We are blessed , the Orphanage is blessed and the children at the orphanage are blessed by more friends. Praise The Lord. Recently we have been visited by an outstanding school , " Sekolah Tunas Bangsa School".  It is the only preschool and kindergarten school in Kupang which teaching the children English right from the very beginning. It was a great thing to have been visited by them. First we have more friends and for the children to be proud to be recognized as friends by a well off society.  We were having some quality time among the children and it is a good moment to let the children know about what can be done if we are studying properly and we are not different in term of studying regardless of our condition. Just making sure that we must do our best because the subject to be studied are the same. It is our individual efforts that will make the difference in our live in the future.

The children were singing together both in Bahasa Indonesia and in English. Indeed it was a joy to see them interacting well and sharing their moment naturally.

Our Thanks to Sekolah Tunas bangsa for visiting us. Thank you for the gifts and the precious time that you have shared with us.

It was a fantastic annual leave for me to be at the orphanage for nearly one month. So much has been achieved and we will share it with you as soon as possible .  The trip was started right after my flight from New York and after sending Tassya and Christian off to go back to their  school .   Christine , Tassya and Christian were spending their school break at the orphanage with their mom and the orphanage children. They were so wonderfully on assisting their mom to run the orphanage daily.  It was rather hard when all of them must return to school and must leave their mom alone.  Again we are so privilege to have all of our own children ( Christine , Tassya and Christian ) to be with us at the orphanage during their school's summer break.   It has been a happy moment to all them them to play and sharing their time with the orphanage children .  They have been looked up by the orphanage children as far as their schooling is concern . It is for them to have more motivation to be able to give the orphanage children a good example to progress.  It is not a must for them to be at the orphanage during their school break but it has been their desire to be there , Praise The Lord.

We are also so happy to see them having fun among them self and with the orphanage children . Praise The Lord We have no handicap as far as the relationship and interaction are  concern for the whole members of the orphanage.  We can always able to communicate and interacting freely and no sense of being a stranger nor being less than others.  A critic was given to us that we should not call it as an orphanage but it should be a BIG FAMILY home . We are so blessed that the children are able to have a feeling to be part of a big family instead of to be one of the orphanage's children

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Sonny and Cornelis holding hearts for you

sending off Tassya and Christian back to school ( to Vancouver. Canada)

It was only Peggy and my self  going back to the orphanage after all the kids were gone, it was so different when we were going there for the first time . That time all of the children were so little and Christian was even less than 4 years old. The time is surely running so fast.  The big difference also when we were reaching the orphanage. It was an empty and stony land when we were there but now the place is having so much plants which making the place so green and we can hide ourselves from the sun . Even more the plants can block some of the dust and reducing the wind breezing through the orphanage's ground. Praise The Lord indeed for the good and healthy trees and for the healthy 73 children at Roslin Orphanage.

It was great the orphanage is having its play ground so that the children can have some quality time among them self.  It was so sad that one day we were having a visitor whom were asking for some help . Three mothers from the East Timor refugee compound came in the evening hours with their 3 children. when we were just went inside the house , the 3 mothers were bringing their children away as much as possible from the gate then then the three mothers ran away without their children. The three children were crying loudly and calling for their moms to come back but their moms were continue running and never coming back. It was rather hard to witness the situation and must face the facts that the children were abandoned by their moms. It was so hard for Peggy to calm them down where toys and items cannot actually replace the feeling of having their moms around . Peggy were spending such a long hours trying to make them comfortable with us and being with us .  All other children were also trying to be closer to the 3 new children ( Asiku or Mateus Koskan De Carwallo  , Abosco  or Joad Da Silva and Ella or Maria Paskuela Da Silva ) . Finally they were ok and gradually willing to be together with the rest. Some problem were developed as they were not so good with their Indonesian language thus making things harder. The next morning ( 3 hours after they were sleeping) at 04 00 am we found the 3 of them were on the swings and other playground equipments. It was for the first  for the 3 of them to be able to feel and play on a swing and other .  The East Timor refugee camps until now are in a very bad shape where sanitation is worst than what the bad condition that the local are having ( we are so sad and feel that they do not treated properly for at least a decent treatment or assisted enough).

