Stefanie Augustin, Fighting for Children’s Literacy
To counter the negativity, Stefanie Augustin has been working to improve literacy among children so they are aware of Indonesia’s cultural beauty and grandeur.
By
ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU
·5 minutes read
ARSIP PRIBADI
Stefanie Augustin
Stefanie Augustin, 46, has been troubled by the many people who frequently take a negative view of Indonesia; as a matter of fact, the country has many positive features. To counter the negativity, she has been working to improve literacy among children so they are aware of Indonesia’s cultural beauty and grandeur.
Stefanie has intentionally focused on children because they do not have many choices in terms of the right media to get to know Indonesia. Even if such materials are available, they are usually too formal: textbooks and newspapers intended for adult readers.
Families that are better off are able to buy children’s books on the riches of Indonesia.
“But what about disadvantaged families? Reading books isn’t their priority. Their children eventually end up spending their time watching adult television dramas,” Stefanie said on Sunday (19/7/2020) when contacted from Jakarta.
With this thought, Stefanie decided to create a children’s magazine with her two children and a friend in 2010. The housewife has no background in journalism, but has a long association with tourism.
The resulting magazine, Putra Bangsa (children of the nation), is intended for poor families. It covers Indonesia’s natural resources, regional cultures, history and arts using easy language that children can understand.
“From 2010 to 2012, just the two of us with a friend handled the magazine. We used our own money (as capital). We tried to make door-to-door visits to companies, as we first thought this method could build sales, but it didn’t go well,” she said.
For the first three years, free copies of the Putra Bangsa magazine were distributed to 30 elementary schools in Jakarta. She hoped her publication would enter the catalogue of school libraries.
However, Stefanie was disappointed when she discovered that many volumes of the magazine she so painstakingly produced with private funds were discarded in trash cans or littered in parking lots.
“I felt sad, wondering about such treatment. After some discussion, the idea was proposed that the magazine should be sold so it would be better appreciated,” recalled Stefanie.
Sympathy for children
Stefanie accepted the idea, but she renamed the magazine in 2013 as CIA. Originally an abbreviation for Creativity In Action, this was changed in 2019 to Cahaya Inspirasi Anak (light of inspiration for children). She made personal visits to the schools so that they would be receptive to her new magazine.
In the beginning, CIA was published in Indonesian, but because many “favorite” and international schools that used English as their medium of instruction turned it down, she added English and turned it into a bilingual publication.
Although it is for sale, Stefanie said that she promoted CIA in the same spirit as Putra Bangsa. She also didn’t want to turn schools into a commercial venue.
“To be frank, after ten years of publishing the magazine, we are still financing it ourselves. This is a nonprofit activity. Watching the faces of children enjoying this magazine keeps me going,” she revealed.
CIA is issued monthly with several thematic sections on the country’s regional culture, natural wealth and beauty, folklore and inspirational figures. Indonesian adults and children who have made international achievements are presented in the Cermin (mirror) section.
Beyond publishing the magazine, Stefanie also provides guidance to school literacy programs so they develop properly. She is even ready to help teachers when they become confused over the various new educational policies the government adopts.
In addition, she has held a number of programs for schools. In 2018, Stefanie and her CIA team visited 100 elementary schools to promote the Asian Games and Asian Para Games in Jakarta and Palembang. The students were introduced to athletes and their spirit of competition to win accolades for the nation. She also created a program to promote Indonesian traditional games among today’s children.
That’s what we have learned, and we will keep striving for it.
During the Covid-19 health crisis, Stefanie again started feeling anxious about schoolchildren who never had a chance to read a copy of CIA at their schools. To fill this gap, she has been distributing CIA as a free PDF version since April 2020 to whomever expressed interest in its content.
Despite the great challenge to provide reading material for children in print form, Stefanie remains unwavering in her commitment. She contends that children should be exposed to reading printed books in the digital era, and that this was very important to develop of their literacy.
“That’s what we have learned, and we will keep striving for it,” she emphasized.
Her determination has only grown, as she has noticed that many children’s media have stopped publication over the last five years. “This reality makes me think even more about children’s publications. It is a great challenge to maintain this effort, but our children badly need [reading materials],” she said.
Born: Jakarta, 26 Aug. 1974
Education:
- Bina Nusantara University, Informatics Management (1992-1995)
Programs and initiatives:
- “Nyalakan Anak Indonesia” (Enlighten Indonesian Children, 2020)
