Tuesday, 06 January 2009


Project South Sulawesi
Location
Sulawesi is a magnificent Indonesian island with plenty of emerald green virgin nature and fascinating cultures. It is located between Kalimantan (Borneo), Flores, the Moluccas and the Philippines. South Sulawesi is safe and pleasant for travellers, especially for travellers with a taste for adventure.
Rantepao is the tourist city of the cultural Torajaland. It is a small town, but has everything you will need during your stay at the Pak Project: banks with ATMS, a post office, internet cafes (with student discounts), travel agency, clothing shops, tailors, supermarkets, photo shops, telephone shops, karaoke bars, drugstores, a hospital and hair salons.

Pak Sanghalla is located about 40 minutes from Rantepao. It’s located near the hot springs and between the mountains and the rice fields of Tana Toraja. The capital city of Tana Toraja is Makale and is about 15 minutes from the project.

Travelling around
Tana Toraja (homeland of the Toraja people) is famous for the unique funeral ceremonies and graves. The temperature is mild, not as hot as in many other tropical locations. Tana Toraja is a cultural area of note, and it's worthwhile to visit nearby places such as Londa, Kete Kesu, Lemo, Makale and Sa'dan village. For a longer journey, the tropical beaches of Bira are recommended.
If you seek a larger city, Makassar is a fine destination for shopping and urban life. The national parks nearby are excellent destinations for those who wish to appreciate the island's natural beauty. You can book all kinds of trips and tours via Emerald Indonesia tours and travel, the Sulawesi specialists. You can book tours through Jan O. Staal as well.
After a long day of working or travelling, you might want to experience a traditional massage which can be obtained at the Toraja Prince Hotel in Rantepao. This hotel also offers courses in traditional Indonesian and Sulawesi cooking. Other memorable experiences available nearby the project are hikes in the nearby mountains and visits to the local markets, where the locals take out their rotten teeth. Also it’s nice to visit the hot spring pools near the orphanage in Sangalla, you can swim here in hot water and the sulphur water is said to be healing.

Detailed Project Summary
The primary goal of the project is to get the children acquainted with people from other countries and cultures. We believe that this cross cultural experience will enrich their future prospect. We also utilize the project contribution to buy better food for the children, as well as new clothes (uniforms), school materials, study costs, furniture etc. Notably, the project contribution now enables us to occasionally take the children on a short fieldtrip, which they greatly enjoy.
We do our best to make the volunteers as well as the children feel comfortable at the Pak Sanghalla. We will also do our best to help our volunteers experience the natural and fascinating local culture of Torajaland, as well as provide opportunities for social interaction and gain experience in social life abroad.

The team
There are a total of 5 employees at this orphanage, four family members and one employee. This orphanage offers a stay to about 29 children. Some of them are (half) orphans, some are coming from broken families. The children are between 5 and 18 years of age.

Project life Tana Toraja
Volunteers work 5 days a week. They will help the children with their schoolwork, especially in learning English and organize sport, games and other leisure time activities. The children love to sing, you can teach them English western style songs too. You also can accompany the children to their schools and see how the Indonesian teachers teach the children, so you can see the different between your country and Indonesia. You can help to give a structure to the orphanage, the final decisions are up to the management, but tips are always welcome.
Please note that this project has just started and we don’t have lots of school material, such as pencils, chalks, erasers, crayons, notebooks, paint etc. If volunteers are able to, we recommend bringing some of them to use with the children during their stay.

Health and Safety Procedures
The nearest hospital is about 10 km from the Pak Sanghalla and is located in Makale. We have a good relationship with the medical service for the children’s medical needs, and we contact the hospital if necessary for emergencies. Jan O. Staal is a former Ambassador of the Dutch Red Cross. He knows how to perform First Aid, as well as the supervisors at the orphanage. The orphanage is secured 24/7 and so we offer our volunteers a safe place at our project.

Transportation
All our volunteers live at the project. On their days off, they can travel via public transportation or by booking tours through Emerald Indonesia tours and travel. This is a good travel agency on Sulawesi and they not only offer Sulawesi tours, but also on other Indonesian islands like Java. Volunteers recieve discount on the service of this travel agency. The volunteers can sometimes travel with the employees of the orphanage if their schedule permits.