Zack Petersen

Mika Halpin Hasanah

My Jakarta: Mika Halpin Hasanah, Children's Book Program Coordinator

Mika Halpin Hasanah can’t get her hands on enough books. But the books she collects aren’t left on a shelf to gather dust, they’re placed in the hands of school children throughout Indonesia.

As one of the driving forces behind Buku untuk Anak Bangsa, or English Books for Indonesian Children, Mika coordinates the nationwide distribution of thousands of books every year. Her dedication to a project she helped get off the ground in 2007 has now distributed more than 15,000 English books to some 30 schools in 12 provinces across the country.

When did Buku untuk Anak Bangsa start?

It began in October 2007. I had a friend who was collecting books, but only on a small scale. Then the president of the Indonesian Student Association at the University of Queensland wanted to expand the program. They just needed help to realize their dream. Secondhand books in Australia are cheap but the content is pretty good, so all the group needed to was get the books to the kids.

Now that you’ve graduated and come back to Indonesia, who will carry on the program?

I have a successor. The project has grown nationwide. Other Australian states have joined the effort. Not only is there a program at the University of Queensland, but at other schools in Australia as well. I help distribute the books throughout the provinces from Jakarta.

What exactly is your role on the Indonesian side of things?

I have to make sure the books all get here and that we haven’t lost anything in the shipping. Then I distribute them to schools and libraries in the provinces. I also do follow-up on the schools and make sure that everyone is using the books.

If you have so many schools who want English reading materials and only have so many books available, it’s hard to say who gets the books.

We try to make sure the schools that receiving books are using them to promote reading, like having book clubs. We select the recipients based on what they tell us they will do with the books we give them.

When was the last time the group distributed books?

We follow a cycle. We collect books from January to November in Australia, while we monitor the schools that have already been given books. Then between November and December, the books are packed and sent here to Indonesia. They arrive in the country in January and the schools get them in February.

You said that last year you distributed over 11,000 books?

It was 11,159 to be exact, which was 2.1 tons worth of books. In 2007, we had roughly 4,000 books that we distributed to 15 schools in seven provinces. Last year, we handed out books to 30 schools in 12 provinces throughout Indonesia. We also accepted $7,269 in donations. The University of Queensland and the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra were the major donors.

What do you do with the cash?

We use it to cover the shipping costs from Australia to Indonesia and also the expenses to deliver the books to the schools. Right now we don’t really have a sponsor and shipping entails the biggest expense, so we use the donations to cover that.

What kinds of books have you been getting?

Everything from very basic books like “A is for Apple” to novels, dictionaries and encyclopedias. We send out books not only to schools but also to public libraries. There’s a generous lady who works with a church in Australia and collects all the books from the church. So we have like a cross-religion, cross-cultural exchange, which gives everyone a more open mind.

How do you get the word out that you have English books to distribute?

We have a broad network of teachers. One of the program’s founders is a teacher and an education advocate. We just post an announcement on our blog or we send out a mailing list and it spreads right away. Sometimes we feel bad because we can’t possibly get books for all these kids.

On your blog, there is a picture of a school high up on a mountain in Lombok. Without any modern facilities, how does a school like that receive your mailing list?

That school is connected through a guy who is pretty active on the Internet. He came across our blog and he applied for the books.

Ultimately, what do you want to see come out of this project?

I have many dreams, like I want to connect one project to another project. Have you ever heard of “One Laptop Per Child”? I’m thinking of a way to build a relationship so that eventually we’re sending out more than just books.

In January, you’re expecting thousands of books to arrive on your doorstep. How do you sort them?

We sort them out at my place in Jakarta. We sit down and determine whether school A needs intermediate books or school B needs advanced books. We sort the books based on what we have and what the children need.

So the books get here and you separate them and repackage them yourself?

Actually, I have about 10 friends who are always happy to lend a hand.

What drives you to keep Buku untuk Anak Bangsa going?

When I was a kid, I was pretty lucky to have English books at my disposal. Children are like sponges, and English books can open up the world for kids in Indonesia. That’s what motivates me. I want them to feel the same way I felt when I was a kid.

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