The 2nd of May 2012 is one of the important days in Indonesia, and we held a raising

flag ceremony in Bina Cita Utama School. We celebrated the education day of Indonesia

and also the birthday of a pioneer in the field of education in Indonesia named Ki Hajar

Dewantara. It is a common activity to do every year where all teachers and students

gather together to celebrate this.

In my opinion, it is one of the most important days because it is the right moment to

thank our teachers for everything they have done for us as students. Also for being

thankful to our hero who struggled for a good education in Indonesia, if it weren’t for

him who was fighting, we would not have schools up to now.

It is the right moment to say thanks and also to realize that we as the next generation

should do more to make a better Indonesia.

Sujeni Ningsih Grade 10

SEKOLAH BINA CITA UTSEKOLAH BINA CITA UTAMA NEWSAMA NEWS T h e F i r s t N a t i o n a l P l u s S c h o o l i n C e n t r a l K a l i m a n t a n

May 2012

BCU MISSION :

To develop a

high-quality learning

environment which

nurtures and educates

children, so that, as

adults, they will be able

to make real and positive

contributions to the

development of their

communities and the

world.

On May 12, three Grade 6 students won 1st prize in a

math competition held at the University of Palangka

Raya University. The Kal-Teng Pos Newspaper reported

that BCU Students are not only taught to excel in math

and science, but also to be citizens who are self-

disciplined, independent, tolerant, respectful and caring

towards others.

Other inter-school competitions won by BCU Students in

the past weeks are:

1st place won by the BCU vocal group, 1st place in solo

singing, and 3rd place in an English speech

competition.

The Staff and School Board members congratulate all

the students who participated in the competitions. Dion, Syifa and Aldy in the Kal-Teng Pos Newspaper

BCU Students win first prize in “ANTI-DRUGS” writing competion

Eya, Sujenny and Henky Students at the Award Ceremony

Sekolah Bina Cita Utama Sekolah Bina Cita Utama

Even in the remote areas of the world such as Kalimantan, narcotics are a problem. The Palangka

Raya Ci ty government held a competi tion with an “Anti-Drugs” theme to raise awareness of the

dangers of drugs to young people in the schools in the ci ty. More than 20 teams from high schools

throughout Palangka Raya joined the wri ting and “Mading” or a bulletin board (visual display)

competi tions . Each team consisted of three high school s tudents , and BCU was represented in the

wri ting completion by Hengky (grade 12), Eya (grade 10) and Sujenny (grade 10) and the Bulletin

Board team by Sunoko (grade 12), Joshua (grade 10) and Fauzan (grade 10).

The BCU Students won fi rs t place in the wri ting competi tion which consisted of submitting a

paper and a presentation. Ibu Acha and Pak Gunawan, the BCU teachers who supervised the

s tudents took the s tudents before hand on an excursion to the Yayasan Galilea, a drug

rehabilitation centre just outside Palangka Raya.

Ibu Acha wri tes, “In the final selection, the BCU team (Hengky, Eya, and Jenny) did the

presentation very well. They were so confident with their wri ting because they did the research at

the drug rehabilitation (Yayasan Galilea) di rectly.

Yayasan Galilea is the fi rst and the only drug rehabilitation centre in Central Kalimantan and was

established in 28 May 2002. It opened with just three drug users were 3 (2 women, and 1 man),

but presently they have around 17 drug users in rehabilitation. The s tudents were exci ted to

meet the 17 patients, with 5 of them still s tudents, between the ages of 15-17 years old, all from

di fferent family backgrounds .

The wri ting team also dis tributed 100 questionnaires to high school s tudents around Palangka,

Buki t Batu, and Kasongan consis ting of 11 questions related to drugs and the "the relationship

between extracurricular school activi ties and drugs users in high school ."

The s tudents chose to research this to see whether having extracurricular activi ties at school

could reduce the incidence of drug use in young people.

The research, preparation and delivery of thei r presentation impressed the three judges and as a

resul t the BCU Students were awarded fi rs t place in the competi tion.

The students and staff of BCU School wish Ibu Emile all the

very best for her new life as she returns to France after

volunteering at BCU for three years. Emile Pez, a qualified

primary school teacher, taught art, French and Geography.

Emile was also the Scholarship student coordinator and

Volunteer coordinator, helping the many people she came

into contact with.

Emile embraced her new life in Kalimantan with enthusiasm

albeit with some trepidation at first. On her first sight of an

Indonesian cockroach, she almost fainted and wanted to get

back on the plane to France. Her love of art and Indonesia

developed and grew, and she managed to surprise many

people by speaking and singing in Javanese.

