Wae Nakeng Primary School Opens New Rainbow Reading Gardens Library

The Rainbow Reading Gardens library located at the Wae Nakeng primary state school was the first of the 8 new libraries that were about to be opened within the week. The official ceremony took place on October 26 and was attended by the Rainbow Reading Gardens founder and team, the West Manggarai head of youth, sports and education department, Magol Marten, teachers and parents of the students.

Students were waiting with brimming enthusiasm for the arrival of the Rainbow Reading Gardens team while parents and teachers were preparing for the ceremony. The drive from Labuan Bajo to the school took about 2 hours and throughout the drive you could feel the excitement of the team building up. After many months of briefing and preparation, the opening ceremony was finally there. We were ready to pick the fruits of their labor.

The opening ceremony was marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony by Rainbow Reading Gardens founder, Nila Tanzil, and Magol Marten. It became Rainbow Reading Gardens 30th library since it’s first establishment in 2009. Sometimes it’s still hard to believe that what started as a small idea to help a few children in Flores could continue to expand 6 years later. With the assistance of Room to Read, Rainbow Reading Gardens has successfully distributed 2000 books for the 420 students in the Wae Nakeng primary school.

The opening ceremony was very festive and filled with many attractions performed by the students. Some students read poems, others danced, while a group of student performed a short play. The talent and desire to learn were reflected in the delivery of their attraction, adding motivation for the team to continue to improve the reading conditions in the region. We were also very touched to see how the principal of the school, Nikodemus Soda and Hiro, the librarian, show their impeccable commitment from the beginning to end.