Writing Without Borders

Literacy as a way to liberate children’s minds and prompt creativity

Playing with words in the borderless land of imagination gives children a place where no rules apply and no limitations exist. But for some children, living amidst hard circumstances like Ali, a 13-year-old Afghan refugee living in Jakarta, this special space can sometimes seem too distant to reach. His family waited for 10 years for a country to accept him as refugees. They had to move from one place to another, and the complexities of his daily life left only a narrow window for him to be alone and wander, let alone write.

But listen to Ali’s short story – read out during a workshop on inclusive literacy supported by UN in Indonesia as part of the Patjarmerah Kecil Festival last Saturday – when he was asked to describe his daily life in the clouds.

 "I wake up and eat the cloud for breakfast. When I’m thirsty, I just open my mouth to drink the rain. Then I play football. When I’m tired, I just sleep on the cloud," he read his story shyly, his eyes smiling.

With a simple question, Ali’s imagination took a leap. And so did the imagination of the other 30 children, 10 of them refugees, who took part in the session conducted by Reda Gaudiamo, a champion for digital literacy in Indonesia.

David, a 10-year-old from Jakarta, when asked to complete a sentence starting with “what if,” wrote, “What if I became King of the Gods? I could make rain and stop time.”

Nadia said, “What if I became a cat? I could run, climb, and steal food.” But there was also a simple wish from Athia, a child refugee from Sri Lanka: “What if I became the last child in my family? I wouldn’t need to take care of my siblings or help Mom in the kitchen,” she said.

As the afternoon wore on, the children became less patient and wanted to read their stories as loudly as possible. Sometimes the stories were too complicated end, hung in the air, waiting for the next moment to conclude.

In the workshop, children felt free to express whatever crossed their minds. It seemed the spirit of boundlessness became their own.  For a moment, they forgot to take a look at their tablets or mobile phones and existed in their true form: a child.

Background

The Patjarmerah Kecil Festival is an annual celebration of children's literature and creative learning in Indonesia. The festival showcases a diverse selection of children’s books and promotes literacy and the creative economy.

The festival and book market travel across Indonesia with the mission of creating fair and equal access to literacy,This goes beyond just reading materials and also providing the same learning spaces and opportunities for everyone.

The United Nations in Indonesia participated in this year's "Patjarmerah Kecil" Children's Literary Festival, leveraging its global platform to enhance the annual celebration of children's literature and creative learning in Indonesia.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) participated in the workshop entitled "Tell your story today” on July 6, the workshop included 10 refugee children and 20 local child authors.

Indonesia continues to see a gradual decline in illiteracy rates. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2023, the illiteracy rate among the population aged 10 years and above stood at 3.18%.

Globally, one in five children, adolescents and youth are excluded from education, with disparities exacerbated by poverty, gender, language, disability, ethnicity and migration status, among others. Transforming education has been identified by the United Nations as one of only six key drivers to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).