Rising to New Heights

For many weeks now I have been trying to climb one of the three coconut trees in the backyard of my house in the suburb of Malalayang, Manado. They all stand around 15 metres tall and leave me feeling very small and insignificant. Each time I try to reach the top, I get around half way up and begin to look down. As I look down, fear takes hold of me and my knees and feet begin to shake, and my palms become sweaty. I look up and see another 8 metres are needed to reach my goal: a fresh, young coconut. I decline the challenge to continue and begin my descent.

At my house are 6 males and 5 females. One boy, Salam, is a 17 year old with leprosy. He cannot climb the trees because he has deformed feet. Another, Onald cannot because he also has a problem with his feet. The other two, are both not strong enough to climb the trees. That leaves Meldy, the only male who is able to collect our prized coconuts to enjoy and used for a variety of meals: drinking, oil for cooking and milk for yellow rice and pumpkin and rice porridge. Today, Meldy is leaving for his home in the Island of Halmahera. Thus, today I woke up with a greater sense of responsibility for climbing the three giant monoliths.

Before I began my ascent, being a man who believes that there is more to what we can see and touch, I decided to begin the day seeking spiritual insights from the Bible. The section I read were some words from Jesus who said: “I assure you that if you believe and do not doubt, you will even be able to do what I have done to this fig tree.” I could have laughed; it was as if this story was speaking to the direct challenge before me. I had to rid myself of doubts and fear and have faith I could reach the top. Instead of allowing this to strengthen me, the fear began to grip me as I thought “I can’t do this.”

I began my ascent. I reached 7 metres to the place where the footholds are a little smaller. My feet began to ache. I looked down. Fear began to rise within me. I looked up and saw the goal. I continued. Swapping my feet on a small hold I began to spiral around the trunk as I continued to climb. 10 metres, 11 metres, only 3 more to go. Getting closer my confidence grew and I began to celebrate victory. I got up to the top.

Celebrating victory I almost forgot where I was and the fact that I still had to get down! I twisted 3 coconuts and watched as they plummeted to the ground and gave off a deep thud. When I finally got to the bottom I was told by my friends that the three coconuts were already old and unable to be used for drinking and eating; only for cooking. Despite my apparent failure I chose to dwell on the fact that I made it to the top and achieved one more step in identifying more with the people of North East Indonesia.

Personal Journey with Manly-Manado

I first got involved with Manly-Manado Community Partnership in 2005. At that time I was working as a Youth Pastor at Seaforth Baptist Church. When I heard about the vision all I could see were numerous positives. It provided the opportunity for me to connect the young people in my care with people from a different culture and context. Not only that, but it provided an opportunity to link them with other young people in the local Manly community to unite across denominations and schools, another form of primitive tribalism! Essentially, I was inspired because M-M offered something uniquely different to other charity initiatives focusing on the distribution of money to meet needs. In contrast, building authentic global and local relationships was at its core.

Through Manly-Manado I have been able to use my skills as a teacher and communicator in local schools and churches. Each week I would teach at Balgowlah Boys in lunch time for boys who wanted to do more than just live a normal life. I was constantly amazed that they would come each week and even without providing junk food as an incentive! One of the highlights was seeing 14 Bally Boys respond in a practical way by participating in the M-M walk. Together they raised over $2000! At St Paul’s Catholic College I gave a few year group presentations and was very happy to meet staff and students respond in practical ways.

Through M-M I have developed many new friendships with people in the Manly community across church and school denominations. It has increased my desire for community and a community that is active in alleviating very real problems. I have become aware of the subtle forms of poverty that exists in Manly: an excessive busyness preventing genuine community and resulting in weariness, loneliness and isolation.

On a personal level I am now equally concerned in matters big and small of global responsibility. Some people may think I’m crazy, but in Australia I will never accept a plastic bag from a shop with the knowledge that I have hundreds at home, and that they pose an environmental impact in the long term and already cause many problems in our waters. Usually I bring a green bag, so it’s often a funny sight watching me juggle $40 worth of groceries in my hands! In this example, I believe that making a decision and sticking to it is what’s important. In big matters, fair trade is important to me. I am now content to live on less. I don’t need to eat out as much, or keep buying new clothes. I would rather give money to others in real need. Beyond myself, I have been excited by the way churches have united under this vision of community partnership and begun to work together, share resources and support one another.

