Hey Kids, Culture Can Be Fun

Members of Jakarta Butuh Revolusi Budaya working with students of SDN Selong 01 public elementary school, in South Jakarta. (Photos courtesy of JBRB)

Jakarta - A group of 20-something Jakartans is seeking like minds to help teach cultural and environmental awareness to primary and secondary students in the city.

Their organization, Jakarta Butuh Revolusi Budaya (Jakarta Needs a Cultural Revolution), was formed because its founders believed that the capital was suffering a cultural crisis.

“The JBRB believes that the people of Jakarta are turning into a community that is ignorant of and indifferent to their surroundings,” said Tasa Barley, one of the group`s founders.

“For example, we can see how the people no longer care about environmental preservation. They litter everywhere without feeling any guilt.”

Established on June 30, 2007, the JBRB initially began as an online blog that hosted members` musings on sociocultural issues.

Recent topics include the factors that contributed to the Situ Gintung reservoir tragedy, the global economic downturn and subsequent employment crisis, and criticism of the Jakarta administration`s new school hours policy.

With a tagline of “Not Just Advocacy, We Contribute,” the JBRB is now turning its words into action by creating more concrete programs.

“What we mean by contribution is our contribution to the program and the activities that we`ve been doing up until now,” 25-year-old Tasa said. “We`ve also been actively cooperating with other organizations and institutions, holding useful events for the people of Jakarta.”

One such event was in commemoration of National Children`s Day in July 2008, when the JBRB cooperated with the Riayatul Ummah Foundation to donate garbage bins to the West Jakarta municipality. The bins were then distributed to eight subdistricts in the area.

Currently, the JBRB is focusing on the city`s youth.

Its new program is called Berburu, short for Berbudaya Itu Seru (Being Cultured Is Fun). With primary and secondary school students its main target groups, the program provides an alternative educational program to teach children the importance of progressive and positive cultural values in their life.

According to the JBRB, the understanding of culture is divided into two categories: tangible and intangible. “Tangible cultural items are those like dance, museums and arts, while intangible culture is about attitude, knowledge and ideas,” Tasa said. “Berburu leans more to the intangible side. We focus more on character building.”

The five core themes the group seeks to teach and propagate are: complying with rules and order, caring for the environment, respecting others, reading for fun and caring for Indonesian cultural heritage.

The program itself is being taught in schools as an extracurricular activity, with members of the JBRB visiting to teach Berburu themes, using such methods as video presentations, games, discussions and songs.

Last year, the JBRB spent Saturdays working with SDN Selong 01 public elementary school in South Jakarta. Spending about the hours each session, they allocated four weeks to each of the Berburu themes, spending a total of 20 weeks with the students.

This year, they shortened the program to just one week for each theme with SMP Gratis IBU Pertiwi in Pancoran, South Jakarta, where the program ended last week. Group members spent a total of seven weeks in the school, with the additional two sessions used to teach about Kota Tua, the city`s old town, before taking the students there on a field trip.

Tasa said that Berburu worked well with the national school curriculum. “If the government`s curriculum is the main course, then Berburu is like a vitamin supplement,” Tasa said. “We want Berburu and the current education system to complement each other and work together in building a better generation of young Indonesians.”

With the next sessions due to begin in July or August, the JBRB is looking for more volunteer trainers. Currently, they have 15 permanent members, but more trainers would allow the program to be offered to more schools, Tasa said. The group`s ambition is to reach 300 schools by 2011.

A special “Training for Trainers” two-day program will be held in mid-June so current trainers can share Berburu`s module and curriculum with new volunteers.

Explaining the ultimate goal of the project, Tasa said: “We`re hoping each student who participates in Berburu can understand the basic concept of being an individual who is responsible to his or her surroundings.”

Jakarta Butuh Revolusi Budaya
Tel: 0811 803 242 (Kartika Firdaus)
www.jakartabutuhrevolusibudaya.com
revolusibudaya@gmail.com

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com (31 May 2009)

Write your comment !