We are grateful that Emile faced her fears and the challenges

of living in Kalimantan and blossomed as an invaluable

member of the school. Thank you Emile for your wonderful

contribution to BCU Schoool and the community!

Sekolah Bina Cita Utama Sekolah Bina Cita Utama

BON VOYAGE AND Thank you Ibu emile Pez !

Emilie and BCU Staff

Sekolah Bina Cita Utama Sekolah Bina Cita Utama

It is the hope of all those involved with the establishment and management of BCU School that the school will

enrich the community of Rungan Sari and benefit the reputation of Subud in Palangkaraya and surrounding

districts. Indeed a school is central to any community because without one, families with children cannot

participate. We also recognize that we are one among many neighbors in Rungan Sari. We are a neighbor

comprised of over one hundred staff and students and are mindful of our impact on the community.

The initial calculations in 2008 - to know how many pupils we would need to cover all our costs (breakeven

point) resulted in a number of 95 pupils. However, more teachers were needed to improve our quality, and

splitting of classrooms, increases in salary costs and annual national inflation of ~10%, continuing over 4 years,

have increased this number. At the same time the world economic recession has reduced our income from

donations, which covers the school’s operational deficit. From 2008 till mid 2010 donations from Subud

members - who we regard as Founding Partners - were able to compensate for this shortfall of income. However

these substantial donations could not be continued after 2010, due to world economics.

We have recently increased our school fees and this helps, but this does not provide the full answer to this

problem. To eliminate the deficit and become financially viable we needed to increase our number of pupils to

120 and increase our fees further during the coming years. Even at this level of pupils we still would have the

situation where salaries for key people are low or even non-existent and we would continue to be dependent to

some extent on volunteers. This can probably only be addressed when we can grow further in the future larger

school behind the Muhammad Subuh Centre. However this number of around 120 students in the interim would

leave the school in a ‘relatively sustainable’ position in the sense that we would be dependent much less on

donations for operational costs when the school has grown further.

LUNCH AREA AND WALK-WAY NEXT TO NEW CLASSROOMS

In order to be able to accommodate more students, three new classrooms are under construction and will be

ready by the beginning of the new academic year in July 2012. The funds for the new classrooms has been kindly

donated by the Guerrand Hermes Foundation for Peace and an anonymous donor. Subud USA has donated funds

to build another undercover eating area to provide space for these new students.

During lunch time the kitchen provides all pupils and staff with lunch and at the moment we have several small

lunch areas which are just sufficient for half of the students.

The School team appreciates greatly the kind support that it has received from the Rungan Sari residents, the

Residents Association and hundreds of Subud members around the world who have contributed to what is seen

as a very valuable Subud project.

For the school team,

Karim MacDonald and Michael van der Matten

New Classrooms Under Construction April 2012 Existing Covered Lunch Area

2011 - 2012 DEVELOPMENTS

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR BCU TEACHERS

Cedar Barstow Facilitating

Cedar with BCU Teachers Ibu Sinta and Ruslan Feldman

BCU Teachers

Karim MacDonald writes:

Reynold (Ruslan) Feldman and Cedar Barstow have

been volunteering at BCU since January. They bring a

wealth of knowledge and experience which they

have shared with both the community and the

school . Cedar works as a psychotherapis t and her

specialty is the posi tive use of power within human

relationships . Cedar adapted her material to be spe-

cifi c to relationships found in schools and delivered a

workshop to BCU School teachers on Saturday May

26th.

Cedar began by explaining that al though the word

“power” often has negative connotations , the mean-

ing of the word is the ability to influence or to effect

change. In their daily work with children, teachers

obviously have a lot of power. Cedar’s workshop fo-

cused on teachers using their power in positive ways ,

and being mindful of potentially negative effects

thei r power can have.

The workshop covered topics like being proactive

rather than reactive, s trategies for resolving diffi cul -

ties, appreciation and acknowledgment and the posi-

tive power of praise. It was a positive and productive

day and I think all the teachers who attended came

away with some useful teaching techniques which

they will be able to put into practice.

Some little epiphanies /gems of wisdom also materi -

alized for some teachers which will be useful for

them not only at work, but in their daily lives too.

Near the end of the workshop Ibu Elis, a young Dayak

teacher who teaches values education and English

said, “I've realized that by empowering the posi tive

in others we empower the positive within ourselves .”

Sekolah Bina Cita Utama Sekolah Bina Cita Utama

57%16%

9%

13% 5%

OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURE

Salaries S tudent needs Rent & facilit ies Administ ration cost Depreciation, upgrades

69%

16%

5% 10%

OPERATIONAL INCOME

All school feesSchool operations

Scholarship fund

Finance results

During 2011 we have made some good but slow strides to achieve financial break-even.

