Bahrul Ulumiyah Suheb, Indonesia

Fighting Illiteracy in Indonesia

Teaching literacy is Bahrul Ulumiyah Suheb’s driving passion. Though Indonesia has a high rate of literacy, in Bahrul’s town several thousand people cannot write, read or count. Sixty percent of those are women, she adds.

A teacher by profession, Bahrul makes her living by teaching elementary school students and also gives a great deal of her time and energy as a volunteer with Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia—a non-profit organization that focuses on women’s empowerment.

Bahrul says there are four literacy groups running with about 40 women participating this year. She particularly likes seeing older women learn to read, “even if it’s just one word.” She says that the grandchildren of these women often accompany them to class and may help them learn.

Bahrul is also clearly excited about her work with women’s clubs. Since 2006, her volunteer organization has established four such clubs (with about 200 women participating) and there are plans to have three additional ones for those women now involved in the literacy program. These clubs provide a vehicle to help women access information, which Bahrul believes is central to giving women more of a voice in Indonesia.

The women’s club members, who often meet in local homes, may participate in microcredit initiatives and also receive “hot news,” skills training, and small door prizes. She cited, for example, the information they disseminated for an upcoming governor’s election, such as “how to choose the best candidate with the best vision.”

Most of Bahrul’s work as a volunteer is done on evenings and weekends. She often leaves home early and returns late, and is happy to report that her family supports her activities. In a family of seven siblings and with parents who are farmers, Bahrul is largely self-sufficient and had to pay her own way through college.

Bahrul says that most of the people in her village—about 20 km away from Tuban where the local office of Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia is based—are open-minded about what she does. But she says that being a single, working woman in Indonesia isn’t always easy, both because the culture there remains very male-dominated and women who have education are sometimes looked down upon.

It can be an ongoing challenge. Bahrul mentioned that “in villager’s meetings in Tuban, for example, almost all the participants are men. Women in the village are not represented in decision making.”

Bahrul teaches members of the women’s clubs in the villages to become as informed as the men so they can contribute ideas. She also says that “gender training can help change minds,” and mentioned annual trainings that her organization holds for college students, housewives and farmers “to increase awareness of women’s skills and equality.”

Bahrul is one of CEDPA's more than 5,200 training alumni in over 150 countries worldwide. Learn more about CEDPA's training workshops