Category: Expanding Gold Teak

This composition waas written by Pera Safitri, a 5th grade student of SD Cibeureum for a writing competition held by PT Goldteak at the end of 2021. The theme raised is about Greening and and Family Health in Cibening village. This theme was chosen because students are currently experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic and they have to study and play at home.

In addition, SD Cibeureum and the community also support PT Gold Teak, which will attend the UN COP26 Summit on Climate Change in early November this year. Not only the villagers but also the students and other village children were excited to participate in this special event.

PT Gold Teak in collaboration with SD Cibeureum held a composing and drawing competition. Students who were interested with the topic, sent their drawings and writings to PT Gold Teak to be assessed and the winner will be determined this November.

School students now understand about the village reforestation program, because their future depends on the trees they plant and the environment they protect including the health of the villagers.

All the students can’t wait to go back to school. They have been studying at home online for almost a year and a half. Three times a week they meet the teacher via the internet. Not all students have cell phones with an Android system, so those who have cellphones will lend their phones to friends who don’t have them, they take turns.

The teachers prepare the school subjects that will be done online, this work is not easy, of course, for teachers in the village to teach with technology. For them face-to-face is the best way to learn to teach, but at this time there is no option for them to use technology in teaching. They prepare seriously so that students can learn well.

Submission of material must be in accordance with what is expected by the module and school curriculum. For students now learning means not always at school but anywhere when there is a process of delivering knowledge.

Waiting the school is open, students use their time not only study but also play and make any activities with recycling, reusing waste things from home or picking up seeds and dry leaves at Gold Teak plantation.

The enthusiasm of the students and the teachers make the atmosphere happy.

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere” (Chinese proverb)

Education about the natural environment needs to be introduced from an early age, starting with collecting plant seeds that are easily found at school or at home, such as flower seeds, fruit seeds or seeds from spices in the kitchen such as chili seeds, tomato seeds, cucumber seeds. There is a saying that says “when young sow, grow up will harvest”

Planting activities should be made a habit from childhood, so the children know that planting is a form of awareness for the environment. Schools and families only need to guide and direct them, what seeds or seedlings they find, when they will plant them and where they will plant them.

Planting does not need a garden, but planting and gardening are activities that can be done by anyone, young or old, in the village or even in the city.

PT Gold Teak again gave fruit seedlings and hard tree seedlings to students at SD Cibeureum to plant around the Cibening riverbank.

“Judge each day not by the harvest, but by the seeds you planted”. (African proverb)

 (Students’ writing for competition)

Title: Teak Plantation makes My Village Green

My village has many houses and from our houses we can see Teak plantation. We also can see other trees like Jabon. We have to take a long way to reach the plantation but we will be happy when we are there.

One day, I went to the plantation, walked through the road … I didn’t feel tired because I often played there with friends. My friends and I played happily and we enjoyed our meal while we felt the breeze and saw the trees waved. We felt exited because we could spend the whole day playing in the plantation. We could see how beautiful the trees when the wind shake the trees slowly.

When we are in the plantation, it is cool and shady, the air is fresh and clean. People who visit and play in the plantation will feel calm and comfortable. For anyone who has never been there, they can visit and get an interesting experience.

Well, this is the Teak plantation in my village.

( Liman Saputra, SD Cibeureum, grade 3, free translation by Goldteak’s team)

Every harvest season, the villagers are always happy. Not only the owners of the fields or the cultivators, but the children also feel happy, because they can play on the dry field.

In the morning when the sun is not yet high or in the afternoon before the sun goes down, the children will go to the fields. Dry rice fields become a children’s playground, they can play foot ball, volley ball, hopscotch, fortress game or play kites.

Games do not recognize gender, but boys and girls have their own favorite games, sometimes they can play together like hide & seek, clogs, stilts or jump rope.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, children rarely gather to play, they can only play around the house or in the school yard in a small group. The parents always remind them to wear masks when they play outside. They are always happy study at home even though they miss playing in the fields.

