InfiniteEARTH and Rimba Raya Conservation are working towards ensuring that all children around our concession area have access to quality education and have an opportunity to increase their literacy levels
A price on education
Most families in Borneo cannot afford what they feel are prohibitive costs for education and usually prefer to pull the children out of school altogether. The rationale being that the income children can earn is welcome, and often necessary, in a home where funds are extremely limited. This of course exacerbates another issue; that being child labor
Education has always been an initiative in which we have invested over the years, providing supplies, uniforms, books and pocket money to the children in all the villages along the Rimba Raya boundary.
In 2015 InfiniteEARTH and Rimba Raya had established a Scholarship fund of USD $150,000 that is being used to help educate as many children as we can both within our concession as well as the surrounding areas.
We endeavor to work with local governments to ensure a quality education and fair disbursement of the Scholarship funds to each village. There are 35 schools with
6.457 students who live in and along the boundary of the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve
Our long-term goal will be to provide all children in the Rimba Raya concession with an education and therefore more opportunities to earn higher incomes and improve the lives of future generations, a true domino effect.
Indonesia experiences a higher than average school drop-out rate. Most children in our region of Indonesia are expected to leave school at the age of 14 to assist the family by supplementing the household income.
Naturally, children have seen the advancements made in the modern world and this has spurred their desire to improve their economic status. This in turn, has led to a greater willingness to continue along the route to gaining an education. We are making every effort to help them in this endeavor.
| We understand that children really are the future
Currently we have built libraries in two villages. A library "Rekreasi Ulba" in Ulak Batu village holds 1,273 books and Library "Harati Bersama" in Muara Dua village holds 1,679 books, covering reading levels from beginner to advanced.
We also support literacy for adults by making the ever popular ‘how to’ books available for them.
In addition to providing the school supplies and monetary donations to all children, we are giving incentives to high achievers while promoting a more positive attitude towards education by offering 3 year scholarships to hard working and dedicated children.
Some of these children come from families well below the poverty line and an opportunity such as this, opens doors to a better future for younger generations.
Scholarship recipients have indicated a desire to continue with their education through university and have requested that InfiniteEARTH continue to financially support them in this endeavor.
Education is a human right and the value of education in any society should not be
understated. No one should be deprived of it.
This Initiative meets the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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