Mama Ilo – her familiar nickname – is well aware that the dedication given to the children in her village must be in line with their needs, situations, and conditions. In her village located in Central Sulawesi, Mama Ilo whose full name is Elmiatika has established a children’s group aimed at learning English.
Mama Ilo’s residence, which has the status of a tourist village, became regularly visited by foreign tourists. This certainly has a positive impact on the village’s economy. However, there are still some people, including children, who are not yet ready to face these changes.
“Until now, there has always been preparation (for the implementation) of the tourist village, foreigners come here. It’s okay to slowly learn to say yes, sir, ma’am, or mister. But what’s dangerous is just saying ‘give me money mister’. Oh no, that’s not allowed,” Mama Ilo emphasized.
Initially, Mama Ilo was moved due to her concern. But in the process, Mama Ilo’s desire to deeply teach English to children in her village grew. In one of the main tourist spots in her village, children are often seen hanging out to add to their pocket money. She observed this directly because she also runs a food stall in the same location.
As one of the members of the Community-Based Integrated Child Protection Group (PATBM) in her village, Mama Ilo has been equipped with knowledge about issues related to child protection, including child labor. However, considering the needs, situations, and conditions of the children in her village, Mama Ilo implements specific adjustments.
“I always say, when you meet someone, don’t just ask for money, but also offer services. Children should not be exploited, but they can be creative, so don’t beg – at the same time, sharpen language skills,” she explained.
She applies such an approach to ensure that children do not develop reprehensible behaviors, including those who do not receive control or guidance from parents or people around them. Moreover, there was a previous incident where one child was caught stealing at one of the shops.
“So that the habits formed are learning, worship, and playing but in a positive manner,” Mama Ilo elaborated.
Building such habits is certainly not as easy as flipping one’s hand. Mama Ilo has gone through a long process, for years. In fact, some members of Mama Ilo’s study group are now adults, working, and some are even married.
Before regularizing English language learning, Mama Ilo’s study group focused on instilling a reading mindset among the children in her village. It all started from her concern, seeing many books in her house but most were not for children. From there, she decided to provide additional reading lessons to children who are still in kindergarten and elementary school.
“After seeing many adult books, I dig through those books again and found books for children to learn spelling. From there, I taught them basic things like i-ni i-bu bu-di,” she reminisced.
But she didn’t stop there. After the children could read, Mama Ilo then implemented the habit of having children read books for a maximum of 10 minutes before starting the study group session. After reading, Mama Ilo asked the children to write down anything they learned from the book.
She didn’t limit what the children wrote. It could be about the story, new vocabulary they learned, or even unrelated things like the color of the book or its cover. According to Mama Ilo, at least reading for a short while and then rewriting helps children get used to full concentration.
If elementary school students are taught to read, middle school students are taught foreign languages. Personally, Mama Ilo herself rejects being called a teacher because she spends most of her days as a businesswoman. However, giving her the title of teacher is not exaggerating. Just like a teacher, she even sets targets for her group members.
Such as for students in grades 4 to 6 of elementary school who will soon enter middle school. Mama Ilo firmly gives a time frame of 6 months for these children to at least be able to introduce themselves in English.
“So at least when they leave here, they won’t open a book anymore,” she said.
Her children’s group has grown rapidly after receiving mentoring programs from Save the Children and the Panorama Alam Lestari Foundation supported by Cargill. This program focuses on mentoring village-level PATBM cadres like Mama Ilo to better understand child issues, identify child rights issues, and refer or help address these issues.
Nowadays, Mama Ilo often finds herself overwhelmed by the increasing number of children in her study group. One day, 30 children showed up at the same time, ranging from preschoolers to middle school students. She then decided to limit their meetings to once a week so she could still manage her work.
“I was confused about where to put them, the place is small. Some of them come from far away, even from the neighboring village. Many of them even suggested building the children’s group there so it wouldn’t be far,” she explained.
Not limited to education, Mama Ilo also hopes to develop her children’s group in terms of culture. She wants the children to learn to dance. Just like her initial background, the dedication given to the children must adapt to the situation and conditions.
Lately, she has often seen children playing with gadgets and opening social media applications that contain many dance movements. Rather than restricting the children, Mama Ilo suggests it’s better to develop their existing potentials.
“I often meet children. If they are in front of the camera, they love to dance. So I think it’s better for them to learn professional dance. Unfortunately, there is no dance teacher in this children’s group yet,” Mama Ilo explained.