Tanoto Foundation with Ade Suarsa (front, left) and children of Edas Center.

The spirit of lifelong learning is implemented through formal as well as informal education. This is actually what Ade Suarsa has been doing over the years.

Ade Suarsa started a small cultural center Sanggar Seni Etnika Daya Sunda (Edas) in 2008 in his house in Bogor, West Java, because he wanted to do something meaningful to his community. Taking place in this Center, children are able participate in different cultural activities such as learning how to dance and sing traditionally as well as play different types of traditional musical instruments. In addition to carrying out these activities at the Edas Center, Ade and his friends also visit schools around Bogor to introduce the local culture. As a teacher, he knows first hand that most of the young people prefer to be involved with their latest gadgets than taking part in different forms of traditional culture.

Further, having a father who is also a puppeteer has enabled Ade to be a puppeteer himself. However, instead of using wood or buffalo skin to make the puppets, he uses bamboo. He also does not use the epic stories of Ramayana or Mahabaratha as sources of his stories. Instead, Ade uses stories from daily lives to encourage community members to embrace life positive values of life.

Ade also encourages his neighbors and other local community members to help to make the bamboo puppets, traditional musical instruments, and show equipments. This way, the members of the community are also able to earn additional income.

Tanoto Foundation, together with Andy Noya and his Kick Andy on Location program visited the Cultural Center recently. This visit highlighted the similarity between the belief of Edas Center and Tanoto Foundation that support learning process not only in classrooms, but also outside classrooms, as well as life long learning. Tanoto Foundation also used the opportunity to convey the appreciation for Ade’s effort in conserving the local culture. The Center will use the support for different activities such as Center’s renovation and buying of materials to make different traditional instruments.

Ibu Imelda Tanoto shook hand with Bapak Badrodin Haiti after launching of Grha Tanoto.

Written by Sulaiman Waruwu, Tanoto Foundation Riau.

Improvement of access to and quality of education are some of Tanoto Foundation activities that are in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) The Sustainable Development Goals that are related to education aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

To achieve these goals, Tanoto Foundation supports the improvement of “hardware” and “software” of the education sector. This was mentioned by Imelda Tanoto, member of Tanoto Foundation Board of Trustees during the launching of Grha Tanoto and Tanoto Library at Universitas Bhayangkara Jaya on June 15, 2015.

“To improve access to education, we support the “hardware” part of education by building learning facilities such as Grha Tanoto and Tanoto Library. To improve the quality of education, Tanoto Foundation supports the “software” by improving teachers and lecturers capacity and supporting various researches by university students or lecturers,” said Imelda Tanoto.

Imelda Tanoto further said that education is one of the main elements in poverty alleviation. “My parents, Bapak Sukanto Tanoto and Ibu Tinah Bingei Tanoto believe that education is the key to break poverty cycle. In addition, various studies have concluded that when a group of people has a high level of education, then the opportunity for success and their quality of live will also be high,” she added.

In addition to having Tanoto Library as its facility, Grha Tanoto also has several class rooms and auditorium. The Library is equipped with access to thousands of international journals and Radio-Frequency Identification-based system to support the library’s books security and management. Tanoto Foundation worked with Brata Bhakti Foundation to build these facilities.

To improve access to higher education, Tanoto Foundation has provided more than 5,200 scholarships and collaborates with 28 universities in Indonesia. To further support high quality learning at university level, Tanoto Foundation also has built Tanoto Library ant Prasetiya Mulya Jakarta as well as at PPM Manajemen, and Tanoto Floor at Forestry Faculty of Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Providing additional vitamins for children at local health clinic.

Written by Hendrik, Tanoto Foundation Riau

The low quality of available human resource is one of the causes of the high number of employment. To develop high quality human resource, adults in communities need to be healthy and able to work effectively. Subsequently, easy access to health facilities as well as health insurance will help community members to maintain their health level and further support their competitiveness in the work force.

The responsibility to improve the quality of community members’ health does not only fall on the shoulder of the government, but must be shared by the private sector. To implement this notion, Asian Agri works together with Tanoto Foundation to improve access to health care facilities in remote areas in Riau.

Located in Indragiri Hulu District of Riau, three local health clinics were built in Gumanti Village, Semelinang Village, and Peranap Village. Head of Indragiri Hulu District, Yopi Arianto, expressed his appreciation for the support of Asian Agri and Tanoto Foundation during the clinic’s ground breaking ceremony recently.

“Thank you, Asian Agri and Tanoto Foundation, for their support. The communities can now take full advantage of these clinics and, hopefully, improve their overall health condition. We also hope that in the future the private sector will continue to work with the government to develop this area,” said Yopi Arianto.

In addition to building the health clinics, Asian Agri and Tanoto Foundation work together to provide free medical checks, carry out healthy living campaigns, and donate two ambulance for the communities.

As part of Tanoto Foundation’s effort to alleviate poverty, the Foundation works with its corporate partners to enhance the communities’ quality of lives. Tanoto Foundation activities include provision of clean water and sanitation facilities for more than 2,200 people, healthcare facilities for 1,755 people, and assistance for natural disaster victims for more than 11,000 members of the community.

Complementing the effort through enhancement of quality of lives, Tanoto Foundation also supports various efforts to alleviate poverty through education and empowerment.