See Indonesia through the eyes of an Expat

We are catching up with a building/renovation project that is almost complete. However, you will need to watch a few episodes to get caught up. We are starting from the very beginning, and adding some of my teaching content from September. I teach at Sopo Safari, a ministry that serves a population that mostly subsists from sorting through trash and selling recyclables and secondhand treasures from the city dump. Later I take a trip to Sipitu-Pitu to teach, which is a weekly journey. I'm sorry that my content isn't the best. I've been so busy that I haven't taken the time to do a better job. This video is mostly for my supporters, but I hope anyone else can find this interesting.

We only have one bus to do everything we want. We were able to get a decent bus at a good price. Went through a lot of legal hoops to get it transferred to us, but finally it's totally legal. I want the bus to: safely haul passengers, haul goods (farm produce, etc.) and materials (cement, gravel, rebar, etc.), travel on long trips and in the mountains, be an ambulance, etc.. It had a half door at the bottom the provide about a half meter of room to slip luggage behind the back passenger seat. It was not useful for us. So, I opened the entire back and will frame the back to have the window open upwards, and the bottom half be two half doors that open to the left and right. We must treat a lot of rust with anti-rust primer, and do a lot of cleaning prior to painting.

I've been working on our homeschool's bus. Here in Indonesia, it is common to paint over the problems both figuratively and literally. So I've been working on our battery. If possible, I'd like to save it. It costs more than I'd like to spend to replace it. I bought a charger and have been trying to repair the battery with a repair setting. It is slow progress. However, I saw a YouTube short (can't find it now) that show a mechanic throwing a dead car battery across his shop floor. He said the jolt of the throw moved the sulfate crystals on the battery's lead plates, reducing the resistance and increasing the charge. Well, there's no way I am going to throw my battery that hard...I don't want to chance breaking it. So I decided to a more gentler approach and dropped it multiple times from an inch or less. Within seconds, my batter increased in charge. I tested it multiple times, and found this method to work. However, the charge would only last a few minutes, as seen in the video. But I believe this method is good for an emergency start.

The last of a three part series, we experience remote village life in Liang Merdeka. We stay with my Sembiring family. Two young girls learn to floss their teeth for the first time. There's no dental care in this village, most likely not for at least three hours away. We go on an amazing jungle hike to a beautiful virgin jungle forest and a hidden waterfall. Sorry, the waterfall footage will be in another video. We finally head back on an overloaded 80's Toyota Landcruiser. I need to get one of these Land Cruisers. The next video will be on the progress of our bus.

It had been one year since we had visited this village. These are beautiful people. Life is simple yet hard. The available education is not so good, and is often out of reach. Most people use a community bathroom for washing dishes, doing laundry, bathing, and other bathroom uses. There is no privacy once entering the men's or women's side. Although it smells a bit unpleasant, there is a constant flow of spring water that can be drunk constantly gushing out of several pipes on each side. With a couple of thousand dollars, this bathroom facility could be totally rebuilt with a section for dishes, a section for laundry, bathing, toileting with privacy. They don't need this, but I think it would bring a little more joy in their lives. They also need access to healthcare. The access they have is sporadic and cannot provide much services. We have a dream to establish a center for youth and adult education, as well as an emergency first aid and basic medical treatment room, and a business and sustainable agriculture office. Stay tuned for part C.

We've had too many irons in the fire for so long. Finally we are addressing our store, which has been long neglected due to other priorities. We have a full time staff, so now we can focus on growing. This is our second month since formally restarting. Prior, Mama Pia was running her own business from our store, but was seriously struggling, so we took it over, and she now has more stability as an employee. We have a lot of dreams for this store, but profit margins and funds are low. We need to change the sign, get more stock, enlarge the bathroom, and reinstall the toilet. We would also like to add some features to reduce road dust and noise, as well as installing an AC. We also would like to get a large refrigerator. We'll later sell prepared foods.

We took a grueling trip into the Aceh forest three to four hours away from Kabanjahe, North Sumatra. We asked our friends to arrange for the bus to wait for us and reserve two front seats, but things fell through. In the end, we ended up staying the night in Bintang Meriah, three hours away from our final destination. You'll see our journey from Bintang Meriah to Liang Merdeka. We climbed steep mountain roads that were mostly very rough and jarring. The views were amazing...if only the busses or Land Cruisers were a little more comfortable, it would have been an even more amazing trip. What makes this trip so special, is of course the people. We love Tanah Karo (The Land of the Karonese). This land is host to many farms of corn, candle nut, cloves, tapioca, bananas, papaya, vanilla, coffee, chocolate, and so many others. The high mountains are so beautiful. I wish we had a helicopter to explore them easier. I saw some limestone cliffs that made me curious about caves (goa) and other things to explore. I hope to visit this place for a week each month and provide basic education for the village.

