Educating Children through Joy
The place of gathering for the Kampung Dongeng Community located in Sawah Lama, Ciputat, South Tangerang, is always full of children. They gather once a month to listen to stories.
Stories are an effective way to instill good values in children. Kampung Dongeng (Storytelling Village) community founder Awam Prakoso dreams about spreading stories of goodness through a thousand storytelling villages across Indonesia.
On Tuesday (20/6/2017) afternoon, around one hundred children were gathered at Kampung Dongeng in Sawah Lama, Ciputat, South Tangerang.
Some ran around and laughed while others were in the reading room just to look at the book collection.
That afternoon, dozens of community members were preparing a charity event and breaking-of-the-fast event together with the children.
The event began with an energetic Kampung Dongeng exercise for children. Afterwards, the children listened to a story from Kak Awam.
“There is a boy who lives in a huge house with his grandfather. He was sad because his legs were paralyzed. Not far from there, there was a group of robbers on horses,” said Kak Awam at the start of his tale. He brings the tale to life by mimicking the sounds of the prancing horses to depict the approaching band of bandits.
Once in a while, the children responded when Awam asked them about parts of the story. The children listened to the story intently.
Greater Jakarta Kampung Dongeng member Sulaiman Sofyan, affectionately called Kak Emand, then told a fable of a worm that wished to fly after seeing dragonflies fly freely in the air.
The Kampung Dongeng community never forgets to remind the children to return every month, in the first or second week, to listen to more stories. They can also come to Kampung Dongeng to play traditional games or read books.
Stories for Joy
The Kampung Dongeng storytellers’ expressive and joyful faces are among the reasons for their popularity. Another unique thing that Kampung Dongeng offers is the way the storytellers mimic various sounds, including those of animals and trains. This uniqueness is derived from Awam’s usage of a musical storytelling method.
At first, Awam invited the children in the neighborhood into his rented home. Then, he started his storytelling sessions. As time went by, more children came to the sessions. On May 8, 2009, Awam established the Kampung Dongeng, which is often now packed.
“I am electrified by Kak Seto. I used to accompany him on his tours. However, I wanted to do something different and I started recruiting in 2010. The public response was extraordinary,” Awam said. As it turned out, many individuals wanted to learn the art of storytelling from him. “I gave them an opportunity. They can tell stories in front of the children,” Awam said.
Nowadays, the community, which has members from various professional backgrounds, exists in 67 regions in Indonesia. Much like in South Tangerang and Jakarta, the communities in the regions hold routine activities every month.
South Tangerang Kampung Dongeng chair Abdul Muis said the community held activities routinely. A monthly activity called Pekan Ceria (Week of Joy) is mandatory for all branches. The South Tangerang branch currently has 18 members, 12 of whom are storytellers.
“The Week of Joy is like an open house. We accept everyone who wishes to come here. Kids can come. Storytellers or whoever wants to help run our programs can come too. Sometimes, we invite inspirational figures to pique the children’s interest,” Muis said.
Apart from storytelling, Muis said the community also taught children to make creative artwork from used materials. Kampung Dongeng also provides opportunities for anyone who wants to learn, regardless of age.
“We have a three-day Kemah Dongeng (Storytelling Camp) that we hold every three months. There, we teach children how to tell stories, how to use their voice properly, how to prepare their performances and how to face other children,” he said.
There are also programs called the Kampung Dongeng Pelosok Negeri (Remote Regions Storytelling Village) and Kampung Dongeng Keliling (Traveling Storytelling Village). “We travel from place to place. Usually we come to the neighborhood unit (RT) chief first and ask for his or her permission to gather the local kids and hold storytelling sessions,” Muis said.
For him, training is necessary to be able to tell stories that excite children. At first, Muis was asked by his wife Lusiana to join the community.
Kak Emand, who has studied storytelling for a year, shared this sentiment. “One time, when I was just beginning to tell stories, the children already left. I was confused about what I should do,” Emand said, laughing.
Emand, who also trains wushu, has always been interested in storytelling. He persisted in chasing his dream. His experiences in several regions has taught him many things, including about the state of childhood education in Indonesia.
“Once, I held a storytelling session in Banyumas. Once I was finished, a child asked what the story was about. Apparently there are children there who could not speak Indonesian,” he said.
(SUSIE BERINDRA)
(SUSIE BERINDRA)
