My name is Judy Middelburg and I worked for the Red Nose Foundation in Indonesia, Jakarta, for eight weeks. I had a great time with a lot of surprising experiences. I went to Jakarta with the goal to have a different experience than the other journeys I made before. It was the first time for me to do voluntary work, I did a global community and development programme of AIESEC. I wanted to know what it was like to work at a foundation which is working in poor areas, because I never did something like that before. I hoped to experience what it was like to work in a developing area, to help the people over there and to develop myself, my English and to meet a lot of new people. I also wanted to learn more about the Indonesian way of living. When I look back, I think I succeeded in all of this!
I taught English and circus there, for children with the age ranging between 4 and 17 years old. Before I started working for the Red Nose Foundation, the RNF and AIESEC already prepared me about the areas and circumstances the RNF worked in. The RNF is working in two areas in Jakarta: Cilincing and Bintaro. They told me about the dirty areas they work: the poor houses people live in, the flies all over the place, the smell of rotten fish, the heat, but on the other hand also the motivating and enthusiastic kids. I thought I had a good view about the circumstances I had to work in when I had to go there on my first day. When we arrived in Cilincing I was really surprised by the circumstances the people really live in. You can’t imagine what it is like to live there until you go there yourself. Same story for Bintaro, again I was surprised to see how the people can live there.
I really liked it to see what the Red Nose Foundation is doing for all the kids in Cilincing and Bintaro. My colleagues were really involved in the work they do. They put a lot of effort in teaching, circus, helping the kids and arranging scholarships for them and a lot of other extra things and events.
Another big advantage of the Red Nose Foundation is the great team you work with. My colleagues showed me around during my first days in the neighborhoods they work in and they also showed me the way of teaching. They also told me a lot of things about the foundation and Indonesia. I’ve had a lot of fun with my colleagues. The working days were long and I had to put a lot of effort in all the activities, but the teaching and the great kids also gave me new energy while working. The combination of all these things makes it great and inspiring to work for the RNF. My advice to students who want to have an unforgettable experience and really want to do something good, want to develop themselves and help others, should really try to arrange an internship at the RNF. The help and coaching of AIESEC is also very good. They helped me with a lot of things and during my stay in Indonesia they organized a lot of nice trips.
I learned a lot about the culture in Indonesia, about myself and about poverty and grateful work. I didn’t expect voluntary work would be so great. In two months I really build up strong relationships with the kids, the foundation and my great hostfamily. The people in Indonesia are really hospitable and very friendly, I felt at home within one day. They want to share everything with you, even if they are really poor. The differences between rich and poor are extreme, it’s very tough to see that. My host family was really rich, which was on the one hand really nice because after a day of work in the slums in Jakarta it’s nice to have some luxury. But on the other hand it was very difficult to see that. Everything is different, everything is better organized in Holland. There are living too many people in Jakarta, they create their own employment to earn a little money. The traffic is crazy, Jakarta is one big traffic jam and the public transport is very old fashion and terrible. It was good for me to see those differences and I really realized how good we have it here. Religions is also very important in Indonesia (especially Muslims). I was surprised by the importance of the religion for the people there and I learned a lot about the religions and culture. I had a great time and I met a lot of wonderful people.
The whole AIESEC experience really exceeded my expectations and I can only advice other students to do a project via AIESEC!
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