He came to our open arms when he was an infant. Moses arrived at the Hohidiai Children’s Home same time as two other boys and they were the same age. These three grew up together and were inseparable. If you saw one, you knew that the others were close. Moses was the quiet one in this trio. He watched and was more thoughtful than the other two who would jump in and ask questions later. Moses went thru a challenging time last year. A...

I could see the new elementary school site near the city of Tobelo had a sight slope to it. Little did I know, it is way more detailed than that to have a site map. Jim, an engineer from Alaska, volunteered to complete a topographical survey of the six acre new Hohidiai school site. Remember this is tropical island with jungle. It has a beauty but is hot for Alaskan volunteers. The team worked with modern instruments–transits, tripods,...

It is one of the saddest things to see–the suffering of an HIV/AIDS patient. I recently became acquainted with Paul Schneider Jr. who leads AID for Children. They have been working with AIDS affected children in Africa. His efforts have been recently studied in Kenya where 250 AIDS children were given a vitamin supplement that has shown positive results. The Health Department of Kenya partnered with Aid for Children in a blind study to...

Everyone reading this blog has faced challenges in their lives. Challenges come in many forms–some can be life changers others just ruin your day. A grandmother came to our clinic and asked for help for her and her granddaughter. When she told her story, she unfolded a story of the struggle to survive. She was poor–not U.S. poor. Her challenge was NOT about living with only one family car or having basic cable service. She could not...

In almost any sport there are those who stand out who are ‘just gifted’. In music there are prodigies and virtuosos. It takes a lot of natural talent and hard work to become one of these ‘best in your field’ stars. We all had the kid in college who walks into class on the first day, and everyone knows the grading curve just got harder. We have three stars that I want to highlight. They are all in medical training. Nius...

Dr. Chris is from a lazy country town about 60 miles east of Melbourne, Australia.  As an average kid he had searched for the spark in his life that would make him feel alive and valued.  At 15 years old , Chris’s parents wanted to widen his worldview and took him to the Hohidiai medical base in Northeast Indonesia on the island of Halmahera.  Chris got an eye full of the challenges faced by those living in poverty. He saw the medical...

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...

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...

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...

More than eleven years have past since I first set foot in Indonesia. It was a life changing experience to walk in the refugee camps and witness the sad struggle of thousands of people. Now, a decade later, those memories set the direction of our work. We have a passion to serve the poorest-of-the-poor in the remote island of Halmahera. The challenges are always before us–funding–medical resources–training of...