In the news (media)

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 …

If you flipped through today’s The Jakarta Globe newspaper, you will find a full page of information about our collaboration program with Havaianas, called “Happy Mind Happy Feet”. We’d like to thank The Jakarta Globe for the continuous support!

Most of the time, when you donate a book to charity, you think you’ll never see it again. You’ve parted ways, said your goodbyes, sent it on its way in hopes it might bring someone else the same joy it once brought you. But sometimes, it goes another way. That’s what happened when I went to Flores in East Nusa Tenggara. Travelers who have never been there often picture Flores as hot and arid with dry grass and few trees. That’s far from reality: Flores is home to rich vegetation and a mild breeze. The point of a holiday in Flores is never luxury. Instead, travelers head there to experience and learn. What my trip taught me was to expect the unexpected. On my way to a region called Ruteng, I stopped at Bena village, one of a few traditional villages remaining in Flores, and was offered a one-of-a-kind experience …

The “Pies in The Face” event was a big success!! Taman Bacaan Pelangi thanked “Drive Books, Not Cars”, everyone who came to the event – throwing pies to the volunteers’ faces, and also.. most importantly, all the volunteers who made this event a success — letting their faces “pied”, getting dirty making the pie out of whipped cream only and reusing the whipped cream, taking photos & videos, and.. cleaning up the mess!!! Also, we’d like to thank “Pizza e Bira” for letting us have the messiest event ever in their place! Up to this date, this event has generated Rp 21 million in total, which all of it goes to Yayasan Sahabat Anak and Taman Bacaan Pelangi to provide access to education and quality children books for underprivileged Indonesian kids. Thank you so much for all the hard work, the generosity and all the fun!!! To read full article, …

  Femina, a leading women magazine in Indonesia, published an article titled, “A story about Book Worms “Virus””. This article basically discusses about people who have a concern about education and take an initiative to help the communities by setting up libraries, be it playground for toddlers, libraries for children. And one of the five people mentioned in the article is Nila Tanzil, the founder of “Taman Bacaan Pelangi”. I’m very happy and feel honoured to be featured in Femina magazine. I hope that this article will inspire the readers to startcontributing to this nation and helping those who live in remote areas. Thank you, Femina!