Kiswanti, ordinary people with extraordinary achievements

I am impressed very much by Kiswanti, now 44 years of old, a mother of 2 children. She was born to a poor family Her father was a bechak (rickshaw) driver and her mother was a traditional herbal medicine seller. She is only elementary (6 yeras) school graduate, and  she  used to be a domestic helper as well. However, she managed to establish a mini library, and provides computer and English courses for free of charge to poor children in her neighborhood.

Kiswanti was not able to continue her study to secondary school because of economic reason. Her father did not have enough money to pay for her tuition fees. Her father, then, bought used books to enable her to do self study. From then she fond of books very much.

At the age of 17 years old, in 1987, she went to Jakarta to work as a domestic helper, where then she met Ngatimin, who later became her husband. When Ngatimin asked her to marry him, she only asked one pre-requsite. She should be allowed to pursue her dream to establish a library. She saved some money from her salary as a domestic helper to buy books. Several years later, in 1994, the couple managed to buy a small land in Pemagarsari Village, Parung Subdistrict, about 25 km south of Jakarta. She started her dream to have a library. In the begining, she used to ride a bicycle to go around to surrounding villages to sell herbal medicine (jamu) and lend her books free of charge. Many children were very enthutiastic to see her. She spent a big portion of her income to buy books. Only later, after newpapers and other mass media covered her activities, many donors came to support her. She was very grateful because one donor gave scholarship for her son to study at a university.

Later, in 2004, with helped from donors, she built a small room for her mini library. The name of the mini library is Warung Baca Lebak Wangi (waralabal) or Lebak Wangi Reading Kiosk. Currently, there are about 7,500 books in the library and around 5000 members. With the help of some volunteers, the library also provides English course, traditional dance course and private tutorial for students. Kiswanti is a real hero in a country where book is not easily available.