The decision to go to Manado was quite simple really. I have become increasingly frustrated by the harsh inequalities there are in the world and want to do something more than simply writing a cheque. I have a strong conviction that ridding inhumane inequalities present in society was something close to Jesus’ heart. He continually demonstrated this challenging the rich and powerful, and siding with the poor, uneducated and powerless. Complementing this growing conviction was the gift of a background in the Indonesian language, studying at High School and University, and the opportunity to join Ian Freestone on a trip in April 2004.

Upon meeting people face to face in their daily lives and seeing how profoundly different to mine, I was aware I had won the lottery of latitude. Consequently, I have become genuinely thankful for my life. Furthermore, I didn’t want to walk away from these very real people and live with my head in the sand in the insular peninsula. My response was not motivated by obligation, but was driven by the knowledge that with freedom there is responsibility.

Since being in Manado I have become increasingly challenged by the mobility and seemingly endless opportunities that I have, in stark contrast with the lack of mobility and opportunities for people here. Living side by side these people I am very thankful for the opportunities I have been given, and simply want to open the doors of opportunity to those who are not fortunate enough to be given them. I am constantly aware that money is not the solution, but that changing my heart is.

As I continue to live here I hope to be continually challenged and to strive towards bridging inequalities in education. I hope education in schools continues in Manly as I endeavour to write a curriculum and generate support from schools in Manado. Over time I hope that relationships will be established: school to school, church to church, council to council.

The potential for this model to be replicated is huge; imagine 50 community partnerships like this were started by 2015! This, I believe, would be a great step towards the MDGs vision for the eradication of extreme poverty by 2015. Furthermore, community partnership builds a foundation of global education and understanding to prevent ignorance, prejudice and miscommunication to cause divisions and escalating problems from this. I believe that cross-cultural education and communication is a fundamental building block for a safe and secure global community.

I believe the Manly-Manado movement offers people in Manly a unique opportunity to be involved in something to tangibly connect with people from another culture and context in a long-term effort to eradicate both the obvious forms in Manado and the subtle forms in Manly. Together, we our hearts can be transformed through cross-cultural relationship. Together with the community in Manado we can improve the quality of our lives and ensure a greater global future.

Sengkanaung: One in Heart

On Friday, 27 June, the 'Sengkanaung' Community Education Resource Centre was officially opened. Present were the local council leaders, staff and board of Bridge of Hope and many children and adults from the community of Sumompo. Sengkanuang is a word from the language of Sangihe, a collection of Islands to the north of Manado. The majority of the residents in Sumompo are from Sangihe, and thus the name reflects their culture and background. The word means One in Heart, which is a fitting title for the aims of this education resource centre. The name was chosen by local 13 year old student Meylan Papona, who is very excited about what this means to her. I asked Meylan two questions:

Will: “Why are you excited about Sengkanaung?”
Meylan: “I’m excited that every child has the opportunity to read. Even though they may come from far away, we are ‘one in heart’. Personally, I’m excited to extend my education as I like to read.”
Will: “What is your hope for your future?”
Meylan: “I hope to become a policewoman” (POLWAN is the term which comes from POLisi and WANita which stand for police and woman).

