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.

Market place

our trip to West Timor to Roslin orphanage

From left to right : Mark Lee : ” I see a social entrepreneurship is booming “

Jabez : ” I hold a live sea cucumber from the sea for the first time “

Serene : ” Amazing trip” I have learn and was truly blessed by the couple’s hospitality

Peggy she is the captain of Roslin Orphanage , a great helper and a great cook

Budi He is a captain for the best airlines in the world ( currently Singapore Airlines

is the best) and so many other port folios at the orphanage’s activities.

Thoughts from Jabez……. ” Aunty Peggy’s cooking is so yummy “

In the September holiday, I went to Jakarta with my parents. And after that we went to West Timor. We stayed at a small hotel near Roslin orphanage. The hotel was owned by the owner of the orphanage and his name is Uncle Budi. We visited many places such as the beach, villages and more. And we visited Uncle Budi’s farm and saw how big it was. After that we headed to makan ( eat) . The makan was quite a lot and the food always taste good. On the forth day we went to the beach. There was lots of sand there. Then Uncle Budi and myself went into the swallow water. For the first time I held a sea cucumber in my hand, it was slimy and very black and guess what it squits some kind of sticky liquid on me. “yucks” After we ate coconuts at the beach., we went to the night market. There were lots of food there. Then we ordered soto ayam and more. The avocado juice tastes good and sweet. I feel that this trip is wonderful and has a lot of precious memories. On the second day we went to see and visited a village. “Ahh!” forgotten it’s name. The old villagers there did not know how old they are and the children do not even know what were cars and aeroplanes! surprise? A family with more than five people only used 5 liters of water per day. And they do not even bathe! Auntie Peggy (Uncle Budi’s wife) told us that one packet of instant noodles can be shared among 10 people. Well, I would not be able to survive if I am them. You could say I am admiring them, actually I take my hats off them for their survival skills…..

Thoughts from Serene…….

” For the first time I learnt the deep and abiding truth of poverty to know and understand happinessand sufficientcy is what you have and what you don’t have”

31^st Aug 08

Mark, Jabez & myself were on our way to West Timor, this is a trip that we almost could not make it as I was not able to release myself at work. God provided & made it possible, the whole trip itself was a miracle & He orchestrated every venue that we visited. We did not know what to expect thinking just to bless the Roslin orphanage at Kupang, but instead what a surprise we were being blessed instead!

My family has experienced & learnt a precious lesson in life, something that money cannot buy something perhaps we know it existed but seeing is believing, we experience the other side of life “poverty” even relating the journey brings heart aches, it’s heart wrenching to see the condition of their houses, villages, their sanitary facilities, their cooking area, their bedroom are all confined to a simple straw built hut as big as the living room of a 2 room flat in Spore, and in here lives probably 10 person, grandma, dad, mum & 7 kids, including a new born baby. Well, cant imagine how we complain about overcrowding here, to them the Timorese is a luxury to be having a proper hut to stay in, functioning in the dark when night fall is something I cant imagine, the whole household depended on a little kerosene tin container for light. The new born is happily suckling for milk with mummy, but in our hearts we know jolly well there is hardly any milk available as mum is mal-nutritioned herself, the baby look scrony & thin and because of the firewood in the hut for cooking and boiling, the smoke has caused breathing problem to the new born.

All the children wore clothes that’s worse then the rag that we use back home, having shoe to wear is a luxury. Their staple food is corn, having rice & meat & egg is a piece of cake. Water is very very precious as there is only rain 1 mth a year, they don’t bathe, brush teeth nor drink much, 10 litres of water which they probably walk 7 km to fetch will be shared by the whole household. At this point of time I understand even money can not help much in their present condition , as they need to walk like a endless trail to buy the essentials, half of the money would have spent on transport, the lack of water, food & electricity & transport seems to be not bothering them. From them I learnt wealth & happiness is not what you don’t have but really what you already have.

Giving the villages basic essentials would almost be like blessings from heaven, we would be treated like king & queen, the 1 box of instant noodles Peggy brought would probably shared over a few household for mths and here dying from starvation & illness is common, hygiene is a problem they do not visit a doctor, they do not wash their clothes as there is no water for washing, they would wear them for months before using it as rags. Sigh..I cant say more but to empathise with them & thanking God for what I already have and how blessed we are in Singapore. Travelling into the “jungle” when they say was a village takes a good vehicle & driving skill, kudos to Godlift whom handle the bus like a piece of cake. Paths which they called roads were stony, hilly and winding travelling by Jeep took us almost 45 mins, let alone going by foot & during monsoon such roads become dangerous slippery & muddy.

