The school on Gili Asahan was opened in 1987. The school building is divided into two big classrooms, a teachers room and an additional room that was mostly used to store materials.

The two classrooms feature very basic amenities, however as there are only two rooms classes are usually divided in 1-3rd grade and 4th-6th grade. Another classroom is needed to split the students into their year groups to create a better learning environment.

The space in front of the school is a perfect place for sports like volleyball, badminton and others but also offers space for a playground.

As there are not enough classrooms for the students, the teachers room has often been used for teaching space. Unfortunately the teachers room is in poor condition and is not safe for children to learn inside.

As our funds were not enough to build a completely new school, we decided to start renovation. The plan was to renovate the old teachers room to become another classroom, divide the room on the east side to create a new small teachers room and another area where volunteers can stay.

After already bringing all the material for the renovation, someone turned up claiming the land as his land. Now we are waiting for the government to solve the land issue first before we can continue the renovation. We are hopeful that this can be resolved and if we receive enough funding, rebuild the entire school.

The west side of the school used to be the teachers house. For a long time it was inhabited by Guru Dewa who was the head of the school and a wonderful teacher. After he was moved to another school and somebody else became responsible things started to change. The 6 teachers that were teaching on the island stopped coming and the buildings, especially the teachers house, started to collapse as nobody was taking care of them. Some time ago we decided to knock it down as the building was so unsafe. To have a new teachers house would allow teachers coming by boat from the mainland the opportunity to stay on the island. This not only reduces travel costs but helps them take better care of the school.

In the back of the old foundations of the teachers house are the toilets that can’t be used because there is no water.

Electricity is needed to pump water up from the well into a tank to be able to have water and use the toilets.

Kids that don’t go to school yet often join their older siblings in class, however it is often disruptive for the older students. We would like to create a Kinder garden group where they can play, sing and learn together.

– A surrounding wall (part of the walls that face the neighbours properties are collapsing)
– A safe school building that is safe in case of storms or earthquakes not only for the children but also for their families (a place to meet in case of a strong storm for example)
– At least 3 classrooms to create a better learning environment
– A teachers room to store material
– Kindergarten room with small library
– Storage for sports and cleaning equipment
– Accommodation for volunteers