Faces of FIUTS: Meet Farrah

Faces of FIUTS is a new campaign that collects personal stories from individuals who are part of our work. This week, meet Farrah!

Where are you from?
I was born, raised and now working as a high-school teacher in Nickerie, the second largest city in Suriname. My roots stem from Indonesian immigrants, who were brought here by the Dutch, to work at the plantations. I am proud to be part of Suriname, a country that gives us enough room for our multi-cultural heritage.

What's your FIUTS story?
I came to FIUTS as a mentor for the Youth Ambassadors Program for the Caribbean (YAC) in 2016. FIUTS has opened my eyes in student-involvement and volunteerism, two subjects that haven’t been developed yet in my country. I found it amazing, the way FIUTS is working for the students, trough the students. Instead of treating youngsters as inexperienced, FIUTS is treating them with mutual understanding and respect.

How will you change the world?
I live in a country where it is part of our culture that adults don’t need to listen to children. As a dean and a teacher in Basic Life Skills, I want to help change that perspective by showing my fellow teachers that we need to start having a different approach towards students. We can do that by involving them in activities for the community, giving them a sense of freedom to take action, trusting their creative abilities and guiding them through the process in order to help shape them into better human beings, which will eventually result in a better citizens.

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Farrah Kartosentiko is a teacher in Suriname. She was an adult participant in the 2016 Youth Ambassadors Program with the Caribbean.

Faces of FIUTS is published every two weeks on the FIUTS blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Read past posts collected here!

Interested in being featured as a Face of FIUTS? Contact Ellen Frierson at ellen@fiuts.org.