My main purpose for this trip is to bless Budi & Peggy’s Orphanage, someone I have not met, Budi is a pilot with SIA, he has been flying for 32 years now, I went not knowing what to expect, but truly satisfied when I return not just with their warmth & friendship but with life experience learnt from a couple who’s down to earth, God fearing and someone with a big & compassionate heart for all young & old. They truly fit into the equation of a miracle. “Prayer + Compassion = Miracle” This is Jesus’ model isn’t it? It is no wonder how God has bless them with miracles after miracles.

From Budi I’ve learnt valuable lessons of back to basics, from padi, corn, peanut planting, cultivating seaweed to harvesting, sunning & processing them and eventually consuming them. This trip I’ve seen unprocessed cashew nut, many other plants that were purposefully planted in their “green” house.

Budi has a farm which was dry, parched and barren to begin with. Thank God just the beginning of the year they witness a miracle when they saw water sprouting from the artisan well, after the manual water drill has done it’s work. When the neighbor borrow the drill for their land, no water was detected! Apparently with the water running, they are able to have a single harvest that’s sufficient to supply 3 years of the orphanage’s consumption and even enough to give to the poor…such amazing providence!

Budi was sharing with us how the Roslin Orphanage has started , simply with a trusting & compassionate heart he was forced into buying a land from a couple whom he helped to pay off hospital bills & debts. Unknown to Budi & Peggy the land that they first acquired came as a barren land with rocks & wild weeds and no one would expect it to develop into a orphanage a few years later. The orphanage grew from a little hut to a big house with a couple of rooms, kitchen, outdoor washing area, a library, a green house, generator and their very own mobile water tank for buying water from town, the orphanage now comprises of about 30+ orphans, youngest being 1,5 mths old, the older girls would then help to take care of the younger ones, the older boys would help in other chores like planting, gardening, carpentary and suning of rice etc

Each orphan has a story to tell, their family background and how they were abandon could bring tears to your eyes even by just listening to how Budi related the story of their arrival. Some of them came as babies. One came because the parents had no more money to feed the kid, another one was struck with poverty, when Peggy arrived in their house, they were too late as one child has already died of starvation, they only managed to take his brother…and the sad stories goes on…listening to these seems like a awakening call to all of us.

During our stay in Kupang, the couple has rushed out a room for us in their half completed “Homestay” putting in air-con, new bed, lighting and water were specially pumped into the toilet for our use.

From the few days with the captain I have known him to be very different from what I expected of a captain, he has no air and he treated everyone with respect. God has truly given him a big heart and a heart for the lost & the destitute. A father to the fatherless. He is visionary , has big dreams to start a school for the poor, to help the farmers, to help the uneducated & to provide English lessons for every child in the orphanage.

As for Peggy, she mothers the children and run the activities of the orphanage, her cooking is commendable, her sambal chilli taste sedap! She cooks for the orphanage and had even cook for 900 people by blessing a couple friend during their wedding…such magnitude of generosity.

Mark & myself would like to thank Budi and Peggy for their time, their hospitality bringing us to places that no tourist agency would even have packaged for us. On the whole the trip turns out to be better than what I can ask for, heartwarming and educational, I left Timor with memories and gratitude, I am sure I will be back with more friends, friends who has the heart for the lost. The journal that Mark, Jabez and myself wrote speaks loud and clear for the very fulfilling trip we had, be sure to join us next trip!

6 Sep 08 Jabez, Serene & Mark

At Changi Airport departing for West Timor via Jakarta

Arriving at Kupang ” Eltari Airport ”

the entrance of Roslin Orphanage….. the address should be changed to the new address:

Roslin Orphange, Desa Penfui Timur, dusun 01, RT 01, RW 01, Kecamatan Kupang Tengah, Kabupaten Kupang, N T T, Indonesia.

our quality time with the children at the orphanage

Jabez sweeping the floor

our regular fellowship

we have joy to share , please come

any one to teach us a new song ?

the organic chicken laid the eggs under the wood piles

this is the way how the people preserve the corn above their cooking place for preventing the insects to eat them

the orphanage’s 10 year old generator for the electricity during the black out nights

the orphanage’s fantastic library and computer room

our precious time with the children

brand new projector and love gift for the orphanage from bro Mark Lee

toys and other gifts from bro Mark Lee and his family

organic mud crab

organic mud crab ….. ???? yes so yummy

working together since young among the children

come and i will sing for you

Thoughts from Mark…….

