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Gallery|Poverty and Development

Luna, the horse, delivers books in Indonesian village

One man’s mobile library helps in campaign against illiteracy in Indonesia’s Central Java.

Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Forty-two-year-old Sururi, a caretaker of horses from Serang village in Purbalingga, Central Java, Indonesia, started the mobile library called Kudapustaka, or 'Horse Library'. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
By Putu Sayoga
Published On 29 Feb 201629 Feb 2016
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Serang, Central Java, Indonesia – The sun had not yet risen on the eastern horizon, but 42-year-old Ridwan Sururi was already busy tending the horses.

The father of five fed the animals while grooming them and cleaning their barns. As a horse caretaker, he has been performing these duties for a long time in his home village of Serang at the foot of Slamet volcano in Central Java. But since December 2014, he has also been running another enterprise: Kudapustaka, a small mobile library.

Sururi takes the library around the village and nearby areas on one of his horses on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday every week.

The idea for Kudapustaka came to him during a conversation with Nirwan Arsuka, a fellow equine lover from Jakarta. The two agreed they wanted to do something good and meaningful for the environment and community, and Arsuka suggested the mobile library on a horse.

Arsuka donated 136 children’s books as a start, and Sururi took them around on his white mare, Luna. Now, with more and more people having heard of Kudapustaka thanks to social media as well as local and international media coverage, the number of books donated has reached the thousands.

Sururi headed to Elementary School 5 in Serang with Luna. At 9am, after the bell rang for the first break, the children ran out of the classrooms and bustled around him to borrow or return books.

According to data from UNESCO, Indonesia has succeeded in bringing adult illiteracy rates down from 15.4 million in 2004 to 7.5 million in 2010, and those rates continue to decrease. 


READ MORE: Mining sulphur in Indonesia


Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Sururi started the library with the help of a friend, Nirwan Arsuka, who donated more than 100 books to help launch the project. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
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Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Luna the horse helps move the library around Serang village. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Every week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sururi visits schools and goes around the village to offer books to the children and villagers. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Students queue up to borrow books from the mobile library at Serang 5 Elementary School. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Sururi also visits nearby villages with Luna. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Children have benefited immensely from the mobile library. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
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Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
According to UNESCO, Indonesia has made great strides in reducing adult illiteracy in recent years. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
The literacy campaign is ongoing as many rural areas still need help improving literacy rates. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
Sururi takes care of his newborn baby while his wife combs his second son's hair at his home in Serang, Indonesia. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]
Mobile library Indonesia/Please Do Not Use
The idea for Kudapustaka came up when Sururi and his friend Arsuka decided they wanted to contribute to the betterment of their society. [Putu Sayoga/Al Jazeera]


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