“kling” malam itu kurang lebih seperti itu terdengar suara dari handphone saya yang merupakan  tanda adanya BBM group. Ternyata itu dari BBM group komunitas saya. Salah satu teman yang ada di group menginfokan bahwa salah satu teman kami yang bernama Bandega meminta tolong untuk mengumpulkan buku bacaan anak-anak, jika mempunyai buku anak-anak yang bisa disumbangkan ke anak-anak di Flores.  Saat membaca group itu saya langsung memikirkan apakah saya mempunyai buku-buku tersebut. Beberapa hari kemudian saya bertemu langsung dengan Bandega. Saat bertemu, ia sempat menanyakan “Lo tau Nila Tanzil ga?” langsung saya jawab “ Tau kok yang diver itu kaaan traveler juga kenapa emang?” dengan rasa ingin tahu saya bertanya. Bandega kemudian menceritakan hubungannya dengan Mba Nila sebagai subjek skripsinya. Bandega juga menceritakan bahwa buku-buku yang dikumpulkan untuk taman bacaan punya Mba Nila yaitu Taman Bacaan Pelangi. Dengan excited saya mendengarkan cerita Bandega. Ketertarikan saya dengan ceritanya Bnadega, membuat ia mengajak …

An article published on The Jakarta Globe about the “Happy Mind, Happy Feet” campaign with Havaianas. Nila Tanzil established her first children’s library three and a half years ago. She’ll officially open her 26th today. On a steep, pineapple-riddled hillside in Melo, East Nusa Tenggara, 300 children rush to greet Nila with a mix of bashful smiles and around-the-waist hugs. Village elders smoke hand-rolled cigarettes and nod reassuringly as a bamboo xylophone chimes in the distance. Normally Nila shows up in Melo with dozens of boxes containing children’s story books donated by volunteers and supporters. For kids in remote areas of eastern Indonesia, access to quality children’s books is a privilege, not a priority. Nila established Taman Bacaan Pelangi, or the Rainbow Reading Gardens, to change all that. “The books we provide and the libraries we establish are meant to inspire the kids and encourage them to dream big,” Nila …

Do you remember the “Happy Mind, Happy Feet” campaign by Havaianas? The “Happy Mind, Happy Feet“campaign was a success! From the campaign, Havaianas donated 1,500 pairs of kids sandals and hundreds of children story books for Taman Bacaan Pelangi [Rainbow Reading Gardens]! Yipppeeee!!! As the handover ceremony, we held it in Melo Village and invited kids from Melo and Roe villages to attend the event. Miss Jana Rogers Perazzo, the Brand Manager of Havaianas and Miss Widhiari Murti (Wiwid), the Marketing Coordinator of Havaianas joined the fun together with Miss Oriana Titisari from Travel Work, the public relations agency of Havaianas plus Mr Zack Petersen from the Jakarta Globe and Ms Vanezza from More Magazine. As a representative from Taman Bacaan Pelangi, our founder herself attended and thanked Havaianas for all the great support together with Kak Bosco, Bp. Avent, Bp. Yoseph and Bp. Baco, our volunteers from different spots …

Today we received hundreds of books from University of Paramadina’s students! In the past few weeks, they have been collecting books from their friends to support Taman Bacaan Pelangi [Rainbow Reading Gardens]. Check out the photo of those behind the book drive: Thank you, Bandega Adhi, Fadil, Arif Firmansyah, Tabah Aris, Lola, Yasmine Syakinah Lubis and Ahmad Saufani (Dani) for the initiative and all the efforts! We really appreciate it!  

Bali Usada, a health meditation organization, shows their love to the kids in remote areas by collaborating with Taman Bacaan Pelangi [Rainbow Reading Gardens] . Merta Ada, the founder of Bali Usada and a very respected person, expresses the importance of helping the children who live in remote villages in Eastern Indonesia through education. He describes the living condition of those kids – no access to electricity and water, let alone a library — thus, he encourages everyone to contribute in widening those kids’ horizon by donating children books to Taman Bacaan Pelangi. There will be our drop box at all activities hold by Bali Usada throughout 2013! Now people who go to Bali Usada can not only meditate, but at the same time, help nurture children’s interest in reading by bringing books and putting them into our drop box!   On behalf of the kids at Taman Bacaan Pelangi, …