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Teacher shares Indonesia experience

For weeks, students across Fayette County have been reading books and doing research to learn more about the Indian Ocean countries that were devastated by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

In addition to the usual research materials, students at Oak Grove Elementary have found that they have another information source that tops any publication or Web site.

For the school’s technology teacher, Mary Filko, the natural disaster has struck a personal cord. From 1981-1986, she lived in northern Sumatra in Indonesia where she was a third-grade teacher at the Medan International School in the city of Medan. Sumatra is near the area where so much devastation occurred.

After learning about the tsunami on the news, Filko immediately contacted friends still living in area to check on their safety and that of the school where she taught. Luckily, neither her friends nor the school were hurt from the effects of the earthquake and resulting tsunami. However, she learned that areas just north of Medan, Aceh Province and the city of Banda Aceh, were severely impacted.

Filko immediately went to work to organize an effort to get aid to the children of those areas most affected. She approached the administration and staff at Oak Grove to support a fundraising campaign which she titled “Merah-Putih” or “Red and White," the colors of the Indonesian flag with red representing the human loss and white for hope for the future. Her idea was enthusiastically embraced.

"It means so much to me that my school family is willing to help raise funds to help relieve the suffering of the children in the affected areas of Indonesia and South Asia," said Filko.

For two weeks, Oak Grove collected change from students by placing Jars of Hope in each classroom. Teachers and staff also helped with the fundraising effort by donating $20 to wear jeans to school for two weeks. All funds raised will be given to UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund).

Filko visited classrooms to make a personal plea to students for their help. She talked about her experiences living in Sumatra and showed them authentic items from the region such as Indonesian currency, books, jewelry, calendars and clothing. Her goal was to help students make a personal connection to people who are suffering nearly half a world away.

"One thing that I learned about the Indonesian people is that they really care about and love their children," Filko told a group of fifth-graders in Maryann Crofton’s class.

Filko shared photos of her students from the Medan International School and talked about unique field trips they took to the jungle to see orangutans and visits to rice paddies and volcanoes. She also enlightened students about how small contributions from them can go a long way to help provide food for children.

"An ice cream costs 60 cents. Those 60 cents can feed a child breakfast, lunch and dinner. Just think, if you gave up ice cream everyday, your bellies would still be full and you could feed one child for a whole week," she told students.