TODAY’S NEWSGeorge Mason GetsGreen Light to Final FourK It’s time to wear green andgold and talk about kryptonite.

That’s because the GeorgeMason Patriots made the FinalFour of the NCAA men’s basket-ball tournament on Sunday by

Green can kill Superman, andgold robs him of his super pow-ers. How appropriate.

The Fairfax university needsto win two more games to be-come national champions. ThePatriots’ next game is Saturdayin Indianapolis, Indiana, againstthe Gators of Florida.

Kimmie MeissnerAs Good as Gold

K Maryland teenager KimmieMeissner is a world champion.

The 16-year-old figure skaterfinished first in the WorldChampionships over the week-end in Canada. Fumie Suguri ofJapan was second, and Amer-ican Sasha Cohen finished third.

Next up for Kimmie: The Fall-ston High School junior is plan-ning to attend the prom thisspring in Harford County.

beating the University of Con-necticut, one of the favorites towin the national title.

Kryptonite is the only materi-al that can hurt Superman.George Mason fans like to saythe Patriots have been like kryp-tonite to the super teamsthey’ve beaten so far, includinglast year’s champ, North Caroli-na. Kryptonite comes in five col-ors, including green and gold.

BY PRESTON KERES — THE WASHINGTON POST

George Mason playerscelebrate their fourthtournament victory.

SPEAK OUTTHIS WEEK’S TOPICBig Problems

There are lots of problems inthe world today. Some of themyou read about in KidsPost;some you might talk about athome or at school. Go to www.washingtonpost.com/kidspostand tell us: K What issue are you mostconcerned about?

A. DiseaseB. The environmentC. HungerD. Terrorist attacksE. War in Iraq

Now write to us about why you’reconcerned about the issue you chose.Send your letters to KidsPost, TheWashington Post, 1150 15th St. NW,Washington, D.C. 20071. Or e-mail us atkidspost@washpost.com (with“Speakout” in the subject line). Or fax: 202-496-3780.

IMAGE SOURCE

KikiMy name is . . . This is the 10th in

a series of KidsPost Journeys around the world to show readers how children in other countries and cultures live and play. Today we JOURNEY TO INDONESIA.

JAKARTA, INDONESIA10,160 milesFROM WASHINGTON

Dolphins sleep with

one eye open.

DAILY 03-28-06 MD RE C12 CMYK

WEATHER

WRITE KIDSPOST, THE WASHINGTON POST, 1150 15TH ST. NW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20071. K E-MAIL US AT KIDSPOST@WASHPOST.COM K FAX US AT 202-496-3780. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME, AGE, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER.

C12 Tuesday, March 28, 2006 R www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost

K Flying kites: Kiki plays in theempty, rubble-strewn lot nextto his house. He can buy threesmall kites for 1,000 rupiah, orabout 10 cents. That’s his dailyallowance. KWatching TV: Kiki likes“SpongeBob SquarePants” and“Captain Subasa,” a cartoonabout a soccer player. Ani likes“Dora the Explorer.”K Fishing: He goes on a boatwith his grandfather (below) onSundays. The shrimp and fishthey catch are fried for dinner.K Family outings: On rareoccasions, the family goes tothe zoo and has a picnic.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — RahmatRiski is 9 years old and lives withhis younger sister, mother and fa-ther in a tiny, three-room home offan alley in the crowded, bustlingcity of Jakarta, the capital of Indo-nesia. Everyone calls him “Kiki.”

His sister, Nuraini, or “Ani,” is8, but she and Kiki are both in sec-ond grade because Kiki repeated ayear to catch up in reading. Bothchildren like math the best. “Be-cause it’s easy,” said Kiki with agrin.

Every weekday morning, theirfather, Abdul, walks them to theirIslamic school, called a madras-sah, about 10 minutes away. Theywalk through a series of narrow al-leys, passing small, cinderblockhouses with roofs of red brick andcorrugated (wavy) tin. Then,holding hands, they cross a busy,four-lane highway full of smoke-belching buses and zippy motor-bikes.

