Continue to Teach in the Middle of a Pandemic
#BersamaMelawanCovid19 - Rini (46 yo) has 11 years of being a teacher and taught children in kindergarten and elementary school in Mensiap Baru Village, Sintang District, West Kalimantan. Her love for children made Rini continue to teach for years, even though Rini and her students were facing a Covid-19 pandemic.
Due to the rules of the government to close educational facilities and replace them with learning from home activity make Rini learns to understand the difficulties of children in learning. Seeing these difficulties, Rini decided to continue teaching the children by allowing them to come study at her house.
The study groups she makes are always active every day. The children of kindergarten students are allowed to come alternately. She also makes student arrival schedules to avoid crowds at home.
"Of course, there is something different about teaching and learning at home. They usually free to play with each other at school, but now the atmosphere is no longer felt by us. I did a rotation system for them," explained the mother of three.
In addition to the rotation system, Rini enforces rules that children must obey before entering the house. They have to wash hands with soap, use masks, and sit with one-meter distance.
Wahana Visi Indonesia through the Covid-19 pandemic emergency response (COPE) in the Melawi Sintang Program Area assisted Rini and her students through the provision of cloth masks and the provision of handwashing with soap facilities to support the process.
In addition to providing energy and a place to learn, Rini also provides reading books to parents, which can be used to support children's learning and creativity at home.
"I deliver the book to homes and send messages to parents for activities at home. There is no limit to learning, whether there is Covid-19 or not, children must be creative at home, and it is the duty of parents to accompany them," she added.
During a pandemic like today, we will see teacher figures who can be said to be Heroes without Service, such as Rini, who continues to struggle to give time and attention to her students. Even without reward, these people are still willing to carry out their vocation as a teacher.
Written by: Margaretta Siregar, Area Program Manager Melawi Sintang and Rika Oktaviana, TP Health Coordinator Wahana Visi Indonesia
