Overview

Children born into families, who for generations were resigned to a life of poverty, have little hope of breaking the cycle of poverty unless they have access to education. YUM has developed a wide-range of educational solutions including vocational training centers, community libraries, scholarships and sponsorships.

Community Libraries

It is a sad, but common situation in Indonesia, that not every school has a library and the students have limited access to educational resources. For years, the YUM Community Libraries in Cipanas, West Java and in Bukit Batu, Central Kalimantan had been the one and only libraries in their area that is open for the public. We provide not only updated resources and information from books and magazines, but also the library has become the centre of many educational activities – provided for free. Children are motivated to read and expand their horizons. Older students have a place to research reference material for their studies and the parents can have good reading material for parenting. This environment provides an alternative to potential bad behavior as a result of boredom and poverty.

Cipanas, West Java

In West Java, the community library has transformed into an integrated educational facility, adding an Early Childhood Learning Center and a toys library in 2012. YUM’s commitment to offering quality education has earned us a “Best Library in West Java” award, received in August 2017. The community library not only provides books for all ages, but also offers educational and creative activities such as arts and crafts, English club, Computer club, Science club, Nutrition and Health program, Dance Club as well as opportunities to watch movies together.

Bukit Batu, Central Kalimantan

In Central Kalimantan, the Community Library is still the only library available for more than 19,000 inhabitants, providing not only books and educational resources, but also a variety of activities such as traditional dance lessons, english classes, science club, arts and crafts, movie time and health & nutrition classes. In 2021, the library in Kalimantan was selected as GlobalGiving’s “Project of The Month” for the month of January 2021. The project was selected from a pool of more than 5,000 nonprofit projects in 170+ countries.

The library is a huge benefit for the community! So many kids are now able to come and read books. The fact that the library also carries out many fun and creative activities has made the library very popular among the children and youths. I am glad to see that the library is always full with children and their noisy laughter!

Mardi, member of Tangkiling village.