Adi Sarwono, 31, has journeyed dozens of kilometers to bring books to children. The Busa Pustaka reading park in Bandar Lampung he founded provides not only reading materials, but also learning facilities.
By
Susie Berindra
·6 minutes read
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Adi Sarwono
Adi Sarwono, 31, has journeyed dozens of kilometers to bring books to children. The Busa Pustaka reading park in Bandar Lampung he founded provides not only reading materials, but also learning facilities.
Adi\'s weekends are usually spent to help children learn. "Since this afternoon, I have been accompanying the children in their studies, from elementary to high school students. Usually, they ask about English. If someone doesn\'t understand, they send [a WhatsApp message] or call,” Adi said during a Zoom interview on Sunday (6/12/2020).
Since the pandemic emerge, Adi has been teaching children in the front yard of a house in Kedawung village of Kemiling district, Bandar Lampung. He named the place the Busa Pustaka Community School. Activities start at 10 a.m., when the children gather to listen and learn as Adi read stories aloud.
Adi says that children can understand more easily through stories. The was actually unplanned when it started in March 2020. In the beginning, Adi came to the remote village in Lampung bearing books, inviting the children to read any book.
"A child suddenly called out, ‘Mang [uncle], can you teach me or not?’" I was confused about what I could teach them and immediately thought, ah, I can ask my wife later, right, she\'s a teacher. So I just answered, ‘OK, next week we’ll start studying,’" said Adi, who is commonly addressed as Mang Adiono.
The following week, the children came with their textbooks. Like an itinerant salesman with something for everyone, Adi answered the children\'s questions one by one.
"If the children ask me [something], I would answer if I can. If my face looks drawn, I would excuse myself to go have coffee, even though I actually went to find [the answer on] Google,” Adi said with a laugh.
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Adi Sarwono
While he is teaching the children, Adi does not try to force them to study hard. The father of one, who often dresses like a Super Mario Bros. character, instead invites them to sing and dance.
He explores the subject through stories and songs. For example, in one of the videos he uploaded to the community’s Instagram account (@busapustaka), Adi talks about money and its uses. He starts the “tutorial” with the song "Aku Cinta Rupiah" (I love Rupiah). Adi has also uploaded videos of Busa Pustaka’s lessons and activities to its Instagram account.
Aside from teaching, Adi also seeks out donations to meet the school’s needs. When the new school year rolled around, the children talked about the cost of Rp 200,000 (US$14.12) per child per lesson.
"For a week I had trouble sleeping, thinking about how to help the children, because some of their parents have had no income since the pandemic [started]," he said.
Not wanting to see the children despondent, Adi immediately went out to look for donations. He sought loans from friends and used his own money to help pay for the lessons and mobile phone credit. Today, 36 children from underprivileged families have joined the Busa Pustaka Community School.
Adi never imagined that he would end up teaching children. Prior to the pandemic, he used to read out storybooks at Taman Gajah in Bandar Lampung. Busa Pustaka held a variety of activities from morning to noon, such as group reading, storytelling, coloring, and classes. He frequently invited his friends from various professional backgrounds to talk about their jobs.
Adi first started a community reading center in 2017 with just five books. His job as a salesperson required him to travel to remote areas, and he saw that children in those areas did not have access to reading materials. He brought several books for the children as he traveled around for work on his motorcycle. He rotated the books each week. Later, the number of books grew so large that he had to transport them by car.
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Adi Sarwono with children
Adi travels up to 200 kilometers in a single day as he journeys back and forth for work while spreading the joy of reading and learning. He frequently sees the children while he is still in his work uniform.
There is an interesting story behind the name Busa Pustaka, according to Adi. "I was at the market at the time and saw a mother washing dishes with a dab of soap. There was a lot of foam. I immediately thought of the name Busa Pustaka, which means abundant knowledge," he said.
Busa is the Indonesian word for foam, while pustaka means library. Adi has been concerned about education since 2010, when he was at Prof. Dr. Moestopo University as a religion student while he worked as a driver of the MetroMini public minibus at Lebak Bulus Terminal. Adi saw children on the streets almost every day, struggling to make money instead of going to school.
He then invited the children to study together at a city park near the Lebak Bulus but terminal. "They were not interested in children’s stories. Then told them the tale of Tan Malaka and wow, their discussion was lively,” recalled Adi, referring to the National Hero who was a teacher and Indonesian independence fighter.
With his persistence, Adi has been able to help as many as 20 children obtain a free diploma from the Paket C high school equivalency program. Adi also helped them start businesses as hawkers.
After graduating university, Adi was disappointed because he did not pass the civil servant (CPNS) exam at the National Library. When he returned to Lampung, he went to see his teacher K.H. Mas Ahmad Badruzzaman at Pondok Pesantren Al Nizar, the Islamic boarding school he had attended in Bandar Lampung.
"I felt that I had failed in serving the country. Then I went to Abah\'s house and confided in him in tears,” said Adi, using the honorific for a respected elder. “[And] Abah said, ‘Why are you crying, you are now serving the country with your library.’ Wow, I became encouraged again and headed off straight away to take books to the villages.”
Today, Adi has just completed building the Busa Pustaka Literacy Center next to his house in Rajabasa, Bandar Lampung. He hopes that the center will grow and become a community library.
Adi Sarwono
Place/DOB: Prabumulih, 21 Sept. 1989
Wife: Dita Mutiara Aruni
Child: one
Education:
- Faculty of International Relations, Prof. Dr. Moestopo University (Beragama), Jakarta (Class of 2008)
- SMA Al-Kautsar Bandar Lampung senior high school
- SMPN 28 Bandar Lampung junior high school
- SDN 04 Betung state elementary school, Musi Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra
Occupation:
- Founder, Busa Pustaka (2017-present)
- Sales staff, Wings Food Indonesia (2016-present)