” I have seen what love can do to change the environment and offer hope to the hopeless. What generosity and dedication!… “

I recommend strongly that you bring your children to experience the poverty and the simplicity of life. No text book or teacher can teach you the necessity of life in a rural environment in Kupang. It’s an eye opener, I have not seen poverty like this for a very long time. What strikes me most is that the people in West Timur takes things in it’s stride. I still can be happy and contended with the little that I have! The environment is pristine and unspoiled as compared to Jakarta. I would rather live in Kupang, the air is so clean and unpolluted. I have seen social entrepreneurship at work. It is driven by the desire to do something for the down and out. Especially the orphans after the war with the guerrillas in East Timur. Most of the people on the Timur Island are Christians. I see many churches being built. Roads are also being widen. Double carriage roads are also built. Lots of work are done to upgrade the infra structure. I estimated that Kupang is about 40 yrs behind Singapore. There is a lot of work to be done. Capt Budi and his wife Peggy is in the right place and the right time. Their effort have help to alleviate the suffering after the war. The abject poverty is everywhere. There is much to be done. I see effort being made to get the economy going. I pray that one day West Timor will be able to contribute to the building of East Timur and there will be a mending of ties between the two neighbours who will share the island of Timur together. Let’s all the Christians on the Timor island get together to help each other to build for the future! Wars are for the politicians and generals. Our God does not condone wars, He is interested in the well being of each and everyone of us. Hallelujah! I will be back to contribute to the building of God’s Kingdom of earth!

going back with a richer feeling in life

the well that the orphanage dug up manually for 37 meter but found no water

the water truck that God providing for the orphanage through angel friend’s help

a fully grown eagle which was found when it was small and the mother dead by the road side under a collapsed tree trunk

Jabez posing in front of the orphaned eagle ha ha ha

everything is possible when we found this this God’s sent directly “drinkable” water

because of the precious water we can transformed the unproductive land into green paddy field and made the orphanage self sufficient on rice

Budi was making food for the chicken, geese and ducts from the powdery extra product when milling the rice from the husk into rice

Peggy and Martina’s quality time

was at the stage of mall nourished baby status before but I am ok now

I am happy and healthy , ready to join my other bro and sis at the orphanage soon

I am not sick any more , can not wait to go back to the orphanage

Thank you so much for your surprised visit , we really appreciated it .  We will visit you in Sydney soon ha ha ha .

Mummy Rae and Peggy with the latest baby Doreen

Ivan performing for Mummy Rae

Meneer Richard playing with the children

Julita clinging comfortably on Dia

listening to the children is very important

Richard helping us to carry our rice

Deddy Sukaryadi, Budi Soehardi and Mr Bill Whitworth in Sydney Morning Herald 1976

]]> http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/a-surprised-visit-by-mummy-rae-ricahrddia-and-priaty/feed/ 0 http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/the-children-are-growing-well/ http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/the-children-are-growing-well/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:12:46 +0000 CaptainB http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/?p=851

they were babies and now they are …………….

It is always nice to see the children to be together and doing things together hand in hand ( even though some time the quarells and crying out loud were made among them ha ha ha , that is being them as a children) . Interactions among them is a good thing , it is a good practice so that they can be a better person when they are out side the orphanage and being in the open society. So much to share and to teach them about growing up together and being member of a team . Team bonding and goal setting must be taught and must be praticed . It is not an easy job to do but it can be done nicely if all of us are realising who we are and what the common goals are. Team bonding is the very important for a common goal. Goals can be achieved at the greater degree and even higher if we are doing it together. Personal goals are also very important and this will be needing a strong personal attitude and full commitment from each of the children . It will be nice to see them one day to be a good citizen and being so loving to each other by realising that they were growing up together at this orphanage and being a member of a big family , The Roslin Family.

Peggy and the little Martina Bupe

Martina was on drips when she was born because of lagging on nutrition and now she is a cute and a healthy baby to play with ( any mummy wants to cuddle her ? please just come).

Alexandro ; I can stand up now and I will be a sprinter one day

rushing to go to school after the routine duty before going to school

Peggy and her quality time with the children

the quality time among the children

going off to school , bye

just read and enrich your knowledge

Sonny is playing with mummy Peggy

These happy condition is possible because of your help and care . Thank you to madam Adelina , Madam Lay Kean , sis Amy Lee and aunt Jeanne Patikawa for all of the vitamins that you have sent to us. Thank you to The Rotary Foundation and so many friends for the reading materials that we really need for the children knowledge development.

trying to teach some stretching movement on one Saturday morning

]]> http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/the-children-are-growing-well/feed/ 0 http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/god-meeting-the-needs-for-gerson-mangi/ http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/god-meeting-the-needs-for-gerson-mangi/#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 06:14:12 +0000 CaptainB http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/?p=850 Just few days ago we were so happy about Gerson being excepted into the medical school, short while ago another miracle has happened to our orphanage especially for Gerson.

