By Mehru Jaffer

For four year old Yusuf, the library is a castle, the van full of books a caravan of treasures and once he holds a book in his hands he seldom fails to feel like king. Nani, the mother of Yusuf is delighted at her only child's love for books. And she thanks the Wandering Books Foundation for bringing so much of joy into the life of the young widow.

Nani is also one of the 80 participants in the workshop held recently by the Foundation to encourage adults to write short stories and novels for children. For the biggest problem faced by educationists in this country is a dearth of writers of original literature for children here.

"It is not enough to translate. Often children do not have knowledge of the background of the stories they are reading," says Nasti M. Reksodiputro, retired lecturer, University of Indonesia and former head of the Language Centre. For example Indonesian children can not relate to stories about snow clad landscapes or characters like the red nosed reindeer although they read about them in the Indonesian language.  Throughout her career Reksodputro felt that the system of education here did not encourage children to read.
There are so many text books to cover that a child is left with little time or energy to browse through the literature of his choice. She feels that even very young children are a lot more interested in reading than it is suspected. But most children desperate for books do not have access to any. 

Ever since she retired, Reksodputro has devoted all her time in teaching and helping children to read more. Five years ago she got together with some friends and colleagues and in 1996 launched The Wandering Books Foundation with a mobile library as its chore activity. The idea is to take books to all
those children who are unable to reach out to books on their own. And the ultimate goal is to make it possible for children and young adults everywhere in society to have access to good literature and to improve their reading habits.

Sriwahyuni, 11 a student of Bintaro's Islamic school Yayasan Pedidikan Islam At Taqwa waits for the mobile van to arrive on the campus so that she can browse through some more literature on the social sciences. She likes best to read about the different religions of the world. The young girl told The Jakarta Post that she prefers reading to watching television as she gets more knowledge out of a book. Although the van
comes to her school once a week, it is a pity that her class is able to use the facilities only once a month. Wahyu,12 was engrossed in a volume of encyclopaedia that was full of information about life under the sea. He loves animals and his favourite is the fish. He is happy to learn names and the habit of different kinds of fish that are found around the world.

It was the British Council Library that donated the first 2500 books from its children section. Today the Foundation has over 7000 books in its collection, including magazines in Indonesian and English. Many Indonesian publishers have chipped in and also individual donors. The first van came from the German Alumni Association five years ago and a second one is a gift from the CitiBank.

The mobile library functions in different areas of the city for four hours, five times a week at schools or in residential areas, attracting over 200 children at each stop. Children are invited once a week at McDonald's to read at the Cijantung, east Jakarta branch of the fast food restaurant. There are four permanent employees, including three coordinators and
a driver while 40 volunteers help the Foundation with different activities like seminars, workshops and story reading.

Supriyanto's job is merely to drive the van around to its different destination each day but he is so involved with books now that instead of whiling away his time waiting and gossiping with other drivers he helps children choose books, tell stories and himself reads as much as he can. If he could choose his profession all over again he would like to be a
librarian instead, says Supriyanto who has even tried his hand at writing short stories.

For youthful Naning Puspasari being employed at the foundation is not just a job. As one of the three coordinators, she enjoys being with children and helping them to read for she sincerely believes that books are a window to the world. Another activity is to lend boxes full of books to community centres, residential areas and to schools that are willing to
take the responsibility of lending books and making sure that they are returned by the children. Apart from the enjoyment that books provide, Reksodiputro is convinced that in this very competitive age Indonesian children have to be smarter
and much better informed. And the best way they can do
so is by reading regularly. For reading is known to broaden horizons, improve analytical faculties and to provide immense joy to all those who have experienced even a little friendship with the inky world.

Besides what the country needs most today is not just a literate population but also a wise one, feels Reksodiputro who makes an appeal to all those who agree with her to help by donating either their time or money to a cause which she feels has the power to change the entire face of a society.

For further information telephone 4501848 or 4530572.

-----Mehru Jaffer