Volunteer work in Indonesia: Bandung
31st of January, to 8th of February, 2025.
My first impressions of the building are not the best. Abi shows me around, and tells me I have three options for sleeping: the dorm where some of the students, all male, live (is he serious?); a room behind the kitchen, which has a fan; or a room in the third floor where he says there’s AC. Now, I have never asked for AC, neither I use when there’s available, so I thought that the room with the fan would be OK. It’s not clean, and most of the bed linen he says I can use it’s not clean either. Perhaps it was washed, but it seems like that happened a long time ago, so everything smells weird. I manage to find one sheet, but no pillow case, so I use my own. The room is slightly open, so there’s lots of mosquitoes.
The kitchen is quite a mess, with dirty dishes pilling up in the sink and old food laying everywhere. Funnily enough, there’s a sign hanging on the wall which says: “Kitchen is our life SO clean up”.
The same goes for the bathrooms, it’s not super dirty but it’s not clean either.
It’s the kind of place I would expect to find 8 men living and sharing it. What I think? It’s definitely not an environment for volunteers to live. Even more a woman. And I am an old rag. I wonder how young girls would actually feel here.
I consider either asking to go to the village immediately tomorrow (as the feedbacks about the village at least I know to be very good), or leaving the whole volunteer work at once. I have received other opportunities after all. But I decide to see how the classes will go tomorrow, before making a decision.
Next morning, one of the students gives me some sliced bread and chocolate spread. I think it’s slightly unnecessary, as I feel this are luxurious items in this country, and I could easily eat an Indonesian breakfast. Only after I already made one of my own teas, Syam shows up offering me some coffee.
I chat a little bit with the students before the classes, which shall start at 10.00 o’clock.
As it’s Friday, they all are wearing the traditional outfit called Batik, which consists of a shirt with certain pattern. Syam explains to me that, in the past, they used to be handmade, painted, which was a real significant thing. Nowadays, everything is of course synthetic and shitty.
There are 14 students, of different ages, ranging from 19 to 27 years old. The majority of them are from Sumatra, and the only girl is the only one from the island of Java, from Jakarta.
After they introduce themselves, we play the game where I write clues about myself in the board, and they have to guess what is the connection of those words with me. It’s a bit slow at first, but later they get carried away. Some of them have actually a very good English, while others not so much, which makes the classes a bit difficult, of course. I haven’t mentioned but, this whole program is not only about English, but a cruise training course, as all of these students are hoping to get a job on a cruise and go sailing around the world. Some of them are OK with an opportunity in tourism too.
Early in the morning I was introduced to the owner of the company, Tony, and his business partner. Now at lunch time, we have lunch together, in the office on the third flour, a very nice and presentable area.
When the classes are finished in the afternoon, I do some of my work. Syam gives me the good news that I can go to the village tomorrow, Saturday, with his daughter Balqueeszh, who was doing some things in Jakarta.
Tony and his partner take me out for dinner. We eat in a restaurant for traditional dishes and deserts. The have some fish dumplings called Samyan, and I try a little bit; and for me they order some rice, tempeh, tofu and salad. Everything is really good but the best part is the spicy peanut sauce. For desert, I have Es Jaipong, a mix of jelly beans, avocado, coconut flesh and milk, condensed milk and ice, all in a bowl. It’s great! We also have some coffee afterwards.
At some point I am stung by a weird bug, looking like a big black ant but not entirely. I know that something’s not right, and I tell them, but Tony keeps saying that’s nothing. Next morning, my wrist has a huge red lump, and it’s super warm. It doesn’t heart but it’s clearly an allergic reaction.
When I meet Balqueeszh I am surprised about her very traditional Muslin outfit. It’s not a burka, but only her eyes and her hands are visible, as he also covers her face. Syam tells me that when she was 12 years old she started covering herself, and the reason is because she believes that only her husband should see her face. She would not necessarily cover her face in front of other women, as she would be without at home, when we were alone, but in public places yes.
Before we get in the bus, Syam buys me another sliced bead and some chocolate spread, plus some cow milk. I wonder what they think we eat in the West…
The bus is big and fine, a regular travel bus. Balqueeszh can speak a great English and it surprises me that she only started learning over 18 months ago, just by practicing with the volunteers. It also surprises me that she was studying in boarding schools for many years, and that she wants to be a koran teacher, by opening an international school in her village. Apparently, in some of the schools in Indonesia, the kids only learn the koran, and nothing else.
We take a Grab to the village, and it takes us about 20 minutes to arrive to her house.
They live in an area which is called blocks, because many houses are build right beside each other. It’s a kind of governmental housing program. I meet Umi, Balqueeszh’s mum, and she’s very friendly. I think her English is very good, and we can easily talk about many things.
Soon we have a delicious meal, as Umi is an excellent cook and all of her food which I would try for my week here is amazing!
