Sharing Knowledge and Skills with Ade Irma Suryani Orphanage Medan

Written by Poppy Amanda Sari, Tanoto Scholar from Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan

Success is related closely to knowledge. In life, knowledge will light our paths. The best protection during hard times is to increase our knowledge during easy times. However, there are many children in our country that still do not have regular access to knowledge. Furthermore, there are also those who would not want to share their wealth of knowledge with others freely.

The recipients of Tanoto Foundation Scholarships at Universitas Sumatera Utara Medan, or usually called Tanoto Scholars, understand this situation. This is one of the reasons why we try to encourage the students of Ade Irma Suryani Orphanage to use any available opportunity to learn new things. In the eight days that we spent with the children in June, we did many activities and learned different topics together. We played scrabble, learned about the world map, watched movies, made a volcano and soaps, and painted. The children were happy with the activities.

“I am very happy with your visit. I learned so many things and I want to be like you. I hope you continue to come to our place in the future so you can teach us more,” said Adam, a nine year old boy who live in this Orphanage.

Although there were many activities that we had to do, the response of the children made our hard work worthwhile. Their excited and happy faces wiped away our exhaustion.

As Tanoto Scholars, we are encouraged by Tanoto Foundation to give back to the community. In addition to our visit to places where we could share knowledge and information to children such as this visit to the Orphanage, we also train the communities on how to establish and maintain a simple community library and encourage students to love reading and learning.