YKAKI

INDONESIA

Written by Mrs. G.L. Elgersma, Family Care Indonesia

I’ve taught elementary through high school grades for 18 years in Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe. I also taught English as a foreign language at the Royal Thai Military Academy in Thailand for 16 years. As a retired school teacher, I am doing volunteer English teaching in Indonesia for the past 3 ½ years in Jakarta and more recently, Bandung.

As someone who’s concerned about the quality of education available for underprivileged children and teens, I believe the Brillkids Learning program has the potential to make a dramatic impact on primary school education.

In order to be successful in life, it’s a pretty big priority for students in Indonesia to learn English.  The Indonesian government has said there is a great need for modern resources and visual aids for learning English at the primary school level. This is especially true for students who come from underprivileged backgrounds. I believe the Brillkids Early Learning program can be successfully integrated into an English learning curriculum to meet this need for the poor and needy in Indonesia.

English classes in YKAKI
In June 2011, I introduced the Brillkids Little Reader kit to the teaching staff at the Indonesian Care for Cancer Kids Foundation (ykaki.org).  The Foundation offers hospice facilities free of charge to underprivileged children suffering from cancer and their parents. Because these children receive early diagnosis and treatment, their recovery rate is encouragingly high.  The Foundation provides in-house tutoring for the children so that their education can be continued while they receive treatment.

Approximately 60 families benefit from this service each year. Family Care Indonesia brings a regular “cheer up” program for the young cancer patients as well as English classes and personal counseling for the parents and motivational support for the dedicated staff members.

Three months later, I heard from Miss Linah Pokselon (S.Pd.), the main English teacher at the Foundation, who has integrated the Brillkids program into her English learning curriculum. Miss Linah said the children are making good progress in learning English and that the children enjoy the Brillkids reading program and look forward to it each day.  Miss Linah said she was especially happy with the clear pronunciation that the Brillkids program provides which makes it possible for the children to learn correct spoken English.

Indonesian mothers who have seen the Brillkids program in action have also made similar comments on the clear pronunciation which they feel is a very big plus for their children in learning English correctly. They also really like the simple, clean format of the program—each picture has only one word—making it possible for children to easily grasp the concept introduced and thus make rapid progress in their learning.

Learning tool for the community
After surveying the possibilities of using the Brillkids learning system, I will be using Brillkids as a remedial English learning tool for disadvantaged Indonesian teenagers at an orphanage in Bandung. This way, the teens can get the pronunciation practice and vocabulary practice they need in a fun, visual way.

I am very appreciative of the grant made available by the BrillKids Foundation for these particular social institutions. I believe the BrillKids program can help make long term changes for the better in the lives of individuals and communities here in Indonesia, especially the underprivileged who do not have access to good quality schools that will make it possible for them to enter college or university.

I would highly recommend the BrillKids Early learning system to educational institutions and community centers. The year-long curriculum that comes with the reading program makes it possible for even an inexperienced person to sequentially and progressively use this program with good results. In addition, the learning system makes it possible to change the photos and images used in the program which makes it more relatable and appealing to Asian children and parents. I am looking forward to using other BrillKid learning tools when these become available through BrillKids Foundation grant program.

Thank you BrillKids Foundation, for your kind and generous help and for your concern for those in need.

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