Adult illiteracy in Indonesia is dropping, but one
region has almost a million adults who cannot read. In central
Java, the DAC NEWS meets one man and his horse who are helping
improve access to books.
For a formerly wild horse that barely reaches shoulder-height on
an adult man, Luna is an unlikely figure to help improve literacy
rates in Indonesia.
Luna is looked after by Ridwan Sururi, 42, in the village of
Serang, in the Purbalingga region of Java island.
It is a rural, tropical area, lying on the edge of one of
Indonesia's most active volcanoes, Mount Slamet.
In a region dotted by villages, Mr Sururi - and Luna - have
become essential links between communities in recent months.
In January, Mr Sururi started a mobile library called
Kudapustaka - meaning 'horse library' in Indonesian.
He travels between villages with books stored in boxes balanced
on Luna's back.
He visits schools three times a week - every Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday. Sometimes he brings along his daughter, Indriani
Fatmawati.
Children and villagers do not have to pay anything to borrow the
books and Mr Sururi has not looked to make money from the
scheme.
"I love horses, and I want this hobby to bring benefit to
people," he told BBC Indonesia.
The idea for Kudapustaka came from Nirwan Arsuka a fellow horse
enthusiast and friend of Mr Sururi's. "He asked me: Can we help
society through our hobby? I said I was interested, but I didn't
know how."
"Then, he had this idea to create a mobile library using horses.
I liked the idea, but sadly I didn't have any books. So, he sent me
boxes of books."
According to Unesco, Indonesia has made great strides in
reducing adult illiteracy in recent years, bringing down adult
illiteracy down from 15.4m in 2004 to 6.7m in 2011.
However, Unesco says there are more than 977,000 illiterate
adults in central Java, Ridwan's region.
As a professional horse caretaker, Mr Sururi does not own any of
his own animals. So did he ask permission to use the horse as a
mobile library? "I haven't," he said, laughing.
"The owner lives far away from this village and hasn't visited
the horses for a long time. I am a bit sad about that."
Of the three horses he is paid to look after, Mr Sururi picked
Luna as his companion.
"It was a wild horse, but I tamed it. Luna has never kicked or
bitten anybody, and is very friendly when surrounded by
children."
He said he wished more people would donate books to his scheme.
"Children here love comics and story books.
"Adults, on the other hand, need inspirational and how-to books,
like how to farm, that kind of thing."
Mr Sururi dreams of one day owning his own Kudapustaka horse -
and a real library too.
"I hope I can have a small library in front of my house," he
says. "But I know it is only a dream."