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!  

On Sunday afternoon, Sept 9th, 2012, a group of female arranged a get together in a Korean Restaurant  in Gandaria City Mall, Jakarta. They were all members of an Indonesian fan base of SS501′s Leader Kim Hyun Joong, a famous Korean pop singer! The fan club was called “Hyunited6686” . What made that gathering special was the fact that everyone came to the restaurant with some children books in their hands! Yes, they were going to donate those books to Taman Bacaan Pelangi (Rainbow Reading Gardens)! What a sweet way to do a gathering! Win from Hyunited6686 said, “Kim Hyun Joong himself is a very generous person. Sometimes he gave donations to people who are in need. So, as his fans, we also want to follow his footstep. He sets a good example for us“. During the gathering, they held some games, such as a love letter writing competition (all …

During Eid Mubarak, a lot of people baking and selling “kue” (kue means cakes) with different flavors. In almost every house, there will be these “kue kering” that you can taste once you visit your relatives/neighbors who celebrate the festive. It is common to bake and sell these yummy “kue kering”, but one caring lady make her kue kering more meaningful by donating some Rupiah from each box of cake that she sells to buy books for Taman Bacaan Pelangi. How wonderful! Every person has their own way to make this life more meaningful. This is probably one of Ibu Magdalena Atmadja’s ways in making her life more meaningful: by baking some cakes, selling them, and donating some of the revenues for charity. Her customers must feel good, not only feeling good from the taste of the cakes, but also feel good by contributing to this good cause! Thank you, …

Ibu Ine Waworuntu, the founder of Stichting Hibiscus — a non-profit organization based in The Netherlands, spent a few weeks in Indonesia for holiday and she made a time to persuade her high school friends to donate children books for Taman Bacaan Pelangi! Look at some of the books that she brought when she met me over a cup of coffee on a beautiful afternoon, a few hours before she took off to The Netherlands! Thank you, Ibu Ine, for your efforts in collecting the books to be donated for the kids in the remote villages of Flores. And also thank you for those sincere smiles that always framed your face..

Earlier this month, I got a message on my facebook inbox from a lady, named Sysilia Tanhati. She expressed her interest in supporting “Taman Bacaan Pelangi” through book donation. I replied to her message, happily. And today, a package of 19 children books has arrived in my house! The books are ranging from Disney Encyclopedia for Kids, Indonesian folktales – such as Cindelaras (a folktale from East Java – my favorite when I was a kid!), Dewi Sri (a folktale from Central Java), Gajah Mada (a folktale from East Java) and Si Pitung (a folktale from Jakarta) and Donald Duck comics. Yeaayyy!!! We thanked Sisil and Mega for all these great books! The kids in Taman Bacaan Pelangi would love them, for sure! And we also thanked them for encouraging their friends to collect books to be donated for Taman Bacaan Pelangi How nice!!!