Social - Activities

A Book Worth A Million DreamsIf someone asks you what kind of small sacrifice are you willing to make in order to bring about major changes to the lives of others as well as to mother nature, what would your answer be?

Most of us are unable to answer, because we tend to believe that, to make major changes, a much greater sacrifice is required than the one we are capable of providing. But by setting aside as little as 2000 rupiah [US$ 0.22] per day, many of the children living around Lake Toba will gain access to books and other learning tools.

Reading used to be hard for children in Samosir

No one would ever imagine that, despite its international recognition as the primary tourism destination in Sumatra, the Lake Toba region in North Sumatra’s Samosir Regency, still lacks basic facilities for informal education and extracurricular activities.

A low interest in reading among the children of this region invariably leads to these children’s diminished reading abilities, threatening their prospects for livelihood as well as their future welfare. Limited road infrastructure further compounds this problem, rendering many villages virtually isolated and removed from the rest of the island, often with severely restricted access to information. Many under-developed villages situated around Lake Toba remain without adequate educational facilities.

Togu Simorangkir, Coordinator of Alusi Tao Toba, dedicates his life to developing Samosir

The Alusi TaoToba Foundation, founded 18th June 2009, is dedicated to actively preserving Lake Toba which is presently undergoing an increased threat from various human-initiated activities. The people from Lake Toba’s surrounding areas often lead isolated and far from prosperous lives, and are forced to continue exploiting Lake Toba’s resources, thus threatening the sustainability of Indonesia’s largest lake.

"We believe the preservation of Lake Toba will happen only if the community is living in prosperity and in harmony with nature. To realize this vision, Alusi Tao Toba plans to conduct three main programs namely education, environment and community empowerment," said Togu Simorangkir (35), the coordinator of Alusi Tao Toba, who has dedicated his life to his hometown community’s development.The Sopo, transformed from rice granary to knowledge granary

One of the programs run by the foundation is 'Samosir Membaca', or the 'Samosir Reading Program', inviting everyone to donate Rp2,000 per day. The collected funds are then used to build free reading facilities for children in the Samosir area. To further support this program, Togu and the foundation also developed the "One Book One Million Dreams' program, a book donation campaign that collects worthwhile and essential reading books. Never one for half-hearted efforts, Togu even went around bookstores and funding sources in Jakarta, and submitted various proposals in order to obtain book donations for the children of his hometown.

The program is also supported by the village’s local government. The head of Pardomuan village has lent a Sopo, or rice granary, which was built more than 150 years ago, to be used as a library. This reading Sopo project was started in May, 2010.

The library lacks a book collection

The Alusi Tao Toba Foundation is still in need of many learning and teaching tools, like stationery, drawing tools, games, educational films, computers and other supporting equipment. If you’d like to extend a helping hand or support their limited budget, your name will be included for display and commemoration at the Sopo, or on the 'Mobile Education Boat' designed by Alusi Tao Toba. Your support will help realize their dream, and by contributing just Rp2,000 per day, you too can imagine how big a change we can all make!

If you would like to support this worthy educational program, kindly contact Togu Simorangkir at: (+62 858 28467888) or e-mail the foundation at:alusi@greenmail.net.

[Photos: Alusi Tao Toba]