Hello!
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three months since my last blog post, and that we’re now halfway through the year. It’s crazy how quickly time flies! At the same time, though, it feels as though I’ve been here much longer. I’d say that’s a good sign, though, and shows that I’ve settled in completely.
Well, where shall I start? Now that I’m sitting here at my desk thinking about what to write, I realise that in my first blog post, I promised to talk about my work and daily life in the next one. Let’s start with that.
First, my work. Since the start of the second term, I’ve been going to the junior high school four times a week instead of three – the same school that most of the children from the children’s home attend. It’s a very small school with just three year groups: Years 7, 8 and 9. Many pupils come from other children’s homes in Singaraja because the school doesn’t charge high fees like other schools in the area do.
I assist Miss Juni with the English lessons in all three classes. Sometimes I have more to do and lead the entire lesson, and sometimes I just assist her. Sometimes it goes very well, and sometimes it doesn’t quite work out as I’d imagined. It’s often fun, but it can be really stressful every now and then, especially in Year 9 where there are 40 pupils.
The biggest differences compared to German schools are probably the school uniform (on Thursdays, everyone wears traditional Balinese clothing), the morning prayers said according to the respective religion, and the daily playing of the national anthem (at least at the start).
One of the major challenges in my work is preparing the lessons. Sometimes I come up with good ideas, but other times I’m at a loss. Thankfully, I have a mum who’s a primary school teacher, so I often ask her for advice. If you’re reading this, Mum, thank you!
In addition to my work at school, I give English tutoring sessions for Years 7–9 at the children’s home from Monday to Friday after lunch. During these sessions, I usually review what they’ve learnt at school, help with homework and expand their vocabulary. This approach works quite well, but the children are often tired or just don’t feel like doing English, which I can totally understand. I wouldn’t either if I had to get up at 4 am! That’s why I always try to make things a bit more fun.
A daily routine has developed around my work, much like in Germany. In my free time, I go to the gym, try out Indonesian cafés, and spend time with the children. Just like in Germany, some days are exciting, some are just the same as always, and sometimes they’re even boring.
Until recently, I was the only volunteer at the children’s home. At the start of November, three volunteers from the Netherlands arrived and only flew back home on 20 January. After two months on my own, it was really nice to meet people in the same situation as me in November. They had come to Bali for a three-month internship as part of their nursing studies. Their main task was to support projects at the children’s home with funds they had raised beforehand. More volunteers are due to arrive in April.
Generally speaking, there’s always something going on at the children’s home. There’s always someone to play games with among the 50 children, and you might bump into them at night while you’re on your way to the toilet picking mangoes from the trees. Guests also come almost every week. These include various church members, schools from Denpasar, officials from the Buleleng regional government and even sponsors from Australia. All sorts.
The number of visitors was particularly high in the run-up to Christmas. It felt as though there were visitors here almost every day. Okay, perhaps not that often. They mainly brought lots of food and presents for the children. But the run-up to Christmas was hectic anyway, with everyone preparing for the upcoming celebrations. I prepared small gifts for the children and the staff, too. After writing 60 cards and wrapping Haribo and Nimm2 sweets (some of which ended up in my mouth), Christmas suddenly arrived. Just before that, I went shopping for traditional Balinese clothing with Aylin, Fleur, Gwenn (the volunteers from the Netherlands) and a few children. For men, this consists of a sorong (a kind of long skirt), a shirt (often white) and an udeng (a headdress similar to a headband). As Bali is the only Indonesian island where the majority of the population is Hindu, traditional clothing is primarily associated with religion. However, in Bali, it is also closely linked to the island’s culture, which is why it is worn by Christians too. Once we were all dressed up, we were ready to start the Christmas celebrations.
On 21 December, we all went to church together, as we do every Sunday. However, this service was quite similar to a Christmas Eve service as I know it from Germany. The church was packed; a nativity play and various other performances were put on, including many choral pieces. Although I had felt a little homesick in the run-up to Christmas and had struggled to get into the festive spirit (mainly due to the heat!), this service changed all that. When ‘Silent Night’ was sung in Indonesian, it was perfect.
The following Monday was the big Christmas party at the children’s home, which was attended by all the children’s parents. People from the church and various teachers were also invited. So it was a full house. The children had started rehearsing dances and songs, and building the nativity scene, many weeks beforehand. Of course, we volunteers couldn’t just sit on the sidelines, so we came up with a dance to an Indonesian Christmas carol. As before, the main part of the Christmas party was a service with lots of performances. Then, presents were handed out to the children, after which we all shared a delicious meal together. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas party where everyone had a great time.
Afterwards, the holidays began and the children went home to their families. For those wondering, most of the children in the children’s home have parents who are often unable to adequately provide for them, particularly with regard to education.
A friend from Germany came to visit me for the Christmas holidays, so we could travel together. However, she didn’t arrive until the 26th, so I still wanted to go to church in Singaraja on Christmas Eve. However, things turned out quite differently, as I ended up spending Christmas Eve in hospital with dengue fever. It really went pear-shaped! This is the first time I haven’t been at home for Christmas, and I’m spending Christmas Eve in another country. To make matters worse, I ended up in hospital. Instead of church and ‘Silent Night’ sung in Indonesian, I had blood tests and an IV drip. Had someone told me beforehand, I would have been more diligent with the mosquito repellent. At least the hospital food was significantly better than in Germany, but that’s not saying much. Somehow, though, I was lucky again. My blood test results had improved by 25 December, so I was discharged after two nights. Fortunately, we didn’t have to cancel our holiday; it was just delayed a bit. By New Year’s Eve, I was back to my old self.
Time flew by far too quickly. On 9 January, I had to say goodbye again as I was leaving for an interim seminar in Sulawesi. To be precise, our seminar took place in Makassar, the capital of Sulawesi. Together with volunteers from VEM and the Steyler Mission Sisters, we spent five lovely days there. Among other things, we travelled to a fishing village to visit an EMS seaweed project. We set out to sea in small boats that could easily be described as nutshells. Overall, it was good to share experiences and discuss the challenges we face. After the seminar, I spent a few more days in Bantimurung National Park with a couple of other volunteers.
I’ve now been back at the children’s home for two weeks. Now that I’m ‘on my own’ again, I’ve settled back into daily life quite quickly – much faster than I would have thought possible after a three-week ‘holiday’.
In the meantime, I’ve moved rooms. I now have a much better bed and even an en-suite bathroom. Don’t worry, I’ve put up my mosquito net too, as I definitely want to avoid getting dengue again. I’ve also hired a scooter because it’s essential for getting around Indonesia. With the scooter, I’m more mobile and can explore more easily. I’m also determined to improve my Indonesian – to be honest, there’s still plenty of room for improvement!
So there’s plenty to keep me busy for the second half of my stay. You’ll find out how I’m getting on with my Indonesian in my next blog post.
Sampai jumpa!
Hannes
This text was automatically translated using an AI-powered translation system.