I’m staying in another house, in another block, but only five minutes walking from here. It belongs to one of Umi’s sister, but as she’s leaving in Bandung, the volunteers use it.
Both houses are very simple but I think they are great size, and not so small as they think. Who needs a lot of space and why? It’s only a shame that they have almost no windows, as they are all attached to each other. There’s wi-fi only at Umi’s house, so I stay there during the day, coming back to her sister’s house at night, mostly to take a bath and go to sleep after.
The house I’m staying is OK. It’s Asian style, and the bathroom is not the cleanest I’ve ever been, but as I’m staying here only for one week, it’s OK. But I must say that, for the first time since I’m travelling in Asia, I got myself thinking why people here live in this way. Isn’t easier just having a tap in the bathroom so you can wash your hands, face, or brush your teeth without needing to wet your feet and spit on the floor? Are our Western style toilets so much more expensive than the squat ones? And why they don’t actually, thoroughly clean the toilets, like once a week, so it doesn’t need to get dirty stains over time and look really worse than actually it is?
The Kindergarten is at Umi’s house, and it’s been going on for about 6 years. There are around 20 students and the classes take place only in the morning, from eight to ten o’clock. On Monday, I spend only some little time with the kids, playing games. On Tuesday, we join a dancing competition, as Umi was training 8 of the girls some choreography. As I watch all the 13 schools before us, I knew that our girls were excellent! And I am quite sure we would win. And we do! We get first and second prize in two different categories. On Wednesday there are no classes as the kids need some rest. On Thursday, Balqueeszh and I join a cooking class in another kindergarten in the morning. The mums prepare me an amazing traditional buffet of foods, and it’s all served on the floor, on top of banana leaves. In the afternoon, we come to visit Balqueeszh colleagues at koran classes. They ask me a few questions, and we talk about my travels, but unfortunately we have only a few minutes together.
I was planning to live on Friday, but as I want to help Balqueeszh with the making of a video about helping to save our world by reducing waste, I decide to leave on Saturday morning. Another volunteer, a guy from Switzerland, is coming on Thursday night.
I have very mixed feelings about this volunteer work. Of course, by the time I am leaving is when all these “confusions” come up, so it might be just a “goodbye” kind of sensation, instead of how I actually feel…?
Even though the kids are exposed to foreigners quite often, due to the volunteers coming here, they still are quite shy and have almost no English. And that’s because they spend very short time with the volunteers, actually practicing English. Which is a shame, of course, and I don’t really understand. If the purpose of the volunteers coming here is not to spend as much time as possible with the kids and practice their English, what then?
My class in the evening it’s only one hour, from 19.00 to 20.00 hours but I was happy with it at first, thinking that at least I was being useful in somehow. But that was until I finally understood that these classes are under looked, as the students come and go, without much of a routine. Their level is also very different, just as well for their ages, which makes the classes a big challenge.
It’s during these classes that I meet a wonderful young girl, Kalifa, of ten years old but with an extraordinary English. She started studying it only about three years ago. Surprisingly, she and her two younger brothers are homeschooling, and the same is for English classes. And they are all online. She tells me that she uses Duolingo to improve her skills, and I am surprise in how good they are. I make sure to tell her that. She is a lovely young girl, and she shows me her beautiful drawings and painting, as she is also a great artist! She makes me a bracelet and gives to me the night before I leave. It’s a beautiful blue bracelet, and she reminds me that she made it blue because it’s my favourite color. How adorable!
I feel slightly bad for not spending more time with the students, as there are nothing else to do here apart from that. But what can I do? At least I know I’m only staying for one week.
Umi’s food is delicious and mostly vegetarian. Sometimes she prepares some fish aside, and I’m happy to try it, but she always makes something with tofu, tempeh or eggs, or all of them. I get to know later that, when they were living and working in Bali, before Balqueeszh was born, she used to have a restaurant, and that’s how I understand why her cooking is so good!
Balqueeszh brings me to another kindergarten once, but again, I spend only a few minutes with the students. We also come to her koran classes, but again, we only have a few minutes to talk before they start their prays and studies. I feel that all of this is a huge waste of opportunities for more interaction with English speakers and foreigners, when much more could be gained out of these experiences.
When the Swiss volunteer join us, we join forces to help Balqueeszh with a recycling / reduce waste project of hers and a community which she joined recently. We go to a scenic spot in the top of some hills, with a nice rice fields view, and make a video about the importance of reducing waste and recycling. Strangely, the Swiss volunteer said he would rather not having his face circulating in social media, so he only helped by making the video and giving suggestions.
In the morning of my departure, I’m surprise by Umi’s tears, and also touched by them. Abi is going to visit a cousin nearby a good location for me to hitchhike towards Mount Bromo, my next destination, so he offers to take me there. He try to give me some money, which I kindly refuse. He says Umi will be sad that I didn’t accept, but I explain to him that these are my principles, so he understands.
10 Years Around the World 