When you think of going for a surf on a Sunday, what comes to mind? Probably not witnessing a Sunday school in session, but that’s exactly what you’ll find at Serangan Beach. 

Surfboards line one side of Muslim’s beach warung, while kids fill the center. There’s little wooden tables, notebooks and pens - the children perched in the sand, ready for learning. 

Since 2021, Muslim has been running a Sunday school for the children of the local Serangan School to help teach them English.

“I saw them playing at the beach one day and my heart wanted to help them”, Muslim said. 

Its 8am, and the first task of the day is a beach clean up. Mus (as he's affectionately known) and the children walk the golden sands to collect whatever rubbish they can find. A little bit of play- then, it's time to learn.

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Mus has a well-used English grammar book as his guide. The children are alert and ready to take in as much as they can. They start with counting in unison, 1-100. Then sentences such as “I will go to the store", "they are going to the store", and so on. 

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Over the years Mus’s friends have helped him, help the kids. One friend, Paola, from Spain comes to help teach. Sitting on the sand with each student, one by one, helping them to learn this language that, in the future, can help them find jobs. 

With the tourism and hospitality sector starting to boom on Lombok, these children will require a good command of English to ensure a prosperous future.

With luxury resorts popping up everywhere, surf camps and yoga retreats, this industry will be the main breadwinner for many of the people of Lombok.

Mus is always happy to have people come down to his perfect beach oasis, sip on a fresh coconut and have a chat, his openness and generosity is rare in this busy world of ours.

During the class people come and go, but you can’t help but hang around and take stock of what’s happening. Good people, doing good things for nothing in return is a rare thing these days, so to be witness to this kind of spirit is nothing short of heartwarming. 

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Muslim checks the work of his students. Photo credit: Rebekah Parsons-King

Mus continues this work off his own back and from his own pocket. One of his biggest challenges is transport for the children to learn to swim at Longtun swimming pool, where he takes them once a month.

"Currently what I need is transportation costs for those who want to go to the swimming pool, but I don't have the money because [they] really want to go there", he said.

If you would like to help Mus and the children of Serangan School contact him here: 

+62 812-3614-2127

Instagram: Muslim_3494

Email: name.lim54804@gmail.com

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