ONE day in August 1934, a letter arrived from Batavia. The sender was Soegiarti, Maria’s friend from her college days in Leiden. The letter contained an offer: inviting Maria to become a teacher at a Muhammadiyah school in Batavia. The letter arrived just as Maria’s contract as a temporary employee in Cirebon Regency was coming to an end.
“Soegiarti sent me a letter. She offered me a teaching position at a Muhammadiyah school. She already knew me and she was familiar with my character,” Maria told Dewi Fortuna Anwar, who interviewed her.
Soegiarti had once shared a boarding house with Maria at Witte Single 25. She was studying to become a teacher in order to earn her hoofdacte diploma, a kind of certification to become a school principal. In Batavia, Soegiarti taught at a Muhammadiyah secondary school. Maria didn't turn down Soegiarti’s offer because the opportunity was a perfect fit for her. Mohammad Achmad, Maria’s father, who was the regent of Kuningan at the time, gave her permission to go to Batavia. “My father was quite progressive. So, he simply allowed me to do as I wished,” Maria said.
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