Blog
Step By Step
I remember staring out the window in grade school hoping the day would end and summer would come soon. I know that far away look very well. I just returned to the U.S. after taking a team to work in the Hohidiai School. The children are advancing very well. It is a step-by-step process. I noticed the children who were struggling the most were getting a lot of after school help and they are moving forward and even the toughest children are seeing breakthroughs. There are a number of children in grade two who are very advanced academically....
read moreThe Ten
Ten volunteers will be traveling to Indonesia this week. These are ten amazing people who have skills that they plan to use while serving at the Hohidiai School. The school is two years old and has around 50 children. It is taught a half day in English and a half day in Bahasa Indonesia. The children are being exposed to two languages and they are doing very well. The school is accredited and seeks a very high academic level. The Ten will leave the West Coast of the U.S. and will eventually land on an airstrip cut out of the jungle during...
read moreAsminah’s Miracle
This is an awesome story about a changed life. Asminah is a one-year old girl who was born with a cleft lip and palate (see photo of her as an infant). She was brought to the clinic on the island of Halmahera where the extents of her injuries were assessed. The team led by Esther Scarborough arranged for her to go to Australia to repair her cleft lip and rebuild her face. She is the most recent child that IFC/Hohidiai has sent out of country to get medical help. She has a good prognosis according to Dr. David David of the Australian...
read moreUnearned Compassion
Trouble and confusion would be good words to describe the later teen years of my life. I wondered, “How can you be surrounded by friends and still feel alone?” I know I was not the only teen trying to navigate those years. I was not the only child to grow up with a dysfunctional home led by a single mother. There are many who, out of no fault of their own, face these circumstances. I met a couple who offered me a safe and nurturing home. I will never forget how Willy and Margaret Latham reached out to me in the midst of my struggles. Willy...
read moreNew Year
2013 is a fresh start — a road never traveled. It has 365 days of hopes and dreams. We all know it will bring its share of challenges, but IFC/Hohidiai has always faced each year with optimism and hope. Our passion is to help the poorest-of-the-poor as they come to our clinics and hospital asking for help. I so admire the leaders and staff at the base in Halmahera–they serve with compassion. They sacrifice so much to be a part of this work. We are so blessed to have them on our team. We will have more volunteers who will give...
read moreFriends Forever
You can call it fate or a Divine plan but over 50 children have come into our care over the last ten years. They walk around the base in Halmahera hand-in-hand or arms around each other’s neck. There are others riding bikes, sitting together, reading books or playing a game. Moses, Joshua and Yohanas who came to our base around the same time have become very close friends. These three are like brothers and even sleep in the same bedroom since they arrived as infants. They go to school together, eat every meal together and play together. Then...
read moreAmazing People
I get to travel with the most amazing people on this planet. They are a rare group because they travel to a remote region of the world, pay their own expenses and volunteer their skills and time. It is shocking when you think about it. These volunteers are: doctors nurses dentists counselors teachers construction workers computer specialists college students mothers retirees and farmers. They come from all over America and have one thing in common–they want to serve the poor in some capacity at our base in the remote Indonesia. These...
read moreMobile Clinic
Warm Waters of Kindness The location was a small island with only one village off the remote island of Halmhera. The medical team of Hohidiai and the Western volunteers boarded three boats for the 20 minute boat ride to our destination. It was a hot day that had threatening rain clouds in the sky. An hour after we arrived on the island the rain came in buckets but by that time we were already seeing patients. This was a mobile clinic to this village. The mobile clinics are important to the more remote villages because the sick or poor...
read moreUpdate on Tison
Tison spent 18 months in America where he received reconstructive surgery for burns to his face, arms, right hand, both legs and feet. While he was in the U.S. he became very special to his host family who sent with me several gifts in a big, Green Bay Packers bag for him. I got to take it and give it to him. He was so excited to get his gifts and card. He has grown a lot. Each time I see him I notice he is becoming a young man. He was also excited to show me that he could read and write. While he was in the U.S. he went to school where he...
read moreThe Children are Learning!
Viktor in School Voices filled every corner of the room as each class sang to the visitors. This is the second year of the Hohidiai School and it is so amazing to hear the students singing in English. The preschoolers are doing hand motions to the songs and singing with loud voices–the school is doing well. The bright eyes and smiles are so encouraging. We have seen good progress over the last year. All the children have progressed. Children who were struggling with their reading are now reading well. The four classrooms are orderly and...
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