Sharing Happiness in Muharram 1445

Thursday October 10th 2024

Islam has so many ways to give its worshipers some peace. Helping others, feeding the poor and empathizing with the orphans are some of them. It also has certain times where doing all the good deeds is of high value. One of the most prominent times is the month of Muharram. Islam urges us to give donations to those in need in that beautiful month of Hijriyah.

This year, Al Azhar 55 and its Jamiyyah organized Muharram Charity on August 14, 2023. We visited “Panti Asuhan Balita Yayasan Gotong Royong Tegal Krapyak” and gave them some money that we collected from our students. Prior to the visit, students put 10 thousand a day on 1-10 August 2023 in the charity box that each classroom has. Aside from money, they also donated toys to the orphans.

Grade 5 co-worked to help organize the charity. They were divided into 3 groups. The first group counted the money raised everyday. The second group did the shopping. Then the third group did the distribution. The purchased items were daily needs including rice, some snacks and diapers. The total donation we raised was Rp.8.450.000,00.

The visit to “Panti Asuhan Balita Yayasan Gotong Royong Tegal Krapyak” began with a welcoming speech by the orphanage caretaker and the chairman of Jamiyyah. After that, they interacted with the children and babies. Then we had lunch and also played with them the games and some toys we just gave them.

MaasyaAllah! That was such a great experience for us. All students would donate their extra money to those who need it. They also learned to separate the money for snacking from the one for donation at a time. They paid respect, helped each other and most importantly, they could establish brotherhood with their muslim fellows. May this agenda be beneficial for all the students and teachers.

(Miss Farah)

Testimony

Prof. Dra. Hj. Suwarsih Madya, M.A., Ph.D.

Amidst the globalized situation which poses challenges of which one is a possible threat to identity, yet provides ample opportunities to excel for those who possess the prerequisites, we need to equip our children as the continuing generation with necessary competencies—affective, cognitive, psychomotor and interactive. In other words, we need to help them grow and develop into total persons and this can be achieved through the whole-child development approach which ensures the development of all potentials. In addition to this is the need for developing some competence which enables the children to communicate globally. All of this will ensure that the children will develop their citizenships both at the national and global levels. How can this ideal development be realized?

If you want to find out about how efforts are made to develop children’s whole potentials, you can come to SD Islam Al Azhar 55 Yogyakarta. Here you can see how the four-year old school has grown fast due to the stakeholders’ trust to send their children to study here. With only 54 children in the first year, this school now has 185 students. These students are educated to respect and preserve the social-cultural environment by learning the local language (Javanese, including the script) and arts (dance). Simultaneously, they certainly learn the national language (Bahasa Indonesia) and national content, which is unquestionable since it is compulsory, and English, which has now become a global lingua franca; thus, a prerequisite for successful global communication. More importantly, children in this school also learn to practise their religion consistently. So, in this school children’s identity is rooted in the local culture, with nationalism and global awareness being inherently developed together with reliogiosity.

Does the whole-child development approach at SD Islam Al Azhar still give room for children to excel? In my belief, when all their potentials are developed, children will have a greater chance to excel and I can see the truth in my belief in this primary school. In the last two years, the students have made great achievements in various competitions held at the local and national levels–gold medals in English, math and science competitions (national), silver and bronze medals in IT competitions (national), silver and bronze medals at colouring and swimming competitions (local) to mention some.

In conclusion, SD Islam Al Azhar has given evidence of the right efforts of true education to develop both intelligence and character.

Prof. DR. Budi S. Daryono, M.Agr. Sc.

Testimoni Sebagai Orang tua menyekolahkan anak Di Al-Azhar 55

Sudah menjadi kewajiban bagi orang tua untuk memberikan pendidikan yang terbaik bagi putra putrinya. Tantangan untuk mendidik anak di Era Global dan Digital pun semakin besar, kita tidak bisa lagi membendung segala perubahan yang begitu cepat terjadi, dan harus mempersiapkan anak-anak supaya bisa survive dan sholeh/sholehah tentunya. Saat ini dunia bagaikan kampung, dimana tidak ada batas-batas untuk melakukan transaksi kehidupan, untuk itu anak harus bisa berkomunikasi dengan bahasa universal sebagai modal utama. Disamping itu, pendidikah Ahlak dan Aqidah harus diberikan secara dini sebagai dasar anak dalam menghadapi gejolak gelombang kehidupan. Atas pertimbangan tersebutlah, kami selaku orang tua memilih untuk menyekolahkan putra kami tercinta Hikari di Sekolah Islam, yang menggunakan dua bahasa pengantar, yaitu Al-Azhar 55.

Prof. DR. Budi S.Daryono, M.Agr. Sc.