Make Amends Through Education
Inside the modest 6-by-4 meter room, Muhamad Ridwan explained the importance of uttering \'basmalah\'. “The wisdom is to receive God’s blessing to avoid sin and immorality,” he said.
Several roosters, hens and chicks were pecking around inside an old, dilapidated bamboo structure in Cikadongdong village, Cigemblong district, Lebak regency, Banten. This was not a chicken hut, but a classroom of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah An-Nazwa elementary school.
Inside the modest 6-by-4 meter room, Muhamad Ridwan, 33, explained the importance of uttering basmalah (an invocation at the start of an undertaking). “The wisdom is to receive God’s blessing to avoid sin and immorality,” he said in mid-March.
There were two faded and stained whiteboards. One was already damaged and peeling. The classroom had a dirt floor without tiling and it had no ceiling. Its roof was made of thatched leaves.
The back wall of the classroom was made of lengths of bamboo and there were holes in the corner. Many of the 11 tables and benches were damaged, but the students were enthusiastic.
Every time it rained, the water leaked through the roof and turned the floor muddy. Cats, dogs and goats often entered the classroom and defecated. “Yet, the children are enthusiastic about taking turns cleaning the classroom,” said Ridwan, smiling.
Students of grades 1 through 3 studied together in the classroom, which had no room divider, but it was the only place they could learn. Meanwhile, students of grades 4-6 had classes in another structure about 50 meters away. The condition was more or less the same.
Cikadongdong village is 180 kilometers from Jakarta. Around 15 km of the access road to the village is a dirt-and-gravel road that turns muddy when it rains. It was marked by a 30-centimeter-deep groove of tracks made by the wheels of a truck.
Thanks to Ridwan, 42 children of Pasir Muncang, Cikadongdong village, were able to study at Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI) An-Nazwa.
Dark time
The school was established in 2009 partly because of Ridwan’s persistence. To support the school, Ridwan earned money as an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver and a migrant worker. He did everything he could to establish the school and to prove himself.
Ridwan did not have an illustrious past. “I was a crook. I accept being labeled as a former criminal,” he said.
After graduating from junior high school, Ridwan lived in Jakarta, Bekasi, Tanjung Balai and Tanjung Pinang. Ridwan worked as an ojek driver, a construction worker, a sidewalk vendor and a courier. He felt he was not a good person for interacting with gang members. In fact, he only talked to them so they wouldn’t disturb others. The gang members forced sidewalk vendors to pay them. They also asked for money from Indonesian migrant workers repatriating from Malaysia. They would beat up the migrant workers if they refused to pay.
Ridwan used to earn much money and spent it freely. “I spent money on cigarettes, food and clothes. I did not remember my family in the kampung,” he said.
Turning point
Ridwan arrived at a turning point in his life in 2003, when he accompanied illegal migrant workers from Tanjung Pinang to Johor, Malaysia. “I drove a speedboat with a capacity of 60 people. The first and second trips were successful,” he said.
The third trip was a tragedy. His boat capsized and most of his passengers died. Ridwan escaped with his life. “Powerful waves hit and the boat cracked. I survived because I held onto an empty jerry can and swam back to Tanjung Pinang,” he said.
Witnessing the migrant workers and their children drown one by one was traumatizing. After the accident, he imagined how those children should have been attending school instead of joining their parents as they sought work as illegal migrant workers. “If the children in my hometown were uneducated, they would experience the same thing. I decided to come home,” he said.
However, Ridwan had no money, not even enough to buy a ticket. So he went to Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, and worked illegally at a rubber plantation. He worked well and was promoted as a supervisor.
In addition, Ridwan was asked to teach the children there to recite the Quran. All the while, Ridwan’s intention to return home grew bigger. Every time the children recited the Quran, he felt good. Ridwan decided to go home immediately when he dreamed of his late father, who ordered him to take ablution.
“I cried. My life was hard. That day, I came home,” Ridwan said of that day in 2008. Back in his hometown, Ridwan made money as an ojek driver and cultivating a 150-square-meter farm. When Ridwan took a break, he watched the children in Pasir Mun- cang kampung walking to school. They had to walk 10 km from their kampung to SDN 1 Cikadongdong, a 2.5-hour journey. The gravel road became muddy when it rained. Many other children did not go to school, because it was far from their homes and they also had to help their parents with farm work.
Ridwan decided to establish a school in Pasir Muncang. He looked for a place for the classroom, but he only found a modest structure. “I tried. There were only six students. Some residents mocked me and said the school would not survive,” he said.
The stigma that he was a “gang member” made the villagers worry that their children would get a bad influence. After three months, the number of students dropped to two.
“I instructed the students in reciting Quran. Still, the villagers see me as not a good person. Ridwan is all talk [they said]. He does not know religion,” he said. Ridwan kept his school going and six months later, the number of students rose to 20.
The problem came when the classroom collapsed. “The learning activities stopped because there was no place to study. I returned to Malaysia as a migrant worker to make money,” he said.
After he had saved some money, Ridwan came home again. He built a new classroom and reopened the school.
In 2013, Ridwan’s school joined the An-Naz Foundation. The villagers of Pasir Muncang began to trust Ridwan. The school occupied a plot of land belonging to a local villager.
Ridwan still has a dream. He has started developing the Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs) junior high school in his hometown, expected to materialize in 2019. “I have prepared seven teachers. If there is no classroom for the MTs, we can use MI An-Nazwa in the afternoon,” he added.
Birthplace: Lebak, Banten, Dec. 9, 1984
Wife: Sunengsih, 29
Child: Mega Mustika
Education: SDN 1 Cikadongdong, Cigemblong district, Lebak regency, Banten (1992-1998); MTs Nurul Hidayah Malingping, Lebak, Banten (1998-2001)
Award: Dedicated Teacher, Madrasah Education Appreciation 2017, Banten Religious Affairs Office