Tabanan- Time to get up early. The sun was starting to appear, against the thick clouds on the eastern horizon. A thin mist accompanies enveloping nature. Moves slowly blown by the breeze. Ignites a cold feeling, and infiltrates the skin. It is this natural atmosphere that is friendly to dozens of children from Batungsel Village, Pupuan District, Tabanan. Peaceful nature breeds silence. The children were of various ages. Sitting together on the floor of a simple building. Red brick walls, without any polish, let alone paint. Tiled roof, with Geminis wooden ribs. The building is like a community hall. Contains a kitchen, surrounded by green nature.
The village children gathered not to joke. Moreover, playing with gadgets is like most children in this era. They opened their bags, took out books, and put them in their laps. There are also directly on the floor with plastic mats. Seeing each page of a book of various types with a variety of pictures as a sweetener. The writing is read, then proceed with taking notes.
They don’t do homework that becomes a provision from school. But cultivating a literacy culture, joining the Bali Learning Village Community. The impression of warmth and enthusiasm radiated from the faces of the children as the next generation of this nation. Looks like they really enjoy being together. Guiding each other is a familiar sight in this activity.
What is recorded in the book is not just kept. They have space to share various knowledge by appearing in front. There are things about prehistoric and historical times, about waterfalls, and about how to grow tomatoes. The material is simple and easy. But that’s not the main focus. But how can these children hone their creativity, review what was presented, and develop it so that the material becomes more complete? From this, they are also invited to understand something conceptually. For example, about the meaning of the waterfall. His understanding is not only limited to the waterfall. But you can think more broadly about the perpendicular flow of water from higher to lower elevations. Beyond that, of course, there are many examples.
This community literacy community was founded by a lecturer at the Ganesha University of Education (Undiksha), Dr. I Wayan Artika, S.Pd., M.Hum. He is a native of Batungsel Village. In the midst of his busy life, he always made time to accompany the children’s activities. “This literacy runs every Sunday. From morning to noon,” he said when met, Sunday (5/1/2020).
While sitting in a chair, through casual conversation, he reviews his journey to start this community. Starting from 2008, the background is the lack of interest in reading in the community. Admittedly, it takes quite a long time to gain people’s trust in this program which is also being promoted by the government. Slowly but surely, plus patience, his efforts paid off. From 2017, it began to run effectively with the number of participants involved being consistently in the tens of people. “These children come from three elementary schools in the village. There are also junior high school students and teachers who help,” he explained.
The emergence of this movement started from the bottom. That was the forerunner to the emergence of the name of the grassroots literacy movement program. The philosophy of grass, according to him, grows on the ground but can spread widely. “From this name, we want this program to be useful for the wider community,” said the Indonesian Language Education Study Program academic.
Apart from literacy, children are also invited to understand numeracy. In one way, those who are divided into several groups are asked to make a table containing their name, description of weight, height, and year of birth. When finished, it is described in written form or orally. “Here the data written in tabular form will be reviewed. Apart from that, you can also find that a smaller year can mean older when associated with age. This is one of the reasoning behind numeration,” he commented.
Children’s participation in this program is free of charge. Artika has never demanded it. He only has one wish. Through the program that was initiated, one day it will be able to give birth to a reliable and intelligent generation through literacy. “I also believe that this program does not immediately produce results now. But it could be a few more years. At least I have made efforts to answer problems in society, “he said. As an academic, this inspirational program is also used as the implementation of the Tri Dharma of Higher Education in the field of education and teaching as well as community service. What was born sparked the attention of a number of parties, such as the Bali Language Center, schools, and literacy communities from other regions. “We also received donations for our books,” he concluded. (hms)