Praise The Lord for enabling us to have the playground and equipments

It was so great to see the children able to do well in their schooling.  Indeed most of them are giving us the sense of pride when they are arriving from the school, those children who came to us as babies they are now in primary school 1, 2 , 3  and 4 already.  Not only they are growing well but again almost everyday they are coming home with perfect scores of their school progresses.  Carlos is only grade 1 but his writing is so neat.  The one who has been so lacking in their schooling are now also giving us good scores, Praise The Lord.  It was Ako and Markus that were so slow but now they are also contributing our happiness with letting us their perfect scores . We are so blessed that even we do not have any extra lessons for the children but they are doing well in school.  After lunch is a good habit for them to do their home work together.  It is also the best time as they will be able to ask the older children if they are finding some difficulties with the home work.

studying and home work time

big and small are doing it

Until now we are still using the same place for the children to have their meals , to study and many more but we are hoping that we will be able to have a proper room for them to study and for many other things. We are currently still doing the girl's dorm building.  While I was there we were having such a great time at which all of bigger boys and bigger girls were working together upon making the second floor's foundation.  We are so blessed that we are having our cement's mixer and no more back breaking like before when we have to mix the cement manually. The back breaking cement mixing was reminding us our friend Amy and Chris Wong who were helping us with the boy's dorm foundation. Both were involved on making the ditch and arranging the stone and bricks for the library building and the boy's dorm building. Thanks again Amy and Chris Wong.

Upon making the second floor of the girl's dorm all of us were involved on filling the bucket with the mixed cement and sand then we brought the bucket one by one and hand in hand to the second floor which is about 5 meters up . Peggy was controlling the phase of the flow while I was controlling the bucket filling. Our voice was so loud as all of us were working together with such joyful feeling. The girls were so cheerful for they are building their dorm them selves. Praise The Lord for the togetherness and for the children realizing the needs and their collective efforts. It was a hard work for the boys filling up the bucket as they must do it fast and must compete with the machine. The second floor making must be done continuously as the cement must be filled without any stopping , to make sure that the cement will give the best grip to the metal structure and for not making any hollow part of the floor.

The girls were also doing their hard part as some of them must hand the buckets constantly and continuously plus the heat of the sun that they must dealt with. It was started from 8 am and finished at 5 pm.  Praise The Lord for being able to complete the floor filling, for the good weather and for the togetherness among us.

the manually made supporting structure

preparing before the cement mixture being poured to make the 2nd floor

the materials are ready  and the cement mixture machine is also ready

It was so great that all of us are working together based on our orphanage's slogan which is togetherness is our strength. By practicing the slogan we can create their sense of belonging and they are doing things with happiness rather than as a burden. They even doing extra cleaning and some were able to arrange some snacks and drinks while the work is in progress. Indeed we have trained them some sort of multi tasking and trying to appreciate the available time and energy among the children.

The second floor work was left for 3 weeks before further progress is being made. I left 2 days earlier before they open up the scaffolding.  Now the scaffolding has been opened and some  upwards pillar works are in progress. e are hoping that the girl's dorm can be done in 2 months time ( otherwise it will be disturbed by the rainy season).

the jack fruit tree

While I was there , one of the jack fruit tree was having 7 fruits ripen at the same time. Indeed we are so blessed for being able to eat jack fruit in a place where it is difficult to get it.  Even more as we are able to eat it from our own tree . Some of our friends were having the privilege to get the ripen jack fruit from the tree directly and to cut it open and to eat it together with the children.  The trees are the same type of jack fruit tree with the one that we have in our home in Jakarta. On one tree at least we are having 20 fruits this time.  In the past we were having a jack fruit tree collapsed during a rainy day in Jakarta , The reason was that tree was having 72 fruits when the heavy rain was falling

