Dongi Dongi Mission Trip - Days 16 & 17

Last Hurrah at Dongi Dongi

Today we headed out to Dongi Dongi for the third and final time; this time with Neville and Major Erik Kape onboard.  Before we left Palu we stopped by the Mecure Hotel to catch up with Commissioner Ros Poke who was finishing up her trip around Indonesia.  Commissioners Vic and Ros Poke were on staff at the Training College with Vic being our Training Principal when Nyoman and I were Cadets training to be Salvation Army Officers back in 1995-96.  It is amazing where God has led us each over the past twenty years and how our paths have crossed on this mission trip.

Like previous team members earlier in the trip, Neville was keen to get involved with rebuilding Dongi Dongi School.  Majors Paulus and Felma weren't home when we arrived, so we didn't waste any time heading up the hill to see the progress of the builders over the past week and to plan out our work for the next couple of days.  Once again we were amazed at how much work had been done!  The front verandah had been concreted, the brickwork was complete, internal walls had begun to be rendered, and the timber cladding was almost finished.  The builders weren't onsite, so once Nyoman and Eric left to return to Palu, Neville and I got started cleaning up the building site, emptying the classrooms of building waste and sweeping out a mountain of wood shavings and concrete dust.  The cloud of dust combined with our sweat made for one very dirty afternoon of work.  There was also a load of timber delivered on the side of the track out front, so we decided to haul it into the classroom that stored the remaining building materials.  Maybe we were just tired, but this load of timber was way heavier than a previous load that other team members had moved.  In fact, it had been cut thicker and was still very wet (that's our excuse, LOL).  

The Corps Officers returned home late afternoon to find our belongings hidden out the back of their quarters, so Major Paulus came up to give us a hand to finish off our afternoon of work.  As with previous team members, Neville and I were warmly welcomed into their home and blessed by their hospitality.  We engaged in conversation after tea with Major Paulus, without Nyoman present to interpet, and had a lot of fun teaching each other new words and phrases in our respective languages.  Despite the language barrier we managed to communicate well enough to enjoy each others company and discover new things about each others culture.

The next morning before we got back to work, I took Neville across to the old classrooms to see for himself the conditions in which the children were learning.  On our way out Nyoman had just arrived back from Palu and joined us for another day of hard work.  The job for the day was to level out the ground out the front of the verandah by 'cutting and filling' with dirt from the land beside the building.  A couple of local labourers started digging a hole for the septic tank for the toilets so we joined forces as we relocated the soil they dug out of their hole.  The speed these guys worked was impressive. 

After our lunch break we were amazed to see that they had dug their 3x3 metre hole to a depth of 1.5 metres and had built a lean-to shelter in the process to give themselves some shade while they worked!  Not to be outdone, Neville, Nyoman and I worked equally as hard to finish off our levelling, which required more and more fill as the gradient increased along the length of the verandah.  It was a very tiring but satisfying day of work.  

Leaving the building site for the last time was a little emotional after three weeks of working on this project.  Neville and I really connected with how Tony, Jill and Stav must have felt as they left Dongi Dongi knowing it would be the last time they saw the project before completion.  Yet, that feeling of sadness was mixed with a deep sense of satisfaction with the knowledge that together we had contributed to the rebuilding of Dongi Dongi School.  Our belief in the Corps Officer's vision for the school, our collective fundraising over the past twelve months and our presence on this mission trip is a significant investment into a community, a church and a generation of children who will be educated in these new buildings!  Praise the Lord!!

Dongi Dongi Mission Trip - Day 15

Eager Young Minds

One of the many joys of this mission trip is the diversity of unplanned ministry opportunities that have added value to our primary mission activity for both our team and hosts.  Last week I was asked to present a seminar on 'Problem Solving' to a class of high school students.  Today I was asked to present a seminar on leadership to a class of vocational school students.  Both seminars excited me as they appealed to my passion as a leader to equip others!

With the arrival of Neville last night, Nyoman seized the moment by offering Neville one of the topics he was required to teach to the same group of students.  Despite the late request, Neville stepped up to the plate and willingly accepted the offer.  So, Neville taught on 'Healthy Relationships', I taught on the 'Nature of a Leader' and Nyoman taught on 'Drugs and Sexuality.'  What a team!

One of the funny moments of the day was driving to the location of the seminar.  Due to an interruption by one of the Palu teachers as we were about to leave, we were running very late and the morning Palu traffic didn't help matters either.  Just as we were about to make a right turn at a main round-a-bout a police motorcade with sirens blaring entered the intersection stopping all traffic to allow them through. Except Nyoman!  He saw it as an opportunity to tag on the end of the last police vehicle and use it as a police escort. It worked!! The normally heavy traffic pulled aside to allow the police vehicles (and us) through, giving us a clear run all the way to our destination in a fraction of the time. Genius!
 

Dongi Dongi Mission Trip - Days 7 & 8

Student Dormitory

 

Over these two days we got to work on cleaning out the new student dormitory in Palu, which is still under the final stages of construction.  This facility needs to be completed by the 5th November and there still is a lot of work to be done.  Nyoman hoped that by us cleaning out the completed rooms it would create a sense of urgency and motivation for the builders to pick up the pace with a vision of the final product in front of them.  

The feedback we received from Nyoman afterwards was that our hard work on the dorms created some positive chatter among school staff and the builders who were surprised by our willingness to do the 'dirty' work.  This has provided Nyoman with a good platform for coaching the locals involved with this building.  Our work has also saved Nyoman a considerable amount of money and time on a project that is already way over budget and behind schedule.  While not the focus of our trip, these two days work have been of great assistance to the Palu School.

 

The night before working on the dorms I was asked to prepare and present a 1.5 hour seminar on 'Problem Solving' to a class of 40 high school students at the Palu School at 7:00 in the morning.  You can imagine that meant a late night of preparation!

 

The night after working on the dorms we were invited to visit a group of 50 students at a scout camp on the outskirts of Palu.  We got to observe a traditional bonfire ceremony and campfire singing by the kids.  This was another unexpected opportunity to engage in a familiar activity in a very different cultural setting.

 

Our mission team changed shape again with Tony and Jill departing for home, leaving Stav and I behind to continue work on the Dongi Dongi Project until Stav returns home on Friday and Neville arrives to join the team on Monday for the final week.