Indonesia
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Hi my names Aldi and I live with my family in Kampung Dongi, South Sulawesi, Indonesia which is situated 5 minutes from Sorowako town. Myself and my family are currently running a project that focuses on building traditional houses in the village. These traditional houses are very important to the local community as a way of preserving our culture and traditions. The houses are being built in the mountains close to our village in a beautiful area over looking Lake Matano. The surrounding area is of lush rain-forest with plenty of small streams and local wildlife. We are also preparing and cultivating a small farm\garden area where we will grow banana trees, cassava and many other local crops.
We also run an after-school programme for the local children and young people. This consists of English conversational classes and traditional dance. The English classes are something we really need volunteers for as we rarely come in contact English speakers apart from volunteers.
My mother runs the dance classes in the village. We were recently a part of a Traditional Culture Festival in Palopo where we performed for the King of the Luwu Region. We now have the opportunity to visit other areas and possibly other countries and share our traditional dance and culture with them. My mother alongside other members of the community made the traditional costumes for the dance, something that volunteers will also have the opportuniy to learn while staying with us.
And i have organizations moving in the rescue job, like live guard in the big lake in our village, some medical backups rescue for big events, and sometimes we are helping people when they are in the car accident or motorcycle accident. And my rescue organization we are just like volunteers organization we don't get pay but we are get help from government and another company for facilities for rescue job.
You can fly into either Makassar or Palopo and from there buses to Sorowako are easily accessible and very comfortable!
As you will be staying in a very rural and traditional area we ask you to respect that and dress appropriately. For example wear shorts to the knee, however sleeveless tops are acceptable.
We are really looking forward to welcoming you to our village!!
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Farmstay
Help with Eco project
Language practice
Art project
Help with Computers / internet
Teaching
There is a great opportunity for cultural exchange here as you will be fully immersed in village life. Many in the community do not speak much English so we will be delighted to teach you some Bahasa Indonesia and also some of the other local languages such as Bahasa Bugis and Bahasa Dongi. We will share with you our traditional dances and would love if you could show us some dances from your own country in return. WE play alot of music here and would love for you to join with us. You can also learn to cook local dishes and just generally experience our way of life and hopefully teach us something about life in your country.
The main activities regarding volunteer help will be building the traditional houses and running the English classes. The construction side of things will entail collecting materials from the forest, helping build the houses, maintaining the garden and planting more crops. Don´t worry if you have no construction experience, we can show you what to do, you just need to be willing to make an effort and try new things. We are also of course open to new ideas and any knowledge you can share with us.
The English classes usually last for one hour on week days. There is a mixed level and age-group so if there are more volunteers with us it works to split the class into groups, however if not the class runs smoothly all together. We are really focusing on conversational English and getting the young people used to speaking in English. Games and activities through English work well, especially for the younger children. If you are artistic we would be delighted if you shared any ideas on how to decorate the classroom.
Apart from that volunteers can get involved with the community and village life by participating in the dance classes, going to the market and making traditional costumes, for example.
English and Indonesian
Volunteers will stay with me and my family in our home. We have a room with four beds for volunteers. The accommodation is basic but comfortable. We hand wash our clothes but if you want there are laundry services available in the village. We don´t have electricity but have a generator which we use in the evening for light and to charge electronics. Delicious local food will be prepared for you. We generally all (including volunteers) contribute money to buy the ingredients but this is only a small amount each week as every one shares. We also drink a lot of coffee and enjoy local snacks throughout the day. We have plenty of motor-bikes (if you can´t drive we can teach you) for transport and a larger vehicle for group outings.
On your weekends off there are plenty of activities to keep you busy. The village is only 15 min walk to the lake where you can swim, kayak, snorkel, rent boats or come spear fishing and free diving with my spear fishing organisation. The lake is massive and has hidden caves you can access by boat. There is also a lovely green area surrounding the lake where you can hang out for the day, have picnics, do yoga etc.
There is an amazing waterfall close-by where you can also swim and climb to the top and jump in.
We are surrounded by mountains so if you are interested in trekking and camping this is the place for you! There are also opportunities for mountain-biking and motor-cross if that interests you.
We are 2 hours from the coast if you would like to try spear fishing and free diving there for a change from the lake.
Toraja, a well known tourist destination is only 4-5 hours away and easily accessible by bus. There you can visit the UNESCO World Heritage site and also see unique burial sites in the cliffs and view beautiful traditional houses.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
More than two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
