Ronik Children’s Library and Learning Center

I read the article by Hollie Horrington about Ronik Children Library when I was doing web search, and would like to share with our readers. I had the permission from the author to publish it in our website, and here what she said on her blog :

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Whilst in Kupang, I have been volunteering to help with the opening of a small library for children.

Ronik library was started by Nanik and her husband in the home of her late parents in Kupang, West Timor. Nanik and her sisters were brought up with a love of learning as their parents were both teachers for over 30 years. They have carried on their parents’ belief in the power of education and teaching and fulfilled their parents’ life-long dream: to one day open a library to help educate and instil a passion for learning in the children of Kupang. As Nanik says on the library’s website,

“In most cases, children in West Timor can only go to school if the money is available to cover their education. We will often see young children help their parents in the market selling produce instead of being at school studying [...] The Ronik Children’s Library and Learning Center is dedicated to nourishing the minds, intellects, characters and spirits of children by providing access to information and support for personal growth and development through lifelong learning in a safe and welcoming environment.”

I can happily say that I was there for the wonderful beginning of this library’s life. I made contact with Nanik who lives in America and she put me in touch with Enny, her sister who now lives in her parents’ house. I then began visiting the house regularly and helping out in any way I could – which meant covering the books they had received through donations in plastic.

I have always had a soft spot for libraries and bookshops, my first (and most all-time favourite) job I ever had was at a bookshop on the corner of my road that I had grown up visiting and I am a true believer in the magic of reading; of losing yourself in a fantasy world; of curling up in some cosy and friendly place and delving your head into some magical realm – reading really is such a privilege that many Western children take for granted. Everyone who knows me knows I loved working at the bookshop and so when I entered their house (the library was not ready at this point) I was more than over-excited with all the titles I could see (many of the books are in English – to promote language learning.) I spent the next few weeks popping to their house when I had a chance to help with covering (and borrowing!) books. Kieran and I hadn’t seen any English books at all since being here and were overjoyed at the plethora of fiction now available to us (there are also many adults titles and we devoured as many as we could.)

Whilst in East Timor, the library had its soft opening and when I returned my heart nearly burst with excitement. Here it was: the finished library. Denny had finished painting all the walls beautifully bright colours, and the shelves were all in place with English books on one side and Indonesian on the other. There were kids books of all ages, magazines, reference books, comics, a computer for the children to use with internet access, a whole shelf dedicated to artistic/creative things, a pile of toys and board-games and another whole bookshelf covered in VHS – mainly Disney – with a TV/Video/DVD player next to it. It looked amazing. I felt I could have lived and worked there my whole life. I returned now and again to help man the library (and watch 101 Dalmatians!)

Then Kieran and I came up with an idea that had been at the back of my mind for a while: a drama workshop. So I got to work planning and making posters, and the staff at TLM and Denny helped me to translate and make corresponding flyers in Indonesian. Come Sunday 26^th April, I was very nervous though I expected that the workshop may have a handful of kids at best. When I arrived no-one was there so I hung about and soon a whole neighbourhood’s worth of kids descended upon the dinky room and I couldn’t stop smiling. I was conducting my very own drama workshop! To about 25 kids! We started with warm-up games to get them to come out of their shy little shells – chewing gum to warm the face muscles, making funny noises and counting to ten to raise the energy to the roof. Then e played the traffic light game which went down really well and so the day went on with a series of fun games and small acting tasks: animal pairs where the kids got a slip from me with an animal on it and had to act as the animal whilst finding their partner animal somewhere in the room; what’s the time Mr. Wolf, a kind of Simon Says game, and a role-playing walk-around. It was fantastic. Eventually it sizzled out after an hour and a half as the kids got tired (I too was exhausted!) and I was truly proud. I gave out the sweets I had brought with me and said my goodbyes.

Ronik Library has just had its grand opening, and Kieran and I made it to the ceremony before our flight to Bali. It was lovely – the gardens the house are in are truly GORGEOUS and very artistic – all neat lawns, stepping stones, potted plants, trees. There was a massive congratulations sign and a ribbon to be cut by the Vice Mayor of Kupang. After, we wandered around the little room which now had its final touches, complete with a brand new computer from Nanik, and it saddened me to leave it behind. It really is an inspiration to everyone, especially the children who are eager to learn but perhaps unable to afford the best schooling. If I could describe what it’s like to see masses of children run inside after the opening and delving into the books, shouting at each other to look at this, read this; I would. There just aren’t words good enough. But I know it shaped me a little that day and made my heart warmer. We took lots of lovely pictures, and I will hold them dear forever.

I would like to send my heart-felt thanks to Nanik, and all her family (especially Enny and Denny) for letting me be a part of something so wonderful.

For all you readers out there: Please visit the website to have a little more insight into this amazing library: http://www.roniklibrary.org/

AND: If you have any books you do not need anymore, how about donating them to the library? I know shipping can be a bit pricey, but apparently there are ‘agents’ or such which specialise in shipping books and it is significantly cheaper. The address is on the website, along with any contact information. Go on!

So…. that’s it from West Timor. It’s been lovely here and though I am ready to move on, here are a few things I am going to miss:

• The view from the hill (every morning on the way to work we had a spectacular view of the sea, the surrounding islands and mountains – stunning.)
• Avocado shakes (SO good – they are serves with a bit of chocolate sauce.)
• Nose rubbing (who said Inuits, or Eskimos as most people would say, were the only nose-rubbers? It is custom here to greet people by touching noses – cute!)
• Ronik Library: Of course!
• The butterflies: Everywhere and of all colours. I think some of the rarest are found in Indonesia.
• TLM: Some of the nicest people I have ever met. Thank you to all of them for making us so welcome.
• Little Gecko: The littlest Gecko I saved from my under my desk in TLM’s office and took home in a box. We fed him spiders and then he grew up and left home…
• Bemos: Bemos are the BEST form of transport (see earlier post)
• Christianity at its best: Religion (mainly strict Christianity peppered with Catholicism) is BIG here. Like, masssssssssive. People’s lives revolve almost solely around the church and though I think it’s a bit much – it surprisingly made for the nicest society ever. There is hardly any crime in Kupang, and everyone is very respectful, polite and friendly and I believe it has a lot to do with the heavy focus on church. The community feel is infectious and genuine.

So… the ‘working/living’ travels are over – now comes 2 and a half months of ‘travelling’ travels! Exciting! First stop… Bali.

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