Some 20 minutes ago some one very special who refused to be called an angel has told me that he will cover what Gerson’s needs to pay up his school fees for the next 3 years will be financed by him. The Lord has meeting the needs for Gerson indeed.

God has been working all along and His promise to be the providence has been revealed more and more by this news. God has been so faithful to us and it is for us to follow.

Our thanks to the Lord who has appointed this special person to be His angel.

Thank you angel person.

a visit by uncle Leo Nesnoni, lecturer Chris and pastor Jo Lenny

On August 24th the group came and we were having a great time. The students were escorted by uncle Leo Nesnoni,lecturer Chris and pastor Jo Lenny while the Van Deventer is being represented by Mr Rob Hartman , Eng PhD. It was a very productive afternoon indeed. Even though the students are Indonesian nationality, the talk was conducted in English. The students were Katharina Laetitia, Herry Fridolin Lalus, David Flick Lede, Sherlinia Rambu Anawoli, Afrianus Aman, Theresia Mako, Kartini Susanty, Dian Amalia Rusnadi, Farina Harijanto, Angelina Putri, Agrisany Stevany K, Dewi, Inggrid Abraham, I Kagek Agus Artawan, Ayu Asri Devi Adityawati, Lenny Jo , Yesia Chandra Dewi and Mr Rob Hartman.

Every one was introducing them self and sharing with us how lucky there are to be selected as the Van Deventer scholarship recipients. But when we were listening to the story that lecturer Chris gave us , we are so happy that the children are getting a very solid example about how important to use your time wisely and efficiently. Lecturer Chris was almost stop studying when he was finished primary school. His father was a farmer and no ability to send him to study higher than primary school. One day when his father brought lecturer Chris’s primary school certificate to be laminated ( with plastic sheet) at a Chinese shop his life path has changed. The Chinese shop owner saw the certificate and he was so impress with the grades, The grades were so fantastic . The Chinese shop owner ask the father where is the boy is going for his education after the primary school. The father told him that the boy is not going any where because he can not afford it . He will be assigned to look after the animals and working at the farm , the main thing that he can read and write already. The Chinese shop’s owner ask the father to bring the boy to come to him and how is goes is later. When the boy came( Lecturer Chris was the boy) , the Chinese shop owner ask him to continue his study and he will finance him as high as he want it to be. Later on he is not only finance him but lecturer Chris has been made as his adopted son till now. Lecturer Chris was having the highest goal to be a primary school teacher when he was young but now he is a lecturer at University of Cendana and teaching Physic. He is also the leader representative of Van Deventer -Maas Stiching Institute and a figure that is giving back to the society in the form of giving free tuition about physic and many other things. His story was not only deeply planted to the children but to my self. Thank you pak Chris for your sharing to all of us. I must salute to the Chinese shop owner to have his heart and vision being so fantastic when he saw pak Chris’s certificate.

Miss Shierly showing such a joyful moment after watching Ivan (4) performing

Pastor Jo Lenny spending her precious time with the children

Educational toys from Van Deventer for the children, we really appreciate it

all of these children were “days old baby” when they came to us

]]> http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/a-visit-from-van-deventer-sponsored-students/feed/ 2 http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/togetherness-is-our-strength/ http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/togetherness-is-our-strength/#comments Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:03:20 +0000 CaptainB http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/?p=810

Quality time among the orphans

It can be a simple thing but if we are doing it together it be a very positive and so many things can be done nicely. Looking at this picture alone , we can see how close they are and psychologically they are bonding  strongly.  They were able to seat together and they can play games using their hands only. Many other games are played by them and if there is  a penalty , it will be in the forms of singing or such activity which they can do it firmly but happily. It is always rewarding to see them when the older orphan are doing it together. It always involve some skill or knowledge transfer among the older one to the little one. This attitude is what we want to be practicing  to make their togetherness productive.  By doing so the older orphans are able to reduce our tasks which our time can be used into doing some other things.

one of their favorite time together at the library room

Peggy making up the girl’s hair while Irene is dealing with Peggy;s white hair

together eating on table

together eating on the floor

The togetherness is very important no matter what they are doing. For example eating together on the table or on the floor. These two simple things can generate some sort of survival skills about excepting things and dealing with it the best they could. Another case can be taught is to wash their clothes both manually and by using a washing machine. From the cooking side , we can teach them how to use the wood to cook and cooking with the gas stove. It will be nice to know things and able to do things in so many ways.

