Child sponsorship update from Semarang
15/01/2008
An update from Summer 2007
Dear Friends,
We are happy to meet you again, if only by letter! Now, what’s new at the SOS Children’s Village Semarang?
Last March, thirty children had a unique experience - but let’s start at the beginning! The cruise-ship MS Europa lay at anchor at the city’s harbour Tanjung Mas for a day. After visiting the Village with his crew and passengers, the captain kindly invited the children to visit the ship. First, they were asked for dinner at the bar. There was live music; Deni, one of our boys, contributed a beautiful song and got much applause from the friendly passengers. Afterwards the children had the chance to tour the eleven-storey ship. No, it was not the bridge that impressed them most, impressive as it was, but the swimming pool. (Why would you need a pool, with all this water around?!) The children had a great time, but soon the ship had to leave. Dusk had fallen, and the kids stood at the pier, gazing at the cruise-ship now adorned with many little lights. Some passengers were waving good-bye with their white bath towels, as the ship slowly sailed away.
To entertain guests and as a hobby for young people who enjoy singing, a youth choir has been established. It consists of girls from the SOS Village itself and of boys from the SOS Youth Community, all of them at senior high school level. The choir is led by the youth leader of the Community and even has a repertoire of several quite difficult songs in English.
Although Semarang is a port city, the mountains are not far away. So our school children are used to hiking and camping. Towards the end of last year, two outdoor events were organised. The first one, named Camping with Fighting Spirit, was designed for boys only and involved 27 youths from Semarang and Jakarta who were camping in the woods of Ungaran for three days. The program aimed at training the boys to meet challenges and overcome obstacles by creativity and perseverance. This is necessary, because it is a fact that our young men, once ‘outside’, are quick to surrender when encountering problems, at school and in particular at work. - The other event was a hike on Mount Merbabu, in which 12 boys and 5 girls from the SOS Youth Community and from the SOS Village respectively, took part. Mount Merbabu is one of the many volcanoes in Central Java, rising 3142 m above sea level and presently dormant. Alas, their plan to climb all the way up to the summit had to be abandoned, due to bad weather. Safety first! Nevertheless, the teenagers enjoyed the magnificent view at Post 5 near the crater during a clear spell. They vowed, “Merbabu, we’ll be back!”
The boys at the Village like taking care of animals. Guided by their educator, they made three fish ponds, a goat-pen and a rabbit-hutch in the back of the Village garden. Two of the ponds have been filled with fry of lele, a kind of freshwater catfish, which develop well. When fully grown, these popular fish will enrich the SOS families’ meals. The boys also tried to breed ornamental koi fish in the third pond, as a friend had donated 200 little ones. Up to now, due to heavy rains, the spawn did not hatch, though. The goat-pen houses a she-goat with her two kids. The children love to play with them. They are eager to cut grass right after school and compete to feed the three rabbits which they like to carry around!
Dear Friends, on behalf of SOS Semarang, we thank you for sharing our sorrows and filling our needs. Children, mothers and co-workers join us in sending warmest greetings.
Yours sincerely,
SOS DESA TARUNA INDONESIA
Gregor H. Nitihardjo
National Director
Sponsor's update from Lembang
Child sponsor update from Summer 2007
Dear Friends,
We are happy to meet you again, if only by letter! Now, what’s new at the SOS Children’s Village Lembang?
Schoolchildren can choose from a great variety of regular activities, and there are special ones as well. Regular activities include computer training; sports like karate, football, and others; arts like choir singing, painting, ballet, percussion, and telalu (an ‘orchestra’ using discarded objects like bottles, cans, and the like). Boys do garden work and take care of a few cows; skills for young girls consist of creative handicrafts (they not only make clothes but also bags, dolls, greeting cards, and other pretty things) and of preparing all kinds of cakes and snacks plus collecting and arranging recipes. Children also learn about their respective religion, and the older ones, starting from level 6, gather five nights a week to do their school work and prepare for exams under the guidance of one of the educators. Moreover, both children and teenagers have regular discussions with their educators about topics of concern to them.
Special activities complement regular ones. Actually, the SOS Football Cup has been organized since 2002, thus becoming a regular annual event - at least for the Subdistrict of Lembang, with 37 elementary schools taking part! On the other hand, SOS children also like to join events organized by others. Eight girls and boys of different beliefs and ethnic origins got a chance to participate in a 3-day inter-religious Youth Camp aimed at fostering understanding among young people of different background. Interaction without prejudice is very important for the future of this country (and the world!). In fact, SOS Lembang, where children and adults of three religions live together as a big family, represents a model of this harmony, today.
Furthermore, six girls and boys joined a two-day Workshop on Wayang Suket at the culture centre of the Bandung Institute of Technology. Wayang are puppets usually made out of leather or wood and used for traditional drama performances in Java and Bali. The wayang suket, however, uses puppets made of grass. The workshop was led by a professional dalang or puppeteer. He taught the children, step by step, how to create this special kind of puppet and how to play it. A three-day Workshop on Brazilian Percussion, held in the same place, was attended by five boys who had already been playing percussion instruments at the Village. Only, they had simply hit their instruments; now they learnt new techniques, and how to listen to the other players in order produce a good ensemble.
Occasional visits or brief study tours broaden our mind and they encourage and motivate us in our routine activities! Like the recent visit of teenage boys to home industry centres around Tasikmalaya, a town in the south of West Java. In one particular village, practically all the inhabitants are involved in the production of wooden slippers. Our youth could watch the entire process of production; the treatment of the wood, its decoration, and the fixing of the leather straps. These slippers are a popular souvenir for tourists in our area, but most are exported. In another home industry centre, the boys could see all kinds of handicraft typical for the region, like painted umbrellas, wooden puppets, and goods made of bamboo or leather, as well as plaited ones. Most of the things are made by hand with simple tools and there¬fore inspiring for our boys, who asked many questions. Whereas 13 young girls took a day-trip to Bogor to visit an organic farm cultivating vegetables and pineapples. They were given a guided tour where they could observe the stages of crop growing, starting with the cultivation of seedlings to harvesting and packaging, even the process of making of compost. We wanted the girls to understand the idea of organic farming in addition to encouraging their sense of business, in particular with respect to horticulture, which can be done on a small scale as well.
Even our nursery school kids have a special program once in a while! On a free day recently, they were taken to Bandung for a competition in painting printed pictures in a creative way. The purpose was not, to win (we didn’t) but to give the kids a chance to gather with a great number of peers and adults. We were happy to see that they painted without hesitating and were not shy in their interactions with the strangers. Afterwards, the children enjoyed looking at an exhibition on the Indonesian Flora and Fauna held in the same building. Another day, they visited Bandung’s famous Museum of Geology to take their first glimpse at the History of Life. They continued to the Post Museum with its interesting history and collections.
And finally, dear Friends, on behalf of SOS Lembang, we thank you for sharing our sorrows and filling our needs. Children, mothers and co-workers join us in sending heartfelt greetings.
Relevant Countries: Indonesia.