It has been 5 weeks since the official launch with much success to speak of. Each day around 50-60 people come to Sengkanaung to read books, play guitar, interactive games, or attend an English class run by Will. Will teaches every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and is supported by Meldy Modali who is the Centre Administrator. For Meldy this opportunity is not a job. She shows an incredible commitment to the children of Sumompo. The following is a brief outline of her day:

Meldy comes to the Bridge of Hope office at 8am and stays for morning devotions until 930am. She then goes straight to the rubbish tip to connect with children and parents. After lunch she opens Sengkanaung and helps children read. Sengkanaung is due to finish when the centre closes at 530pm. However, on Monday and Thursday she sits beside the 5 children who have recently joined the Government school program offered from 6-7pm. After the class finishes, she then walks the children home, which includes climbing a steep slope named ‘1000 steps’! On the other nights there are many people who are still motivated to read, and so Meldy finishes between 630-8pm. What is more, she works Monday to Saturday! I asked Meldy 2 questions:

Will: “Why are you excited about Sengkanaung?”
Meldy: “I am excited about Sengkanaung because it gives me the opportunity to help children who are not able to go to school.”
Will: “What do you hope to achieve?”
Meldy: “I want to serve them and help them as best as I can. My mission is to love and show genuine concern to everyone at Sumompo. I see this as my calling in life.”

Sengkanuang is just one little project situated on a rubbish tip in North East Indonesia. Yet, it is one little project that gives dignity to the children and community at Sumompo with fruits that will only be fully seen in years to come. It is one little project of thousands around the world that focus on minority groups that are often marginalized and forgotten, and seeks to bridge unnecessary inequalities in our world.

Manly vs Manado in the Spice Challenge!

I have recently left the beautiful surf and sunrises of Manly for the stunning scuba diving and sunsets of Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia to work as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development. This assignment is a part of the Manly-Manado Community Partnership, which aims to improve the well-being of both communities in a mutually beneficial way.

I moved to Manado in March and since then have settled into life in Manado, and teaching English primarily at the rubbish tip where partner organization Bridge of Hope has built a Community Education Resource Centre, due to be officially opened on June 27, 2008.

Manado is well-known as the spice city of Indonesia, situated besides the famous spice islands of Maluku. Settling into Manado very much concerned getting used to spices. After a few months, I was ready for the cultural challenge set forth by my colleagues. I was to challenge a colleague in a food eating contest over who could eat the most spices. It was a contest between Manly and Manado. It was to be ‘The Spice Challenge’.

Sambal is a mixture of chilies, tomatoes, onions, garlic, palm sugar, and terasi, a condiment made from pounded and fermented shrimp and small fish. The sambal was made by Operations Manager Dony Rahardja. Secretary Venny Manorek officialised proceedings by reading out the rules for the contest, so all was ready to begin.

I began at a crashing pace. Adding handfuls of sambal to rice I stuffed myself until half his bowl was finished in the first 5 minutes. Truly, in contrast, began slowly, taking a little bit of sambal, eating delicately, and then adding some plain rice. Ten minutes later, things looked different. The spice had got to my stomach, and the evidence was all over my face. I was in a hot sweat. At this point I was forced to slow down. Truly kept eating, little by little.

It looked as though the story of ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ was coming to fruition, until in a final burst of energy, and motivated by a faceless crowd of 40 000 Manly supporters, I finished the remaining remnants of spicy sambal, and licked my fingers clean to erase any doubt of complete victory. All staff present for this spectacle were astonished, remarking that I have now been initiated as truly Manadonese! As due punishment for her defeat, Truly has to sweep and mop the office of Bridge of Hope for two weeks, and is not allowed to have her favourite drink Gohu (Papaya with a spicy and sour sauce) for three months.

When asked Dony said that one bag of chilies was used for the sambal, of which he estimated included 200 chilies. I was overwhelmed by this prospect, and thus after the event went to investigate. It turns out that on average 100? chilies are included in each bag. Thus, I ate around 50 chilies in one meal!! Who knows what the next challenge might be? Symbolic to this community partnership, I thought it might have to be ‘the Vegemite Challenge!’

First Day Teaching at Rubbish Dump

The sun was shining at 3:00pm on Tuesday 13th May, as Will left the office of Bridge of Hope to start his first English class at Sumompo, the rubbish dump of Manado. Riding on his little Suzuki motorbike with Whiteboard on his back, he went over the key words in Indonesian he had to remember for this class. Arriving at Sumompo, he was welcomed by several eager students, sitting in trees next to the house of the village head, the place he was to teach. Sharing some fruit, they exchanged names and smiles. At the strike of 4:00pm all was ready as Will to begin.

