At the conclusion of their service assignments students all returned to Yogyakarta for some wrap-up activities that included project presentations to each other. Projects covered a wide range of topics, including Indonesian plants, food, economics, social issues, environmental issues, and education issues.
Ron and Sally Jo concluded their visits to service locations with day trips to two facilities on the outskirts of Yogyakarta. Rumah Impian (Dream House) serves street children by providing school fees, offering after school activities, and providing lodging. Children are sent to the streets by their parents to earn…
This past weekend Ron and Sally Jo visited six students located in the region of Kulon Progo, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours drive from Yogyakarta. They are in 4 locations spaced about 10 km apart and all are connected to the Catholic Parish centered in Boro. The first stop…
This week Ron and Sally Jo began visits to service locations. The first stop was to an interfaith organization, Interfidei, where Jace is assisting with the production of a video of their activities. Interfidei began in 1991 and focuses on interfaith dialog among youth because they are the future. They…
This week we went on our last two field trips, had our last group meeting and lunch at Rumah Goshen, had evaluation sessions with our SST leaders, Ron & Sally Jo, and with our language teachers, had a farewell celebration with our host families, said our goodbyes to them and…
We were introduced to the process of farming rice by literally getting our hands and feet dirty doing the planting of seedlings. Plants are placed carefully at equal intervals so that cultivators can pass between them in multiple directions. We also had an opportunity to experience plowing a rice paddy…
Following a lecture on Education in Indonesia by Ibu Suwarsih, we made a visit to a non-traditional school where we visited classes and interacted with the students. Rather than “teachers” they have “facilitators” for each class and students work on a variety of projects that they are interested in. Some…
We embarked on a 4-day field trip to several sites in the northern part of Central Java. Our first day included many hours in a bus that took us first to the Dieng Plateau and then around to the north side of Dieng for our first night. We enjoyed the…
Our second week began with visits to two massive iconic temples from Indonesia’s Hindu and Buddhist past. Borobudur was built about 760 AD and Prambanan was constructed about 100 years later. Although Borobudur is mainly Buddhist, it includes many Hindu elements which had entered the country much earlier, as well…
This week began with an orientation to the campus of Duta Wacana Christian University and some of the surrounding area. Regular language classes also started. Our first field trip was to the Keraton (Sultan’s palace) and Tamansari (royal water gardens). The current Sultan is also the governor of the Special…
