Roslin Orphanage Blog

This a note that Naomi made for us about her trip. She is surely some kind of beautiful and talented child

Visiting Roslin Orphanage in Kupang, Indonesia (22~27 March 2008)

On 22 March 2008, my father and I took two planes to get to Timor from Singapore.The first stop was Surabaya and next destination was a town called Kupang.

When we reached there, it was 9:20pm. Uncle Budi who is the founder of Roslin Orphanage picked us from the airport. Next day, we started to explore the orphanage. (www.roslinorphanage.org).

I found that the orphanage was very farm-type.

There were cows, deer which is very queer. There were also interesting animals which happened to be on the farm. They were geese, pigs, chickens with chicks, roosters, and an eagle with a chain around it’s leg. My two favorite farm animals were the cows and the chicks. Although the mother hen did not let me stroke the chicks, they seemed so adorable! I think some farm animals have jobs and also can be eaten so that they do not need to buy meats from wet-markets all the time. But the eagle, which is an wild animal was saved by uncle Budi.

With happy children

All of the orphans looked very happy. From one month old baby to a 12 years old child, I noticed they did everything as a group. When a child sits, everybody begins to sit and when a child starts to sing, everyone follows. When I stare at them, they stared back to me for long time! When I compare these orphans from Singapore children, they seem happy with simple things and are the most laughable children. When my father took out his mobile phone, many orphans came rushing down to see the object with curious eyes. On 25^th March, we went to a house quite near by.

with Uncle Budi visiting baby Martina’s home

There was an infant whose mother gave up the baby because her family is very poor. Uncle Budi took me to the mother’s house to visit and help them. I was looking around quietly with a little shock. The roof was made of straws, no tiles on the floor, no gas to cook, no electricity and they did not have a bed to sleep. I was wondering about their daily food as I looked at their skinny mother. There was no toilet in the house as we have in Singapore. They used their corn field to go to the restrooms. While I was there, uncle Budi and his friends built a bed for the family. I was happy to see their smile.

such a quality time with my daddy

some kind of quality time with the orphans

happy together even though with just one ball

Next day, we went to the beach with all the orphans to play soccer. We went along well until unexpected rain came so; we went to the farthest part of the beach and dug for water. After that, we played soccer again. That evening, when I went to my room and settled down, I decided to go back to the orphanage. I went there to go to the library to read books. I was delighted to see that the library also had English books. There were actually two libraries in the orphanage. Both libraries needed more books to be completed. He and his friends was helping to sort some books while I was reading the books. Uncle Budi’s dream is to open a school for the orphans one day. Through this trip, I learn that we must be more thankful for what we have. Sometimes we complain easily about homework and test, but now I know that it is so privilege to study without any worries. I was able to talk to the orphans in Bahasa quite little. In the future, when Uncle Budi opens a school, I want to visit them to help the school. Therefore, it is good to study for myself and I can see that I can share my knowledge to someone who needs too.

p/s: my father took some pictures of the trip, please feel free to click the link below to view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icysDdsOfUc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icysDdsOfUc

http://picasaweb.google.com/chasl77/KupangMarch22To272008

me and my dad