Your time is the most precious gift which you can give to the orphans. Simple knowledge about the animal in the zoo can be a great lesson to them. Showing what a train like and explain it to them is a grand thing to the orphan ( there is no train in Timor.  They are seeing aircraft every day as we are so near the airport but not a train). When we are looking at the dictionary which containing lots of pictures, we can tell them better. There is a great book of such which we bought them in Singapore some time back. The book has some 4000 pictures with solid explanations. From this book the older orphan is getting a big if they want to improve their vocabulary. The little orphans can start knowing so many things by recognizing the pictures.   I am planning to buy some more this afternoon , it is a really a great book to buy ( sad to say that 4 books were missing , 2 may be stolen and the other 2 was missing because of the big flood in Jakarta ha ha ha . That time I was asking my friend to bring the book to Timor  but while the suite case ( full of books) was at his house , the flood was washing off all of his belonging including the suit case. There were some educational videos too in it).  It is not easy to teach them English because they are also still learning their local language as well.  Teaching Two language at once at the early age ? Hmmmmmm. We need a lot of time and skill to do it properly. It will be easy to teach them a single language ( any language ) but not two at the same time. Any way we are doing our best with all of our short comings.

Just do it together

Janson, Ivan and Tia

Tia and Jen, sisters made at this orphanage

]]> http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/togetherness-is-our-strength/feed/ 0 http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/this-is-not-a-child-labor-but-our-togetherness/ http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/this-is-not-a-child-labor-but-our-togetherness/#comments Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:09:21 +0000 CaptainB http://www.roslinorphanage.org/wordpress/?p=799

Things that being done not according to our will, will be a hard thing to and surely our mind will be unhappy and we will be tired physically as well mentally. In the other hand if things are being conducted with such a togetherness spirit , not only the result will be great but we will not endure the mental tiredness.

our own cleaning team cleaning the gathering place together

Pritty , a primary 2 student washing her own uniform manually

It was so funny to see Jen ( almost 2 years old) trying to sweep the floor while on the other hand is still holding the biscuit. We kind of let her do it as we want her to get the chance to have her freedom upon using the broom. After seeing the older one doing it every day , Jen was tempted to copy it without any instruction from others. We really value her initiative . As on the team cleaning picture , we are also happy to see them doing it without any unhappiness feeling. The spirit of togetherness is very important to keep and even to improve it. By doing so the cleaning matter and for every thing else will be quite easily conducted . The main thing to tell our self ( them) is how can we keep this togetherness spirit. To be self sufficient on every thing is very important and it has been the orphanage’s goal since in the very beginning. For Pritty , we are so happy since she was 4 year old , she has been able to help her younger “bro and sis” in the form of changing clothes, spooning the meals and many other things. Pritty has been washing her own uniform right after the lunch period. It is great to see practicing her awareness to make sure that she will be wearing a clean clothes every day by washing her own uniform timely. These time is ok on drying clothes because of plentiful sun shine but during the rainy months the Sun light will be much less and the air will be so damped thus quite difficult to dry up the laundry. The rainy season will be form 2nd week of November till February. So even though she does not need to ash it every day ( she has few uniforms) but seeing her doing it as to make her self a back up is really some thing that I can also learn from what she has been doing.

Many things can be done in the spirit of togetherness at the orphanage. For example we do not need to worry when the older orphans are around , they will be playing or making up a quality time with the little ones. It has been great to see them interacting and filling up the time with games and even in the form of assisting home works. There are sadness too if we are seeing that the older orphans were unable to answer the questions from the little ones . This is a frequent case if the subject is English ( because the older one are also very weak on this subject ha ha ha ). This is a good time for us to come in and assisting them. This is the very important factor that the people in this place is not able to make a big progress. By lagging in English language it will be hard to be able to progress further . It will be hard to make a break through else where. By having a reasonably a good English language knowledge , we will be able to explore more globally. One day we are hoping that we will be able to provide the orphanage with a person or some persons who is/are willing to spend time at the orphanage to teach the orphanage children as well as the village children. So far only my father in law which has been doing it beside our self but Cornelis Lakusa ( my father in law) is currently in Singapore for his medical matter.

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