This school requested that I come to their school and open an English course and help their teachers with international teaching techniques. I'm hoping to get some donations to improve the school so that is can attract more students and tuition to make the school more sustainable. Presently, students pay less than $1 a month for tuition, where nearby schools that are nicer charge around $30 per month. Teachers are paid about 1/4 of what local teachers make in government schools, which still is a low wage. I hope to make changes so that education improves and the wellbeing of the teachers and school administration improves as well.

After our tire exploded on our bus next to the new toll road construction that connects to Pematang Siantar, and we installed our twice repaired spare tire, we made it to the nearest town of Tebing Tinggi, where we were able to find a tire dealer with a decent new replacement for our two rear tires. Yes, we need to buy all four and a fifth for the spare, but as finances allowed, we got the rear two. Setelah ban kami meledak di bus kami di sebelah pembangunan jalan tol baru yang menghubungkan ke Pematang Siantar, dan kami memasang ban serep yang telah dua kali diperbaiki, kami berhasil sampai ke kota terdekat Tebing Tinggi, di mana kami dapat menemukan dealer ban dengan pengganti baru yang layak untuk dua ban belakang kami. Ya, kami perlu membeli keempat dan kelima untuk cadangan, tetapi jika keuangan memungkinkan, kami mendapatkan dua bagian belakang.

We need to build a table to hold this.

We were driving our 2007 Isuzu Elf bus to Medan, and just as we approached a construction zone, where they are building the toll road connection from Medan to Siantar, our tire exploded. Mind you, this bus has loose steering, no ABS, and whenever I push the breaks hard, it wants to deviate to the left. I may have a lot of driving experience, but I thank my God and angels for keeping us safe. We had to send our spare tire to get filled twice and repaired once, as it wasn't holding air from the first filling. Thankfully, there was a road construction worker who was able to take our spare tire to the nearest tire center and have it filled and later fixed. In part two, you will see our solution to our old tires. I like to keep safety equipment in our bus, that is why we wore reflective safety vests. I hope to add to this equipment in the future. Kami mengendarai bus Isuzu Elf 2007 kami ke Medan, dan tepat ketika kami mendekati zona konstruksi, di mana mereka sedang membangun jalan tol penghubung dari Medan ke Siantar, ban kami meledak. Ingat, bus ini setirnya kendor, tidak ada ABS, dan setiap kali saya menekan rem keras-keras, ia ingin melenceng ke kiri. Saya mungkin memiliki banyak pengalaman berkendara, tetapi saya berterima kasih kepada Tuhan dan malaikat saya karena telah menjaga kami tetap aman. Kami harus mengirim ban cadangan kami untuk diisi dua kali dan diperbaiki sekali, karena tidak menahan udara dari pengisian pertama. Syukurlah, ada seorang pekerja konstruksi jalan yang bisa membawa ban serep kami ke pusat ban terdekat untuk diisi dan kemudian diperbaiki. Di bagian kedua, Anda akan melihat solusi kami untuk ban bekas kami. Saya suka menyimpan peralatan keselamatan di bus kami, itu sebabnya kami memakai rompi keselamatan reflektif. Saya berharap untuk menambah peralatan ini di masa depan.

Expat teaching in Indonesia. EMT fixes severe abrasions on motorcycle accident victim with limited supplies [please donate for my full medical kit and recertification here in Indonesia.]. The lost sheep invade our home! Batak marriage tradition mixes with baptisms and church membership ceremony. Ediyanta climbs for coconuts on an ant infested coconut palm. Bule cuts open a coconut and shares the juice and meat. See our new music and math teachers! Pengajaran ekspatriat di Indonesia. Medis memperbaiki lecet parah pada korban kecelakaan sepeda motor dengan perbekalan terbatas [tolong donasi untuk perlengkapan medis lengkap saya dan sertifikasi ulang di Indonesia.]. Domba yang hilang menyerang rumah kita! Tradisi pernikahan Batak bercampur dengan pembaptisan dan upacara keanggotaan gereja. Ediyanta memanjat pohon kelapa di pohon kelapa yang penuh semut. Bule membelah kelapa dan membagi air dan dagingnya. Lihat guru musik dan matematika baru kami!

