THE drizzle has just cleared up in the morning mist as the children's song Tik-Tik Bunyi Hujan echoes through the small hamlet of Sakaliau in Siberut. Children on the island off the west coast of Sumatra have only recently learned to sing songs like Tik Tik Bunyi Hujan and the national anthem Indonesia Raya.

Previously only used to hunting and fishing, the children on Siberut are learning the three R's—reading, writing and `rithmetic