Regretting fate is useless. Trying and working hard with prayer is the way to a more beautiful future.
Helping his mother in the stall, selling phone credits, all the way to driving a motorcycle taxi, Ahmad Ruyani had done it all. In terms of income, he felt that what he earned was enough. The alumnus of MAN Cikarang high school graduated in 2007 was not able to freely move like other youth. The story began after Ahmad graduated high school. His mother asked Ahmad to get some guava fruit growing in his house. “I fell from a height of about 5 meters, because of my carelessness. I fell and landed sitting down, so my hip bones cracked,” Ahmad recalled the event back in 2007.
After the incident, I was taken to the hospital. “From the x-rays, I knew that my hip bones were broken. It should be operated,” said Ahmad. “But, because it was expensive, I did not do it. My dad had no money, so I just underwent treatments with traditional medicine and had my hip massaged,” he added.
Time passed, and months later, Ahmad did not show any sign of recovering. “After three months with no progress, I finally stopped the treatment,” said Ahmad. Because of his frequent pain, Ahmad ended up staying more at home. But he really wanted to work. Fortunately, the mother had a small shop in the house that sold fried food and snacks. “I helped keep the shop with my brother from 2007 to 2012,” he said. Bright hope began to appear when the father finally approved his sister’s suggestion for Ahmad to be operated on. “After surgery in March 2012, I felt much better, even though my posture was still not perfect,” said Ahmad.
Learning new things will not go in vain, someday it will be useful for our lives
“And what made me happier was when I got Rp500.000 from my brother to sell phone credits. Then, I made a small kiosk with my father near my house. After that, I was given a capital of Rp3.000.000 from my father,” Ahmad continued.
Looking for New Things
Although his income was enough to live, Ahmad was not satisfied. Something was troubling him. He wanted to go back to school. Around the year of 2013, Ahmad’s dream came true thanks to Rumah Belajar Samsung managed by Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB). “Once Rumah Belajar was established, around 2013, there was a social gathering. The goal was to invite teenagers and young people to attend courses in Rumah Belajar. But I ended up learning about Rumah Belajar Samsung from my friend, Buchori Muslim. He was the one who asked me to study in Rumah Belajar,” Ahmad recounted his introduction to Rumah Belajar. After being informed, the ninth child of 12 siblings from H Abdul Choer and the late Hj Nurjanah enrolled himself in Rumah Belajar. “I am the second generation. The courses started from May to September 2014,” he said.
The reason to join the course was to utilize vocational skills to become more independent. “There were mobile repair service as well as home appliances repair courses for refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. In addition, there were computer network service and computer network courses,” said the single man whose hobby is fishing. “But, I chose to learn about mobile phones, because I already had a little bit of experience. When I was working at the phone credit kiosk, I learned about mobile phones from Google,” Ahmad explained.
Eager to study, Ahmad enthusiastically participated in the course. There was not the slightest intention of skipping his classes in his mind. Ahmad absorbed all the knowledge gained from his teachers in Rumah Belajar. “Actually, the schedule was only twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, from 1pm to 5pm; four hours in each meeting. But, I came to Rumah Belajar almost every day,” said the man who was born on August 24, 1989. “I really did not want to miss a lesson. Instead, I just wanted to quickly master the science of mobile phone repair services and deepened or repeated the lessons that had been given. So I never skipped classes,” Ahmad explained.
Armed with knowledge from Rumah Belajar, Ahmad felt a tremendous change in his life. “I felt that I learned so much from Rumah Belajar. What did not exist in Google, I got the answer from my teachers in Rumah Belajar,” said Ahmad. “In my experience, basic knowledge could be learned from Google. But, if you wanted to excel, you must take on some courses,” he continued.
In addition, Ahmad added that interest and seriousness were crucial. “In my first course, we were a group of 25 people; 60 percent male, and 40 percent female,” said Ahmad. “However, over time, some begin to resign. Starting with the girls first, and before long, the boys also stopped going to class,” he continued.
I still have many dreams, among others, adding more counters, so I can accommodate Rumah Belajar graduates who are still unemployed.
Ahmad suspected that his friends left because they were not really interested and not up for the challenge. “In practice, we were challenged to disassemble mobile phones. Of course, I was nervous. I was worried that the mobile phone would be broken, while they were not even mine,” he said with a smile. “Yes, you must be brave. My teacher also said ‘it’s okay, if we don’t try, we will never know.’ And so I was confident to practice. But, I broke two mobile phones in the process, “he admitted.
Now Ahmad opens a mobile phone repair service near his house, in addition to selling phone credits. Of course his income is much higher than when he was just starting out. He can save some money, buy a motorcycle, and help his family. “I still want to open more counters, in order to help my friends from Rumah Belajar,” he said wisely. “In addition, I will follow the home appliance course to add knowledge and open up a new business,” said Ahmad with great enthusiasm. Ahmad only has one regret. “My mother passed away in 2009, so she cannot see me who is already independent. However, I believe, mother would be happy if she was here to see me now,” he said.