The Batam Experience - Jim Lewis

For some years now the Knights of St Columba in St Albans have been raising money to support the Catholic schools in Batam, an island about 10 miles from

Singapore across the Strait of Malacca, Indonesia. One of our brothers, Pat Curtis, first met Fr Yance, the Priest who is administrator for about 16 Catholic schools on Batam and the surrounding islands, about ten years ago when he was working in the area.

As Indonesia is a Muslim country, the Government funds the Muslim schools only, and all other schools, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, etc., have to fund themselves. It is for this reason that we have been raising money to help the Catholic schools in the area.

It costs about £50 per year to teach each child, so what we are able to send goes quite a long way.

Last November Pat said he was planning to visit Batam again, and would like some of us to go with him to see for ourselves how our money is being used, so three of us, Richard West, Patrick McNulty and myself, made the commitment to go. In February we set off and travelled to Singapore, and from there to Batam, where we were met on Sunday evening by Fr Yance, who welcomed us and told us his plans for our visit.

Early the next morning we were collected and taken to the school in Batam Centre. We arrived during their morning break, as they start at 7am and finish at 1pm, although some stay when there is a need for remedial work. The school is fairly modern, with about 1600 children of all ages, Nursery, Junior, Senior and High School, in separate buildings. The first thing that struck us was how clean and happy all the children looked, all dressed in white, as many live in the jungle. Parents have to pay for the children to attend the schools, and those that are better off subsidise the less well-off. We were taken into several classrooms, including one where biology was being taught, to meet children and teachers. In one class the children were able to ask us questions about why we were there, what did we think of the school and did we like Batam. It was noticeable that the atmosphere was always calm and respectful.

The government provides trophies to the island, for which all schools have to compete. It was clear by the number of trophies on display, won for all academic subjects, that the level of education in the school is very high. Because of this high standard children of other faiths also attend the school, and we saw some Muslim parents waiting to collect their children.

Fr Yance then took us to St Ignatius Loyola School on Rempang Island, which was across a bridge from Batam. That school was very basic but again the children were clean and happy. There were four classrooms with two classes in each room. Half the group were being taught, and the other half were doing homework. Again the level of work being done was of a high standard. In one class, the 10-11 year-olds were doing maths that would be done by 15-year-old’s here in England. In another class the children sang for us. Many of the children, including some five-year-olds, come from other islands and sleep in dormitories that are, to say the least, basic, as are the washing and toilet facilities. The classrooms do not have any pictures or children’s work displayed. Religious pictures or objects are not permitted to be on display, except for a crucifix. A group of very young children gathered around us and we gave them some pencils which we had brought for them, after which they also sang for us.

We were then taken to see one of the communities where the people lived, in a collection of wooden shacks in the jungle. It was difficult to imagine how they were able live in such primitive conditions. We then drove through a Vietnamese Refugee settlement, where at one time there were 60,000 refugees. The number has now reduced but there were still a large number there. It must have been very hazardous crossing the South China Sea, and we were shown one of the boats in which they had travelled. About 16,000 of the refugees were Catholic, and they built two churches there. Beside one of them they built a shrine to Mary standing over a concrete boat, because they believed that she helped them to survive their ordeal.

The day ended with Mass in the church in the Bengkong area of Batam after which a donation of £1200, raised by the Knights of St Columba in St Albans, was presented to Fr Yance.

We all felt that the experience had been a very moving and enlightening one that had given us an insight into life in that area of the world. For us all, as with everybody, we must consider the next step………………..