Though they live in one ofAsia’s largest cities, their neigh-borhood is peaceful. The alleys byKiki’s house are too narrow forcars, so there are only bicycles, afew motorbikes and vendors push-ing carts laden with steaming noo-dle soup or crispy shrimp crack-ers. Roosters roam freely, as do

stray cats. Kiki’s father is an ironsmith

who makes bed frames and fencesin a small shop run by Kiki’sgrandfather. Kiki’s uncle worksthere, too. But business has beenslow, so his grandmother helps byselling fruit and snacks from awooden cart in front of the shop.Kiki’s mother, Tarmi, stays athome. She sometimes washesclothes for other people to earnmoney.

Kiki’s family, like many peoplein Indonesia, has very little mon-ey. Their home has no running wa-ter, and Kiki bathes by pouringcold water over himself with a la-dle. Kiki and Ani carry buckets ofwater from a pump about 100yards away. Kiki’s mother cookson a kerosene stove in a tiny kitch-en, lit by a single light bulb.

But Kiki and Ani are happy.They have many friends in theirneighborhood, including theircousin, Widhiyana, who is 4. Theirgrandparents, uncle and aunt livenearby. Their family has a colortelevision in the living room,which the children can watch afterthey have done their homework.

Kiki and Ani sleep with theirmother in a bed in the only bed-room. Their father, because

there is no room in the bed, sleepson a mat in the living room.

The family, like most in Indone-sia, is Muslim. The men and boyspray at a nearby mosque every dayjust before the sun sets. Kiki’sgrandfather sometimes performsthe Muslim call to prayer, a sad,musical chant that tells people it istime to pray. The most faithfulpray five times a day. Because Kikiis still a child, he prays twice a day.(Ani doesn’t go to the mosque be-cause she is a girl; sometimes sheprays at home.)

At school, besides math andreading, Kiki studies the Koran,the Muslim holy book, and the Ar-abic alphabet. Classes begin at 9a.m. and end at noon. Then thechildren have lunch. Kiki likesfried chicken and rice. Ani wouldrather eat chocolate cookies andbananas.

“Like Grandpa,” Kiki would liketo be a muezzin (pronouncedmoo-EZZ-in), who does the call toprayer. And most of all, he wantsto be a policeman when he growsup. “They wear nice uniforms,” hesaid. “And they carry a gun and awhistle.”

— Ellen Nakashima

How Kiki Has Fun

Kiki, with his sister, Ani, likes to fly kites on a lot by his home in Jakarta.

Inside Indonesia

KIKI PHOTOS BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA AND YAYU YUNIAR FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

How many people: More than240 million, making Indonesiathe world’s fourth-biggestcountry, by population. (It’sbehind China, India and theUnited States.)

How many kids: About 70million. About 29 percent ofIndonesia’s population isyounger than 15.

How big is it: More than705,000 square miles, about21⁄2 times the size of Texas.

Capital: Jakarta, where Kiki andhis family live.

Geography: Indonesia is a

string of more than 17,500islands. About 6,000 of themhave people living there.

Languages: Bahasa Indonesianis the official language.English and Dutch are alsowidely spoken.

Religion: About 88 percent ofIndonesians are Muslim.

School: Kids ages 7 to 15 haveto go to school.

Television: There are 14televisions for every 100people in Indonesia, comparedwith 84 for every 100 peoplein the United States.

Fun facts: K There are more than 400volcanoes on Indonesia’sislands, and about 100 ofthem are still active.

K Indonesia’s islands coverabout 3,200 miles — about thedistance from San Francisco,California, to Boston,Massachusetts.

K Indonesia is home to someof the world’s most amazinganimals and plants, includingthe Komodo dragon. (You cansee a Komodo at the NationalZoo.)

Indonesia’s rupiah note.

Ani and Kiki with their grandmother and cousin, Widhiyana.

TODAY: Cloudy;rain possible.

HIGH LOW

58 42TOMORROW: Some sun. High 57.Low 44.

ILLUSTRATION BY LYDIA ROCA, 11,POTOMAC

WEATHERTRIVIA

IF YOU AVERAGEDEARTH’S TOTAL

RAINFALL, HOW MUCHWOULD EACH PLACE

RECEIVE?ANSWER: ABOUT 34 INCHES

OF RAIN A YEAR.

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