Baowei in Indonesia
Participant
How long did you volunteer? 6 weeks
Programme
Volunteering
Country
🇮🇩 Indonesia
Duration
6 weeks
Short bio
Heyy,
My name is Baowei, but everyone actually calls me Bo. I’m 23 years old and last year I took a gap year between my bachelor’s in Sport Management and Entrepreneurship and my master’s in Sport Business & Leadership in Amsterdam.
In the third year of my bachelor’s I did an internship at The Power of Sports, which was an amazing experience! I was already planning to go backpacking in Asia during my gap year, and when Oscar told me they wanted to set up a pilot group in Indonesia, my day was made. Actually I was far too late and the selection process was long over; five people had already been chosen for the group. But as the saying goes: nothing ventured, nothing gained. I rang Ruben to ask whether it might still be possible to join, and it was!
How satisfied were you with the support from Holland?
I’m very happy with Ruben. As mentioned before, he’s very flexible, thinks in terms of solutions and is always easy to reach. He’s also open to feedback and new ideas, and his enthusiasm is really infectious.
My story
“All in all, I had an incredible time. I fell in love with the culture, the nature and the food of Indonesia. What an amazing country!”
How long did you volunteer? 6 weeks · volunteering in Indonesia
In February I set off with five others (Puck, Teuntje, Nynke, Oscar and Jasper) to Semarang, where we were part of the pilot group for the new Power of Sports project in Indonesia. We were warmly welcomed by the whole Indonesian team; a fantastic group with loads of energy. Later Kat joined us too, which made the atmosphere even more fun.
Our task was to set up the project and improve it wherever needed. Together with the Indonesian team we took the project to the next level, with everyone bringing their own strengths. Because everyone had the same goal in mind and was flexible, critical, motivated and enthusiastic, we made a winning combination.
At the start there was still a lot to figure out. The original target group turned out not to fit The Power of Sports’ mission entirely. During our stay, however, we managed to visit several other schools together with the Indonesian team. At every school we were welcomed with open arms by both the pupils and the teachers. In the end we managed to add five new schools to the project. I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved as a team.
Sometimes the space at the schools was quite a challenge, for example when you were doing sport with 90 children in a tiny little square. But simply by switching on a speaker and dancing with the children, an amazing energy developed that everyone really enjoyed.
In our own house there were also a few things that could be improved at first, but bit by bit our stay became more pleasant. In the end Teuntje and I drew up an inventory document with suggestions for making the house more liveable and cosy.
As well as teaching sports sessions in the morning and afternoon, there was also time to relax. We had coffee at nice little coffee shops, watched series on the sofa, went out for dinner or did sport together. On Tuesday evenings we often organised a sports activity with the whole team, which was not only fun but also turned out to be an excellent team-building activity. We played football or badminton, or had a karaoke night planned.
On Fridays and Saturdays we often went out and about. We visited the Dieng Plateau, where we climbed a mountain during a stunning sunrise, or we went shopping in Semarang. Sundays were all about the communities, where we offered sport at various locations.
Unexpectedly we got a holiday because of Ramadan, which gave Oscar and me the chance to travel to Sumatra. That island is truly stunning. We went on a jungle trek there and saw orangutans. We also did some beautiful hikes and toured the island by scooter, past lovely traditional villages and vast rice fields.
Ramadan was a bit of a challenge for the sports sessions at first, because the approach had to be adjusted. Thanks to the team’s flexibility and creativity, however, we quickly found new, less intensive sports activities that suited the situation well.
All in all, I had an incredible time. I fell in love with the culture, the nature and the food of Indonesia. What an amazing country!
What advice would you like to give future interns and volunteers?
Enjoy your time in Indonesia. Before you know it, it’ll be over! Open your heart to the culture and you’ll get so much back in return. And above all, don’t forget to smile! 🙂
Oh yes, one more tip for the women: take some long linen trousers to wear during the sports sessions.
The photos of How long did you volunteer? 6 weeks