There were 16 eager faces before him, aged between 6 and 16. He tried to remember their names – Ockly, Santi, Titin, Aldo, Ezra….remembering all but one! Typical to Indonesian culture the children were initially shy, however, through using games as the way to teach introductions and greetings, everyone got involved. At the end of the class, Will brought out a big gold box to the children’s great surprise. Yet it wasn’t a gift. This box was an opportunity for each child to suggest a name for the Community Education Resource Centre that Bridge of Hope is providing for Sumompo. The building begins on Thursday 15th May, and should take 2-3 weeks. Who knows what name will be chosen?

It is exciting that it will be a name coined by the children of Sumompo, giving them ownership of this centre. This centre hopes to plant seeds of motivation and hope to the children of Sumompo through education. To date, there are 54 children who are working on the rubbish dump instead of being at school. Will remains hopeful in the belief that this education centre will provide an impetus toward broader horizons for the children and people of Sumompo.

Teaching at the rubbish dump of Sumompo has begun! I am teaching around 25 primary school kids and several high school students each Tuesday, a group of adults on Thursdays, and the local council on Fridays. The building of the Community Education Resource Centre has been delayed due to confusions in boundaries between districts. This means a few more weeks teaching outdoors with only a whiteboard. Progress is slow, but my joy is building as many creative ideas are springing amidst an atmosphere among the local people which is very inspiring. Everyone is so eager to attend classes.

Life at home is great, we have had many patients come through, around 20 people living together at the moment, and so I made my first sticky date pudding. It was a funny experience as the whole city has run out of dates (after checking 3 major stores) so I settled for sticky raisin pudding which was still a surprising success considering the oven was a smoking tin box on top of a small stove top!

The challenges of language and culture continue to surround me. These challenges have surfaced many weaknesses in my character. I have become aware of how shallow my love for others is. My task is not to teach English, to serve the poor, or any more self-serving clichés. Just to love, and I am finding this a tough road to walk. I am only now beginning to realize that if I perceive each person as a brother or sister, then that fundamentally changes the way I act towards them, regardless of how I look at issues of structural injustice and poverty.

Check out more articles through http://www.manly-manado.org.au/. This is an exciting long term community partnership that seeks to alleviate poverty in its various forms both in Manado and in Manly.

If you’re a person who believes in the value of prayer, please pray through any of the things I am involved in. Rather than write specific points for prayer and dictate what I think would be good to pray for, I would rather you simply pray for what your heart has connected with. I appreciate all prayers, especially from those of you who don’t usually warm to praying!

Our football team had a first non-loss recently, a 1-1 draw. We are ecstatic!

Blood that Saves Life

I am really enjoying the experience of living at a half house half medical clinic. We often have patients from Maluku come over by ship for urgent operations that cannot be performed over there. At the moment we have nine people. They have darker skin, wide feet and wide smiles. I am constantly amazed at their lack of contact with technology, yesterday I had to show how to access water from a water dispenser!

My roommate and close friend Meldy who is responsible for caring for these patients between our house and the hospital sent me an urgent text requesting anyone from my office with blood type O to come straight to the Red Cross clinic [Indonesian equivalent]. Laohin, a 27 year old with cancer has been living with us for a few weeks and needed four people to donate blood immediately. Thus I began to inquire staff members if this was possible. I was overjoyed at the immediate response by staff members with blood O. Several had given blood recently and were unable to give blood. One came straight from work over 30 minutes away to give blood. Because we were still short we rung up Compassion (other partner organization in Manado) who quickly arranged for 2 people to come and give blood. Meldy was overwhelmed by the response by so many professional looking people. He feared that he would not be able to find enough people to donate since he is from Maluku and doesn’t have many friends.

As I reflected on this experience I smiled at the thought that Laohin (pictured right) will never know who gave him life saving blood, just that it was three people willing to sacrifice their time and blood to help another. As a Muslim who reveres Nabi Isa it is fitting that it was another person’s blood that gave Laohin life!