Philly Costello

One of the beautiful things about TCD (Transformational Community Development) is it is not a “cookie cutter” approach. It morphs, adapts and molds to fit the community and their needs. For the past three months, our team has observed that many of the kids in Camba Berua have difficulty resolving conflict. We’ve seen a few “yelling matches” and have even witnessed a couple fist fights. Last week’s TCD Kids lesson tackled this exact issue: “How do you resolve conflicts in your relationships?”

The lesson kicked off with a skit about two students. One of the students was being teased and could have chosen to be a “peace-maker” but instead chose to fight with the other student. 

As you’ll see in the video, the kids went nuts! They couldn’t believe that two “bules” (the name they give for foreigners) were pretending like they were fighting with each other! Jackie transitioned from the skit into some key questions, “So what happened in this skit?” “Kevin hit Phil and Phil called Kevin a sissy!” One of the girls yelled out. “Ok, so do conflicts like this happen in Camba Berua,” Jackie asked. “Yes!! We have fights at school all the time,” one of the older boys responded.

We divided the kids into small groups, and the discussions began. Each group began tackling important questions like, “Why do conflicts begin in the first place?”, “What can you do to avoid conflict?”, and “how can you become a ‘peace-maker’ in your relationships.” Our lesson ended with invaluable ideas shared and many “light-bulbs” coming on in the kid’s minds on how to become “peace-makers” for Camba Berua.  

Imagine for a second that you move to a foreign country for the next year, where less than 1% of the population speaks your language. How would you communicate with people? How will you find a decent place to live? How will you be able to order the food you want at a restaurant? How will you get around without getting completely lost? You might start with using hand jesters and trying to learn basic survival words, but the reality is you have to learn the language…and quickly.

For the past three months, I have been living in Indonesia and have experienced that exact scenario. I have used hang jesters, spoken in English with the hopes of people somehow understanding me, and have completely botched words, trying to use the local language (Bahasa Indonesia)… like the time I asked a woman, “How many delicious do you have (the word for kids is ‘anak’ and the word for delicious is ‘enak’)?” She stared back at me with a completely confused look on her face.

With the help of language school 5 days a week and being completely immersed in the culture, I can now hold a basic (and I mean basic) conversation with people. Here is a short video of what language school is like every day…

Last Friday, twenty kids sat in a circle, eagerly waiting for the second TCD Kids lesson to begin. Jackie Rahardja, GHNIs project manager in Indonesia, kicked off the meeting. “If someone came into Camba Berua and asked, ‘How do I get your house or where can I buy some rice?’ How would you tell them how to get there? You could give them directions and maybe they might get lost…or, you could show them on a map! Today we are going to work together in teams to create maps of your community, Camba Berua.” Jackie chose four leaders, placed each TCD boy and girl on a team and the fun started.

It was amazing to watch each leader delegating to their team, “Ok, Eva you draw the street where Akbar lives and Anggi, you draw our school…” With markers and crayons being passed every which way, each team diligently constructed their maps of Camba Berua.

As each team began to finish their replica Camba Berua maps, Jackie made an announcement, “Ok listen up guys! How many of you have ever thought, ‘Man I wish Camba Berua had a new school, a huge soccer field, or a mall’? Well now’s your chance. Each team is going to make their “dream map,” creating everything they want Camba Berua to look like in the future.”

“I want an internet cafe right by my house so I can check my Facebook everyday!” One of the teams shouted out to me. At first a few of the teams were kind of stumped, trying to really think, “Ok, what have I always dreamed of having in my community.” After a couple of minutes every team was drawing soccer fields, brand new homes, theme parks, playgrounds and malls on their “dream maps”.

Last month, GHNI kicked off a new program in Camba Berua called “TCD Kids.” The focus of this program is preventative wellness education. 70-80 percent of illnesses in communities like Camba Berua are preventable through education and the application of simple steps like properly washing hands and boiling water before drinking. Health clinics, doctors and nurses are extremely important to a community, but imagine the trickle-down effect if a community could even reduce their illnesses by 20-30 percent!

The lessons in “TCD Kids” are designed to educated, to enlighten and to encourage the kids of Camba Berua that they have what it takes to help them and their families start living healthier lives. Check out this video of our first week at “TCD Kids”. Each child was given a blank sheet of paper and was asked to use that paper to introduce themselves to everyone in a creative way. They could draw, cut  out or write anything they want on the paper to describe themselves…check it out!