The Girls’ Scholarship Program is an initiative by Taman Bacaan Pelangi, which provides educational scholarships for girls in Eastern Indonesia. Through a selective academic performance-based selection process, the Girls’ Scholarship Program currently has 20 beneficiaries who are junior and senior high school students from Nagekeo and Ende districts in East Nusa Tenggara, and Teluk Bintuni district in West Papua.

Girls’ Scholarship recipients from Ende district with the facilitators

For the past five months, the Girls’ Scholarship activities have been conducted online, facilitated by Odara Aptari and Eleazar Evan Moeljono. However, in June 2024, the activities were held offline in two locations: Ende on June 26, 2024, and Nagekeo on June 28, 2024.

Girls’ Scholarship recipients from Nagekeo district

The offline meetings were very engaging, with topics including Business and Public Speaking, as well as Critical Thinking and the Environment. These interesting activities excited the girls to participate actively.

The activities began indoors, where the girls brainstormed ideas and developed business plans based on the potential they observed in their surroundings. Using the methods learned in the Public Speaking sessions, they presented their business ideas effectively. Interestingly, the activities continued with the participants sharing personal stories related to specific themes.

Girls’ scholarship recipients from Ende was presenting their business ideas

The girls were even more enthusiastic when the activities moved to the beach. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was chosen to involve the girls in discussions on how to preserve the beach environment. They took concrete actions by collecting trash and educating the public on cleanliness both directly and through creative posters.

Girls’ scholarship recipients were collecting trash at Kota Raja beach, Ende

At the end of the session, with the help of Kak Oda and Kak Ezer, the girls were invited to decorate drinking bottles with cute stickers. The girls successfully absorbed the material and practiced what they learned, which they can apply in their daily lives.

In these activities, Taman Bacaan Pelangi was supported by various parties. The Environmental Department of Ende district helped manage the waste collected. The supervisors of Kota Raja Beach and SDK Ende 6 facilitated the venue for activities in Ende. For the activities in Nagekeo, Taman Bacaan Pelangi was assisted by SDK Stella Maris Maropokot and the supervisors of Nangadero Beach, who provided the venue for the activities. The waste collected at Nangadero Beach was managed directly by its supervisors.