Hello, my name is Yaspan, I am 8 years old and I was born in the village of MbinuDita in Sumba East, where the foundation is rebuilding my school and will bring life back to the village

Since the start of the work, I have tried to help everyone else to build my school. And suddenly, it’s been more than a month that we have a new play area, it is on the site of what will be our new school. Exactly where our old school was located, which was destroyed by a storm at the end of December 2019.

Currently, the Kawan Baik Foundation is going to great lengths to build our new school and since we are part of the school, we cannot wait until the school is over to just go. In fact, every day after waking up and having breakfast, we go straight to the construction site and do everything possible to ensure that our new school is completed ASAP.

With my friends, I find it very interesting to participate in this achievement in my village, because here the fact of building such a solid and different school is rare. I have never seen this before and I am happy to be able to participate in the construction of my school.

Usually, we see our parents building a house. A house which is still built entirely of wood, with a roof, is covered by reeds. But the problem my parents tell me is that the wood is lacking and the reeds too to build a house that could be mine.

• I ask myself lots of questions and I am very curious;
• Let’s see, why is there so much cement?
• Why are there so many pieces of steel so big everywhere?
• What is this thread that they put in the concrete? What is it used for?
• Why do they tie the iron rod with the steel wire?
• What are they going to do with that big white square stone?
• … and so many others!

I ask myself lots of questions my friend. I am always very curious about everything and sometimes it upsets a lot of people I disturb in order to find out everything. And others are patient with me and they teach me to do what they do, with a lot of patience.

The adults will ask us to bring the stone, transfer the sand and cement, bring the tool they need and they ask me.

And when I’m tired of doing it all, then I stop. Then I ask my friend to do a wheelbarrow race. So, this will annoy our parents because they think we are going to break everything!

In the afternoon, Grandmother Rinto and the team in the kitchen offer us a delicious lunch. Sometimes after working out we get a glass of milk or green bean porridge, vitamins, snacks, chewing gum, etc…

Oh, there are a lot of other friends helping the construction team and they are strong women. They are Gita, Anas, Dela, etc …. These women, they are always busy preparing meals and coffee for us. In addition, all of them dig the land and fill the same wheelbarrow or old empty cement bags hundreds of times. Then they bring all the material inside the construction area.

Some of my friends who are also helping are students from another school, but they are not opposed to helping us build the new Mbinudita elementary school. As our parents told us our school would be the coolest school among schools in Sumba Island, can’t wait to see, learn in school and play with my friend in the new school that the foundation builds for my community.

I am grateful to our parents, teachers, brothers and sisters for all the time they give, all this energy they put into building my school. In closing, and most importantly, thank you all. All those who are attentive to our educational situation and help us to be able in a few weeks to be able to study again in a clean classroom, in a solid school building, which will not collapse.

Hopefully, this project ends without a hitch, quickly. So my friends and I can go back to school, safely, without fear of wind and storms.

Thank you very much. Yaspan, September 25, 2020, Mbinu Dita village, Sumba East