidates. All of the students receiving scholarships will be reviewed yearly before receiving the next year’s grant.

Scholarships will be given to students wanting to study at the government nursing, farming, mechanical & construction and hotel trade’s schools. The best graduates will be offered employment at The Sumba Foundation and at Nihiwatu Resort. Those we cannot employ will still have opportunities for employment with the government or in the private sector.

College Scholarships for our Best Nurses

Some of our nurses have asked us for assistance to advance their education so they can return to work for us better qualified to help the community.