Each year, the school takes a week to do a service trip as part of the International Baccalaureate program. Students are required to complete a Service as Action and each school shapes this differently. Our school creates a service trip for the entire grade level from 7-10. Each year the groups go away for longer and go further. Since I have a grade 9 homeroom this year, I went with the entire grade 9 class (60 students) to the island of Sumatra.
From Jakarta, it is a mere 26-minute flight to Lampung, the shortest flight I have ever experienced. For a girl used to 12 plus hour flights, this felt like a mere blink of an eye. We hardly got up to altitude before they were telling us to put our seats up for landing.
Once there, we first had our spiritual retreat at a hotel in Lampung, then we headed out to two different SLH schools, schools run by the same organization as the one I teach at, but for local kids. English is only taught as a second language and not used as a language of instruction, but I will get to that later.
Our students were there to interact with the school and its students. They played games, taught lessons, and painted the outside walls of the school with a beautiful new coat of paint. I can’t brag on my students enough for the patience they showed. These kids are used to air conditioning and modern bathrooms. They worked hard and they painted the outside walls so much faster than they were expected to that the school was pleasantly surprised and pleased they got so much done.
The sun was out and in full force just a few degrees south of the equator. And despite wearing sunscreen and always being under an awning or my umbrella, I still managed to burn on my face and arms. This led to an interesting conversation with my students where they wanted to know if I could get tanner as they did in the sun. Most of Indonesian decent, they told me, don’t really burn but tan a darker shade. I told them I could tan a little but mostly I burned and it wasn’t fun (my skin is still peeling a week and a half later).
But back to the school. The English teacher there was excited to have me come to his third-grade class. The students were so happy to get to practice their English skills with a native speaker and wanted to ask me all sorts of questions about my life in the states from what I ate for breakfast to why I came to Indonesia to teach. They were so excited to get a picture with me (shown above).
Their teacher was so kind and thanked me many times over for coming. I can’t help but feel admiration for those teachers. Teaching is really a calling for those in small-town Indonesia. They have so little to work with and yet are so passionate about educating the next generation. They are so grateful for what they have and enjoy their work. I was humbled by their spirit as I too enjoy all the comforts of a modern world at my own school. I am quick to get so upset when the WiFi doesn’t work or the schedule is interrupted. I think I needed this little dose of perspective.
Indonesian words:
Susu: milk
Sate: meat on a stick often served with peanut sauce
Tempe chips: chips made from soybeans
Pop Mie: an instant noodle
-Rachael
P.S.
If you are wondering, I did indeed create the Merida dress over the Christmas holiday. Here is the link to the making of video in case you are interested: https://youtu.be/cPxl085_KJc
