Children are born into the world eager to learn. All too often, though, they do not have access to education. There are a number of reasons for this. Either there is no money, or the school is too far away, or the children are working to support their families, or there are not enough facilities to accommodate all children in a community. All of these apply to Sumba!

We can and must work to make basic education available to all children.

Since 1997, Indonesia has been in the grips of a severe financial crisis, and even though there has been recent improvement the government cannot support its schools.

It is now recognized that a whole generation or more will remain uneducated, thus further hindering the nation's prospects. The government acknowledges that outside aid is needed to ensure that today's children will become Indonesia's future.

In Sumba, all of the rural schools are operating at 50%, or less, of the capacity they were built for more that 20 years ago. The last time the schools were renovated was in 1995 before the Asian financial crisis began.

At that time only, one out of two or three buildings at each school, was renovated due to the limited budget available to the local government. The other buildings were left to literally rot away, and today most of the un-repaired buildings are now unsafe to use.

The result is that today thousands of children are not being educated because there is no room for them in the broken down school system. Those that are lucky enough to enter schools are learning in impoverished conditions.

They have no running water at their school, most do not have benches and chairs to study on, and all of them are attending class inbuildings with floors that are riddled with large potholes because rainwater is pouring in from the leaking roofs during the monsoon rains.

The schools are lacking in basic teaching materials such as books, paper, pen and pencils, and to make matters even worse the students are required to purchase uniforms in order to be allowed to attend classes; this is a great obstacle for many families who simply cannot afford them.

We believe that a basic education is every child's fundamental right and that children from poor families are also entitled to an education. Without a proper education or adequate resources, the people of Sumba cannot break out of the cycle of poverty.

Our work starts in West Sumba, at elementary schools near the first eco-tourism focussed Nihiwatu Resort. The owners of the resort support our program and have committed to employing no less than 95 percent of their staff from the local area.

The resort needs staff that has at least a basic education and The Sumba Foundation can help make this possible. Providing basic education is a noble and important goal, but being able to provide meaningful employment to those we help to educate is the long-term solution to helping the Sumbanese.

The elementary schools in remote districts are few and far apart, typically serving the educational needs of about 250 pupils from ten to thirty villages. Many of the children must walk three to five miles each way to school. All of the schools are in serious disrepair with major renovation required.

The Sumba Foundation is renovating the schools in a cost-efficient way. We are drilling water wells and building toilet facilities for the use of the students and teachers. The foundation is providing basic school supplies as well as the required school uniforms. Parents whose children attend high school in the provincial capital of Waikabubak can apply for school fee assistance in return for equitable products or services such as weavings or farm produce, which the foundation will donate to families who need them.

More than 50% of Sumbanese children have anemia because of poor diets. The impact of anemia on children is debilitating. A mild case can impair intellectual development and can lower a child's IQ by between 10 and 15 points. To combat this problem we distribute vitamins to the school children soon we will start to provide healthy lunches for the students. In many cases, this daily meal will be the most nutritious one that the children will have.