Both the increase of school fees and a net increase with 14 pupils were very helpful in this

respect. The school had on average 98 pupils in 2011. In this way we were able to reduce

the operational loss from Rp 416 M in 2010 (about $45,000) to Rp 272 M (about $30,000);

excluding general donations.

Our “general” donations reduced from $ 27,000 (2010) to $ 20,000 (2011), and the total loss

over 2011 has been reduced to Rp 88 M (about $10,000). For this year we hope to receive

another 10 – 15 pupils in July 2012. We hope that BCU can continue to receive financial

support from our donors until we reach a “break even point” based on school fees.

Buildings, scholarships, and teacher training in surrounding schools.

These building projects – that come and go in a limited span of time - can of course distort the clarity of the

normal operational budget. Also – as they relate to external building costs – of which the BCU team has

considerable experience; they are on a separate budget and are realized with separate fundraising.

The same reasoning is also valid for that part of teacher training, that is a help for teachers of surrounding

schools.

In the scholarship program we support now 11 pupils and we are grateful for the support of our donors. As

financial circumstances in the world have deteriorated we have to give this more attention as for many donors

it is difficult to commit themselves for a longer period.

Marketing.

The name of BCU is now well known in Palangka Raya. Our efforts to put a large banner in the Arrivals hall (and

a small one in Departures) of the airport have been successful and also the bus that was donated in 2009 by

Subud members from Japan,- with the name Bina Cita Utama in large elegant letters - has continued to attract

the attention of the people of the local capital.

Competition

Of course competition is getting closer. As an example the Golden Global National Plus school consists now

already of the two first primary classes and will grow well. This school is in the middle of Palangka (no travel

cost and time for pupils) and apparently is well funded.

Michael van der Matten

Rungan Sari/ Englefield Green

OPERATIONAL INCOME

All school fees 1,855

School operations 441

Scholarship fund 142

Required donations 272

TOTAL Million

Rupiah 2,710

OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURE

Salaries 1,533

Student needs 447

Rent & facilities 240

Administration cost 349

Depreciation, upgrades 141 TOTAL Million Rupiah 2,710

Approx. US $ 290,000

(Rp 900,000 is approx. US$ 100)

FINANCE OVERVIEW FOR 2011

OPERATIONAL EXPENDTURE

OPERATIONAL INCOME

“I’M NOT NERVOUS”

INTERVIEWS with the 12th graders

From Cedar Barstow’s blog

6th graders interviewed the 12th graders

they were very nervous at first -

interviewing the 12th graders–their heroes!

we made up interview questions

they did the interviews

and had a good time

surprise!

they edited each other’s stories

with a red editing pen I gave each one

“Everyone needs an editor,” I said

“You should have seen how many red marks

from my editor that there were on my book.

I didn’t like it at all. Then I found out

that the changes made it a better book.”

Ren and I discovered that there are

typical Indonesian English mistakes

representing differences in

grammatical structure

we have names and symbols for these:

snake mistakes (under and over use of plural s)

skyscraper mistakes (capitalization)

clock mistakes (lack of agreement of verb tenses in a sentence)

envelope mistakes (other kinds)

we use the symbols and then they make the correction

they learned about the publishing process

it was a proud and exciting moment

when they delivered a copy

of their interviews to each class

as if it were a real newspaper

Here is one of the interviews:

Kak Noko’s full name is Tri Andi Sunoko, be we often call him Kak Noko. He was born on the 22nd of June 1994 in Central Kalimantan and his zodiac sign is Cancer. Kak Noko is living in Sukamulya that is located in front of Rungan Sari. His hobby is skateboarding and his favourite movie is Harry Potter because he said that Harry Potter’s story is adventurous. At school, Kak Noko’s favourite lesson is physics because physics is easy to understand. He also had a

favourite teacher named Pak Gunardjo.

In recess time, Kak Noko likes to play guitar and he wants to be a successful singer like Bruno Mars. Kak Noko said that being 12th graders is hard because the lessons are complicated. Kak Noko also said that when we are in 12th grade we should study hard to pass the National Exam. His dream after passing the national exam is going to the university called ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung). Besides all this, Kak Noko can also speak French. He wants to learn French because the French language is awesome. I like interviewing Kak Noko because he is funny and friendly.

I’m not nervous to interview him because he’s an easy going person.

Sekolah Bina Cita Utama Sekolah Bina Cita Utama

Syifa, Shila, Monica, Bagus, Ale, Dion

Grade 6 Students :

KAK NOKO by Journalist Syifa Tri Andi Sunoko, (left) Grade 12