Captain Christopher Bek , the CEO of Medic LLP company in Singapore taking the jack fruit down

bro Kelvin Kong from Singapore taking his turn to take the jack fruit down

If we are remembering this place 11 years ago , it seems to be impossible that we can have this fruit harvest . It was a land full of stones and coral when we first came . Indeed it is God's blessing only for us to be able to make this land to be a fertile soil and able to produce fruit for us.  It is jack fruit season now and it will be the turn of the mango trees to give us fruit in December.  We are so privilege to have these as the neighbors are not able to have these precious fruits like what we are having.

TO BE CONTINUED ON THE ENTRY AFTER THE NEXT ONE

Singapore Airlines Cabin crew club logo

We are so privilege for having the visit of  15 fantastic friends . It was so easy to work with them as all of them are so capable to do so many things and doing it with such a fast and efficient method. The group was consist of  11 ( eleven) cabin crew ( bro William Chua, bro Wong Kock Yin, bro Jimmy Tan , sis Wen Dee Kee, sis Vincent Boey ,bro  CK Onn,bro Jeffry Cheong, sis Amelia, sis Selina CSJ , Kath Lee , one mom madam Wong  ,one cabin crew division staff sis  Laraine and a pilot bro Terrence Tay  and his dearest wife sis Pauline .  The trip was planned by SIA 5Cs ( Cabin Crew Club for Community Care) . 5Cs are making regular trips over seas for helping whoever need helps. It is really a fantastic group of people with a very good intention to help others as human being. The trip was well organized and the participation of the group was just so great. We are thankful for the 5Cs visit as they were able to bring along things that were collected from so many of you at our place in Singapore ( Children clothes , toys and etc). Thank you 5Cs for bringing them for us.

just arriving at ElTari Airport at 00 28 AM Jan 11th 2009

bro Terence and sis Pauline as Sakteo Hill

For my self , I was arriving in Singapore from Los Angeles on the 6th of Jan  morning and only after some 2 hours at home I went to Jakarta for a meeting with my  friends which were coming from so many places including Germany and Australia  . It was a great gathering and we commit that we will be having our reunion in 2010 which will be attended by friends from different countries ( Asia, European countries,  USA , Australia and many more).  I was not able to stay beyond 23 00 as the next morning at 05 30  I must go to the airport for 07 45 AM departure to Kupang.

I found out that going to Kupang with Mandala Airlines was a pleasant one. The 07 45 am departure is very good , we will not get any traffic jam matter and we will arrive there at 12 25 PM . The best is no delayed departure as the plane is originated from Jakarta it self. It was a great flight as the weather was clear all the way from Jakarta to Surabaya and to Kupang. The transit was only about 25 minutes at Surabaya and the plane was less than  one month old Airbus A320.

It was so great to see all the area of Kupang being so green and soothing  to my eyes. Indeed during the rainy season is common to see it like this. Very much different as we are arriving during the month of June onwards to November where the colour will be brown and the trees has not much of leafs. My eyes was so entertained by  seeing some of the mangoes are still hanging and the bread fruit was so ripe to which I was right away asking the older orphans to get the bread fruit down and made them fried with lots of garlic , hmmmm it was so yummy ( especially my mother in law who made it , it was even better ha ha ha ha ).

our tapioca

On the 8th evening bro Terence Tay and his dearest wife Pauline came . It was so good to see him again at the orphanage as he was here also some 3 years ago. This time we are so privilege to have him and his wife with us. He told us that the condition now is much better and indeed that this time he can sleep on a proper bed ha ha ha . He was sleeping on the floor with mattress some 3 years ago , common bath room and no air conditioning . Now he can have a much nicer and bigger room with attached bathroom and even with air conditioning too. The old building in front of the rooms is changed with a new building now. His plane was late by  one hour so he was arriving at 23 25 pm and reaching the orphanage after midnight. It is sad that there isn't any meal service on board the plane from Surabaya ( even from Jakarta ) so we prepared a take away which we all like it ( BBQ fish with lots of chilly sauce or we call it as "sambal".

