Stories

From Illiteracy to Being a Literacy Tutor

Nurjannah, a 41 years old woman is a member of of PEKKA in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). She dropped out the school when she was in the 3^rd grade.

She married twice. Her first husband passed away years ago. Nurjannah got married for the second time but not because she wanted to. She was a victim of merarik tradition in NTB. Merarik tradition is a custom in NTB where if a woman fleed by a man, they then should be married. If stayed unmarried, the public will despise the woman. In many of cases, people would get married and get a divorce the next day. This happened to Nurjannah. Her second marriage only lasted for seven months.

Nurjannah is traumatized by marriage, she vowed not to be married again. Besides that, she is busy taking care of her father and her blind aunt. Nurjannah holds the responsibility for all their needs.

Due to her illiteracy, she could not find a better job. So to meet their daily needs, Nurjannah is sewing fans for those who go on Hajj, and she also sells popsicles priced IDR 500 – IDR 1,000. Her average revenue per day is around IDR 25,000. She will use IDR 15,000 for food. While saving the rest of the money, for her fathers’ medical needs.

After the divorce, she found PEKKA, one of MAMPU partners doing activities in NTB. Nurjannah joined PEKKA, so she can forget about her life burdens for awhile. When PEKKA started the Functional Literacy (FL) Program, a program where women learn to read and write, Nurjanah joined in. Through three years of study, she finally able to read and write fluently.

Functional Literacy is a part of the educational program that included under livelihood activities developed by PEKKA-MAMPU program in NTB. This program is expected to improve PEKKA members’ ability to read and write, in order to increase knowledge necessary in life. PEKKA members learn to read and write three times a week. The activity is facilitated by the PEKKA’s cadres and field facilitators.

Nurjannah did not stop there, she then registered as the Functional Literacy tutor in her village. Currently, she is responsible for tutoring three classes with a total of 62 students. The three classes are: class for illiterate people, class for those who begin to recognise letters, and a ‘law class’ for women who are able to read when then she added with sessions on legal documents.

“After attending FL program, I have felt a lot of positive changes in my life. The biggest change that happened is that I can obtained a certificate equivalent to elementary school (Kejar Paket A). I hope this certificate could help me getting a better job.” Said Nurjannah.

To further contribute in her community, Nurjanah wishes to become the Village Consultative Body members, however she was not allowed by the village head as she is not eligible due to her low education level. She has to have at least senior high school diploma for the position.

Because of this experience, Nurjannah aims to pursue the Kejar Paket B (equivalent to junior high school level) and Kejar Paket C Program (equivalent to senior high school level), so that someday she could be the member of the consultative body. Nurjannah wants to get involved in the village activities is because she feels the consultative body could do more to support the village.

While pursuing her education, Nurjanah is actively supporting her village. She is now a member of “the eleven team” that act as supervisor for any government programs undertaken in her village, such as the distribution of scholarships for poor elementary school students, waste management activities, and infrastructure development in the village. Nurjannah also active in the Family Welfare Movement, community healthcare post (posyandu) cadre, helping others to make identity cards, giving information about legal issues, assisting communities to take care of divorce court and child custody and helping others to get national health insurance.

March on, Nurjannah!