And now, let’s hope! Hope we’re all in sumba, on the school site that will be tomorrow. Hope is an order for material to rebuild which almost all have been placed with our suppliers. Hope to know that by the end of October 2020, a new school will be built, more beautiful and stronger than ever, and that 65 children in the area can then go there without having to walk far.
Hello, Dear friends, my dear friends and dear family,
May all go well for all of you!
I am writing to you about the construction of the Mbinu Dita school. You now know the context in my opinion; more than just a school, destroyed in December 2019 in a small village in East Sumba, perched among the green hills of the region. There is no water, no electricity, and the village is grieving for its learning center, culture, life: its school! Meeting places, activities, exchanges of all these communities.
In short, we rebuild it with passion, love, and also a lot of patience.
Be patient, because since its total destruction last December, the foundation and all the good friends who worked on this great project, have done a thousand and one things thanks to you, your support, your help, and your incredible generosity. We are all doing our best to revive mbinu dita school and community center.
But now, you all know the pandemic has spread there and we’ve put a lot off. It’s a lively, funny life.. Therefore we have suffered various events, but those who have paid the price more than others, are residents of this area, children who no longer have a place to go. Go, no more school.
Since the beginning of March 2020, we are all faced with an extreme emergency response that is feeding the community, tens of thousands of lives, families, children who are also no longer there to eat, more wash, protect themselves because everyone has lost their salary, their income.
In addition, COVID-19 in this region of Sumba-Est – which is one of the poorest in Asia – continues to wreak havoc, a real humanitarian crisis that is ignored or almost ignored by the Indonesian government. Then as if it were not enough, the damage of plants related to insects, especially the clouds of locusts that within 2 minutes destroyed the entire cereal field, especially rice, the staple food of the locals. Read the news about it here.
Before the Disaster
AND NOW, LET’S HOPE!
Hope we’re all now in Sumba, to the school site that’s coming tomorrow. The hope is an order of materials to rebuild them that almost all of them have placed on our suppliers.
The hope is to know that by the end of October 2020 a new school will be built, more beautiful, and stronger than ever, and 65 children in the region will then be able to attend school there without having to walk for miles. The hope is also to know that not 65 children will attend, but an entire generation of children who will develop new knowledge there, and will learn more every day. Thus the foundation will guarantee their future, as well as the means of livelihood so that their future is as bright as possible. This is our hope, this is what everyone here wholeheartedly expects.
FULL FRONT!
The plan is completed, the construction of the chassis and framework is completed. A company from Surabaya is responsible and operates its friendship network to help the foundation. Note that the owner of this civil engineering company is an extraordinary person, invested in the cause that we lead.
It is a huge challenge for all of us to coordinate all of this from our Base Camp in Denpasar and we no longer count home trips, meeting hours, tens of thousands of WhatsApp messages exchanged through our special group, which we name #BangunMbinudita (#ReconstruireMbinudita).
The first truck will arrive at the Mbinu Dita site in mid-September after traveling nearly 2,000 kilometers by road and boat. It’s a hell of a trip and the transportation costs for us are significant. We could have done without it, but unfortunately we couldn’t find what we needed to rebuild a weather-resistant school on Sumba Island.
It is also always surprising to think that in the poorest areas the ingredients become the most expensive! Part of the reason is Sumba is far from it all, I will let you open the google map here and surely you will understand.
The Mbinu Dita site in Google Map is here if you want to see where it is located.
So there are dozens of bags of cement, several thousand bricks, a few tons of beams, an entire roof, photovoltaic panels (so the village finally has light access to study), tanks to store this precious liquid. water (to be offered to communities and children). But also almost everything else that would be useful for us to build a school with three classrooms, a master’s room, a toilet, and a community center so that the foundation can organize social, cultural, medical, arts events in the long run…
Friends Andri, Kawan Gogon, Kawan Nofi, and others are now in Sumba. This week, all are on site to prepare the site, oversee the work, train the villagers who will help with the development. Tens of tons of gravel they’ll dig by hand, with some roughing tools. We were able to have excavators that we could use, but we had to take them from Waingapu, the largest city in East Sumba, which is more than two hours away by scooter. The thing is, it takes money and in these difficult times, we miss it. Everything increases, again and again, because every time a disaster hits the country (in this case the whole world). Like when earthquakes hit Bali, Lombok, Sumatra or Sulawesi in recent years. Each time, we were struck by a phenomenon that linked human suffering and monumental cost increases. Desperate…
Kawan Ayu, Kawan Alex, and one of our two volunteer architects will go to Sumba at 04.09.2020 for intense work during the week. We are delighted to find everyone else who has worked site.
Prior to the 2nd team’s departure, we will be working from our Base Camp in Denpasar to find the missing funds to ensure the school’s construction is completed, but also to arrange the purchase of the last base, delivery of materials, and prepare for the big event on September 12, which will be housed at our place in Denpasar to support the Mbinu Dita project.
After the Disaster
AND TO FINISH, CALL FROM THE HEART!
The Foundation, the community of Mbinu Dita, children and all who are working to realize this beautiful, large and indispensable project for this rural community ask for your help, your support. This is important otherwise we risk not being able to meet the deadline of the end of October for the opening of schools and centers in Mbinu Dita.
We lacked a lot of materials we had to buy: All the windows, all the doors, the electrical system for photovoltaic panels, the rainwater filtration system, enough to accommodate students as well, especially all the school furniture, as well as useful equipment for children aged 8 to 11 to study.
This corresponds to the amount of CHF more or less. 10.000.-. 10,000, – which we must find as soon as possible! So and on behalf of the Fair Future Foundation Switzerland, I asked for donations: to the Swiss confederation first, to its embassy in Jakarta from whom we are still waiting for a response. But also for all companies in Switzerland and elsewhere, individuals, public authorities, and all families who know how education is the key to everything.
- You can donate to your Fair Future Foundation account here:
- Or you can donate online through our fundraising platform, here’s the link:
If necessary and have all the necessary documents such as: Architectural plans, quotes, 3D movie construction, calendar etc… You can contact us via the foundation’s website here or by emailing Elisa or Alex by clicking here.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