It’s been more than a year, the students of Cibeureum Elementary School are studying at home. They go to school, only for taking test or exams. Almost every day they study by themselves, or with their siblings or with some friends at home. They do their assignments which are given by the teachers or just play at their yards,

They hardly ever play together like before the Covid-19 pandemic. They play football or volleyball with only a few friends, they can not play with many friends. They often read books or watch television with the neighbors.

The new habit of keeping a distance when meeting, often washing hands and always wearing a mask when going out is no longer something difficult. Old or young people, all Cibening residents follow health protocols. Up to now, no residents have been infected with Covid-19.

During the last year when most countries have seen periods of confinement and people have had to limit their time spent outside, books have proved to be powerful tools to combat isolation, reinforce ties between people, expand our horizons, while stimulating our minds and creativity. In some countries the number of books read has doubled.

Covid-19 pandemic has been over a year, students of SD Cibeurem do not study at school but at their homes and two times a week they meet their teachers online. Students get bored easily, and they also shouldn’t hang out with friends outside the home often.

To help students not to get bored and stay excited, Goldteak donated story books and science books. They take turns reading and are still monitored by the teacher. They were also given several activities related to the natural surroundings, take care the environment by planting trees and collecting plastic garbage so they make their village is free from garbage pollution.

“Fairy tales are more than true, not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (Neil Gaiman)

During the Covid-19 pandemic, students have to study at home, there are fewer outdoor activities. In order to support the students’ activities, Goldteak donated several types of seeds: Avocado seeds, Durian seeds, Water guava seeds / Euginia Javanica, Tomato seeds, Red seeds pepper, Jackfruit seeds and Bisbul seeds /Velvet apples (rare fruit tree in Indonesia).

The seeds were shared among the students for whose houses have yards, together with the teacher they chose the seed and plant them. For students who do not have a yard, they can plant the seeds at the school yard. They will write about the seed that they planted: the name of the plant, how it grows, how to take care the plant, what fertilizer is needed, when the plants will bloom and have fruit, whether the tree has large trunks, what trees have economic value.

Students will learn about trees and why we need trees. People need trees not only for the flowers, fruit, leaves, root, trunks even its bark but also people need trees because trees produce oxygen and keep water. The students will also learn how to balance the ecology and environment, trees can make the earth greener and people healthier as well.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the government has changed the way of teaching and learning, no longer attending school but learning online from their homes. Face-to-face online learning programs are not easy, students must have smart mobile devices that have Online Learning applications. The teacher will divide the students into groups, so that face-to-face activities can take turns. This activity is carried out twice a week, for the other three days the students study independently in their homes with customized learning modules.

It has been almost a year since this activity has been carried out, there are many obstacles faced by teachers and students, but they are all still excited about learning.

Learning activities outside of school, such as sports activities, scouting activities and inter-school competition activities can no longer be carried out. Students cannot participate in wits contests in the District or Regency, they feel they have missed the opportunity to compete. If there had been no Covid-19 pandemic, of course last year they would bring some trophies home and put them with other trophies in the principal’s room.

This year Goldteak is holding a drawing/painting and composing competition, all students can take part in this competition. The theme chosen was about the green and healthy village and also studying at home.

It rains every day in Cibening village, light rain and heavy rain falls in the morning, noon and night. The air is fresh and cold, making everyone lazy to go out of the house. The children of Cibening village learn and play with their families at home too, they do not go outside not only because of the pandemic but because of the rain. Some of first and second grade students are busy taking drawing competition, they draw pictures with many ideas.

Cibening village is a small village surrounded rice field, cassava and Teak plantation. Every family lives in a small bamboo or wooden house, some of them have brick house. They cook their meal in their traditional kitchen, using clay stove. Their menu is almost the same for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They always provide rice with fish, eggs or tofu with the vegetables they pick from the yard.

Currently there are almost no more malnourished children, because the local government sends a midwife or health worker to provide counseling and check on pregnant women and toddlers (babies up to five years old). They schedule immunizations or vaccinations for children under five.