Inaugurating the 43rd Library at SDN Lancang, Komodo, West Manggarai, NTT

Today, 20 Feb 2017 to Tuesday, 28 Feb 2017 will be memorable days for 12 Elementary Schools (SD) in West Manggarai. Throughout those 7 days, Rainbow Reading Gardens is inaugurating 12 new libraries, collaborating with Room to Read (Phase II, cycle 1) to develop the habit of reading among children in the Eastern Indonesia.

Children of SDN Lancang forming line while waiting for the guests

On this bright Monday, SD Negeri Lancang is to be inaugurated first among the other schools, to be the 43th Pelangi Library. Children of SDN Lancang have been lining up to form a pathway for the guests, who have been awaited by the whole school.

Children practicing Mogi dance while waiting for the guests

While waiting for the special guests to arrive, some groups of children, who have been assigned to perform dances, were seen practicing while Mogi song is being played.

Not long after that, the awaited guests finally arrived. They were Rainbow Reading Gardens team, representative of Room to Read, representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the representative of Education, Youth and Sport Agency of West Manggarai.

Guests: representative of the Ministry, Room to Read, DoE of West Manggarai, Rainbow Reading Gardens team, School Committee and parents

The ceremony started, and in between speeches, children of SDN Lancang performed. One of the performance that wowed us, especially the Rainbow Reading Gardens team, is a mini musical drama adapting a book called “Mantel Emas”. The book is about how a kid accepts having a sibling. It embodies sex education, delivered in smooth and appropriate ways. Besides drama, children also performed modern dances and Westlife’s song called “I Have A Dream.”

Musical Drama by Students of SDN Lancang

After speeches, here came the main event, which is ribbon cutting by Ibu Dewi Utama Fayza, from the Ministry of Education. The ribbon was cut, and everyone was cheering, marking the opening of Rainbow Reading Gardens library at SDN Lancang.

Everyone was excited to see inside the library of SDN Lancang. Some guests were invited to enter the room to visit the child-friendly library which has been set and painted beautifully by the teachers of SDN Lancang. Story books were displayed and leveled to make children easier find the books based on their reading ability. The library also has carpet and a number of cushions to make the students more comfortable in the library. Even adults were happy about the library!

Rainbow Reading Gardens Team Explaining Book Levels

After taking a look around the library, the guests who mostly came from Jakarta continued their journey to another inauguration ceremony, at SDK St. Yosefa which was located not far from SDN Lancang.

When it seemed like the event was about to end, other guests arrived. They were from the Embassy of Indonesia at Sweden and from UPTD of Komodo.

Embassy of Indonesia for Sweden Visiting SDN Lancang

The team consisting of Rainbow Reading Gardens, Embassy staff, as well as students of SDN Lancang celebrated that morning by dancing Mogi in front of the library. Everyone was dancing happily, and even the Head of UPTD of Komodo Sub-district, who came late, wanted to be a part of the festivity. In addition to giving speech, he sang Manggarai songs followed by the teachers and parents. Meanwhile, Rainbow Reading Garden team was all smiles as we had no idea what the song was about, yet we could feel the excitement.

Congratulations to SDN for the inauguration of the library, may our good intention in developing the habit of reading for children in the Eastern Indonesia go as we all have expected.