The group were coming on the 10th .  Three persons were  arriving via Jakarta ( Singapore - Jakarta for one night then to Surabaya - Kupang with Mandala Airlines)  while the 10 of them were arriving from Surabaya ( Singapore - Surabaya with Silk Air - Kupang with Lion Air on the same day) .Our thanks to Holy and Andre who was looking after the group which arriving via Jakarta.  The group who were arriving with Lion Air was late and arrived at 00 08 am on the 11th ha ha ha . For them again we prepared a take away food as the restaurant were already closed. It was so great to have them especially they are so ready to do any thing .

Some 2 hours later after their arrival and  after taking " very early breakfast at 01 30 am " and after taking a bath  we were start doing our routine at as early as 02 00 AM . This time we were lucky because we were getting the help from this 5Cs group friends so we can get it done at 04 00 AM.On that day we are going to visit Tasipa village  and helping the children by bringing nutritious food and this time we were bringing them some Christmas gifts too . It was so great to work with our SIA family friends , they were so fast and efficient with job sharing and the team work was just so great. So much was planned but we were limited with the timing that was available .

The team was not only preparing to help by working physically but they are ready also for a sudden changed such as to do performance for the children. Some are so good with drawing/colouring, balloon making, cooking, thread arrangement , making up the children hair . Simply the group was consist of people with different and wonderful talents. Praise The Lord. On that evening while we were doing the packing we were getting some wonderfuly played music by the frogs . There was a small pool of water and we saw some 11 frogs were singing right through the night.

putting up a tent

tent in the making

bags of clothes , playpen and others brought by 5Cs for the orphanage and others in need.

looking at the singing frog

one of the frog which was singing for us

gifts packing after the very early meal from 01 38  to 04 00 am

Doing it together after some short nap

garlic chopping

no hands are free

Food packing

food for the children

bro Terence Wong making sure that we were looked after

food packing lady Amelia

This is at "  Tasipa " Village on Jan 11th 2009

such a great team work

food and gifts for the children as well as for the villager's family

Peggy "preaching about sanitation" to the children

the older people were listening to Peggy about sanitation too

a girl was singing for us

the house and family must stay clean to be healthy

food for the children

sweet green bean soup for the children

At Nun Kurus Village :

The Sunday School children at Nun Kurus Village

an encouragement to the children

Green bean soup for the children's appetizer

gifts to all family of Nun Kurus village

gifts to the older ones too

young and old were receiving the gifts

Performing to the children

the children enjoying the performance

If you are seeing that these children are having a good clothing then its time to thank you to All of you. These are some of the village children that we are giving away the clothes that we brought from Singapore and collected from you All.  It is great that we are able to bring them from Singapore and to give away the clothes to the ultimate receivers. It will be great if one day you are coming and able to give things directly to the ultimate receivers your self. They will not be able to give you anything except genuine smiles and wide opened  eyes for you.

At the orphanage :

what shape do you want it to be ?

super duper day

Origami making

Polaroid photos from Selina

simply these are quality time for the children  because of you All

some little time to refreshed our self

We have been here

madam Wong  having lunch at top of the hill(mountain)

picnic with the children

breathing fresh and pollution free air

trying to hold back the sun from sun setting

mud crab cleaning

crab cooking at 02 30 AM ha ha ha

walking back to the dining room to eat the crab

do you want some ???

one of our quality time

Praise The Lord to be healthy and well.  it is  always great to see the children happy and able to play well. These children were so tiny and depending to us for every  thing. Now they can entertain us by showing a healthy attitude and being active. Thank you for all of the  supports upon doing our efforts to lift up the little ones.