Today I start my journey to use my social networks, communities, churches, schools, workplaces, and those of my friends and family, using an admirable cause that I actively support, to increase my subscribers and social media watch time. I believe anyone that is passionate about something that others can support can find the support they need using these techniques. My mission is to provide a quality education to those without access here in Indonesia. I take the students that have fallen through the cracks, and bring their capabilities up as high as I can with the resources available to me. I aim to build schools, including a university to teach teachers, doctors, and nurses. I also aim to build my YouTube to the point that I have another income stream that can further support my goals.

I go on a journey to Medan from Pematangsiantar to buy a 2 horsepower AC. The journey takes all day, but it is nice that the return trip is by a really nice bus. A few days later we are able to have the AC installed. We open our English course to K-College, and have students at all levels. We celebrate the birthday of three of our student's father. My wife made a delicious Chocolate Walnut cake. If you live in Siantar, you can order one if you like. Just leave a comment. We have had Pathfinders and Adventurers before, but we are trying to open a formal branch. We are also seeking donations for uniforms and such. I hope you enjoy this video. ~Josh

This summer has been crazy! Githa went to Batam and Malaysia to look at the job market there. I joined the Batak Karo tribe and Sembiring Clan. I traveled deep into the mountains of the Aceh forest to look at potential sites for building our school. In the end, it seems the remoteness is a problem. We will look for land closer to Pematangsiantar to build our school. We can always bring students from the mountains to live with us. Enjoy taking a look into our daily lives, and the events of this summer. Two of our students (Orissa and Putri) have moved to a high school in Medan. We miss them very much. And Elya is at a college preparing to go to Germany to become a chef. Lady is in Bali, she's preparing to get married soon. And our next video we'll be looking at some new adventures and opportunities that have been happening this Fall.

I haven't shared a video in a while, but I have a lot of content I need to edit and post. Here's the first installment of that content. Part 1: I take a shortcut through our neighborhood to our store where I look at our construction progress on expanding our roof. Edi is helping Andre, and learning a few things about building and welding. From there, I catch a public transport minibus to the mechanic's shop where there fixed our bus. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to last long. It is difficult to shift the bus. It feels like I must negotiate a maze to find each gear. I believe it has something to do with the linkages. The mechanic fixed it to about 80% of normal, but after a short while it seems to be about as bad as before and it costed us almost $250. When I asked the mechanic if he could improve on the fix he made, he said I needed a new transmission. I don't think that is the case, I believe it has something to do with the linkages. But, I am not a mechanic. I think they do poor quality fixes that only last a short while. I think they may have difficulties finding the right parts, so they just jerry rig something together. Sometimes their ability to make something work with pieces of trash is admirable, other times it is frustrating. The reason I've added a large burner to our store is because we needed another burner. Plus, we don't have a large burner for a large wok. Sometimes we get orders for large portions of fried rice, and don't have the capacity to make it. I'll share an update on the stove, as this video doesn't show the conclusion. Also, I must order a 90 degree connection for the gas hose online, as the local shops don't carry it. Then I need to install a heat shield around the area so that I don't cause a fire or heat damage to the electrical outlet and wooden shutter. Candra, who has has the most difficulty learning English did really well during his testing. He was able to recite from memory six full pages of sentences. Also, he is getting happier studying with us, which we are thankful for. Our school year has come to an end. All we have left is some fun activities and some final testing. Next year will be better, as we always find ways to improve. We hope to obtain some science equipment such as a microscope, a telescope, beakers, and other laboratory equipment. Although we can make due, we'd like to purchase a couple more laptops, especially as we expect to add a couple more students this next year.

Sorry guys, not our greatest video, but most of the content I think you will enjoy. I didn't do such a great job editing, and some of our activities we didn't get on video, just photos--so sorry about that. I will try to better next time. I really wanted to get video on cutting Lady's and Orissa's hair. I thought I did a pretty good job. I'll try and see if Githa got any clips and share in a future video. We put a priority to fix our bus because we thought we could transport some avocados to Jakarta for the village of Candra and create a win win for our ministry and the local farmers, but money and time became a limiting factor. But we still got important work done on the bus. We'll get it ready for next harvest, and or building our future multi-purpose building. We'll use the bus to haul cement and other building materials. Our bus is rated for 16 passengers plus the driver and more than five metric tons of cargo! We're hoping to raise $1500 to buy five acres of land, then we can start building.