IHF operates an Education Center in the Indonesian city of Medan.
The IHF Medan Center has the highest number of students attending classes on a regular basis. The centre offers daily English, Computer, and Math classes for students, ranging from SD1 level (first-year primary school) to SMA (senior high school) level. There are also IHF Education Program (TEP) students who live in Patumbak, a small, impoverished village outside of Medan.
Medan is the third-largest city in one of Indonesia’s main islands, Sumatra. The city has diverse communities that reflect its cultural history. Many tribes call Medan home including the Bataknese, Javanese, Melayunese, Chinese, Indian, Acehnese, and Padangnese. No other city in Indonesia has the unique cultural diversity that Medan offers.
Indonesia has a myriad of interesting tourist destinations such as artificial tourism and natural tourism, whatever tourist destinations you choose are all good, but of all that, the most important thing is according to the wishes of the visitors themselves. The city of Medan has artificial tourism in the form of a new recreational park which has recently become the centre of attention. on social media, namely The Le Hu Garden Medan, North Sumatra. Naturally, this tourist park is viral on social media, because it has a garden filled with beautiful flowers and various interesting photo spots.
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Travelling doesn’t have to go far just to feel the sensation of a memorable vacation. Tourists who live in Medan can also enjoy the panoramic sensation of the beauty of a large garden filled with flowers. It is enough to visit the Patumbak area, Deli Serdang which is not far from the location of the city centre of Medan, then you can already feel the sensation of the beauty of garden tourism which is soothing to the eyes.
The Le Hu Medan Park is a fun tourist location to visit, there is a wide flower garden consisting of various kinds of flowers and fish ponds, making this park tour in Medan the most exciting place to take pictures and selfies. In addition, The Le Hu Garden recreational park facilities are adequate, such as public toilets, fishing grounds, prayer rooms and food courts
Family Structure
Many of our students are raised in single-parent families, either by single mothers (whose husbands are deceased) who work as housemaids, pedicab drivers, or other labourers who make below-living wages.
With this type of family structure, it is difficult for people to offer their family financial security, especially when their entire income is solely dependent on whether they are able to find customers each day.
Some of the students who attend our IHF Medan Center have no other option but to live with their grandparents after their parents abandon them.At IHF Medan Center our goal is to help the children from these impoverished families be the next great leaders by expanding their knowledge and confidence through academic and social development. We want to help raise them up to be adults who will be competitive applicants for successful positions that will make a difference within their communities, allowing them to break the poverty cycle once and for all.
As time goes by, we have passed six months of this year. Pandemic is still going on and almost all of our activities are online. This month, our students have had their final examination in their school and a holiday is coming. Our volunteers always try to do their best even though it was so difficult to make a big impact for Medan Center children.
But we are so grateful that we can continue and make events for the IHF Medan Center! As it is still pandemic, we only opened online classes for our children for Junior and Senior High School. This month, our children study English and are taught by our Local Volunteers as their teachers. The class is doing with the Google Meet application.
Book Donations
We are so delighted because we can hold an Open Book Donation event. The purpose of this Book Donation is to expand the ability of literacy and reading habits for children, increase the social awareness of reading importance and widen the academic and intellectual knowledge of children. The -good quality used- donated books later will be useful and helpful for increasing the hype of learning and study class. We happily receive any theme of books, they can be education books, storybooks, novels, psycho test books, motivation books, encyclopedia books, atlas, etc. The Book Donation project will be held from June 1, 2021, to June 20, 2021.
Book Donations
We are so delighted because we can hold an Open Book Donation event. The purpose of this Book Donation is to expand the ability of literacy and reading habits for children, increase the
social awareness of reading importance and widen the academic and intellectual knowledge of children.
The -good quality used- donated books later will be useful and helpful for increasing the hype of learning and study class. We happily receive any theme of books, they can be education books, storybooks, novels, psycho test books, motivation books, encyclopedia books, atlas, etc. The Book Donation project will be held from June 1, 2021, to June 20, 2021.
Volunteer Gathering with IHF Indonesia’s Volunteers
What a great gathering that we could meet volunteers of IHF Indonesia from Jakarta, Medan and Bali Center. We did the online gathering but it feels like an offline gathering because we could recognize the IHF team who work and volunteer to make the IHF a better organization to make a big impact in society. We also shared one another and played online games about music. It was so fun!
MEDAN CENTER
WOW: MEET THREE AMAZING MEDAN PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN WITH IHF for over ten years each, and helped us soooo much! Learn about the MEDAN REUNION Ohhhh yes: This issue’s Medan is about three VERY SPECIAL UNIQUE SOULS IN IHFFirst there is our beloved Lissa who is not only a phenomenal dentist but best ihf volunteer ever! She is leaving Indonesia soon ( just for awhile) to join her beloved Fiancé in America. All her Indonesian family, friends and all IHF sad to lose her while also happy for her. Our CEO is happiest as Lissa and her husband will be in Arizona, not far from Carol in California! Lissa is working with Deny, Winda, SIti , and Dhea to help organize a TEACHERS REUNION gathering at the Center before she flies to the USA. We are soooo thrilled our darling past Director and incredible teacher SIti is joining this reunion and might be able to also teach one Medan class a week to the children again. YESSSSS! We miss and love Lissa and SIti soo much. Last but nothing least we want to share about Uwobilly Deny, a former ( and present) Director at IHF who for six years also helped a great deal with opening, teaching and managing IHF centers in the early years of 2002 and on. He has helped in all the centers including Thailand and Kenya.
Our Deny is a PEOPLE – PERSON and will greet all visitors and participants to his Medan Center with big hugs and song.
Deny doesn’t enjoy all our COVID mandated “online-teaching and activities”, but he adores live in-person teaching the children, organizing communities for needed projects and sharing culture with our foreign visitors.
He continue teaching live in Medan’s green zones, but disappointed when Government decided to delay opening Social Service and Community centers last minute. He understands the health safety need given the uptick in COVID again. Our children come from crowded slums and it would not be good if they spread Covid. Nor good for the IHF volunteer teachers that are so needed in schools. Of course, but it is hopeful we can open any day. Deny, Lissa, SIti from long ago are all waving with big smiles and giving a shout out to ANY PAST IHF TEACHERS & VOLUNTEER in Medan! Yes it’s been two years since COVID but we need you, miss you and our hopeful the government will say YES to finally opening any day. Deny also enjoys singing. As a senior in high school he got a job contract in Bali, after which he became a professional singer in Medan and Bali. Later, Deny helped at many IHF Centers as a director, teacher, and playing with children of different tribes. Deny says he enjoyed traveling with IHF, hearing all the languages, and meeting new children, who were “all the same; smiling and giggling”. Additionally, he took part in helping the IHF Aceh Center after Aceh was hit by the tsunami in December 2004. Deny says he is happy to be back, both with the IHF and singing. Yes– they are similar aren’t they? We are each a unique melody and when helping each other: a symphony.
We are thrilled to bring you a heartwarming story of resilience and community support amidst challenging times. Today, we shine a spotlight on our Medan center that has defied the odds and reopened its doors, thanks to the dedication and commitment of a new local volunteer.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Medan, like many other cities around the world, with devastating force. As the city grappled with the health crisis and the subsequent economic downturn, many NGOs and community-based organizations faced significant challenges.
However, the story does not end there. We have received a new wonderful local volunteer and he felt compelled to take action. Equipped with a deep-rooted sense of responsibility and a desire to make a difference, he stepped up to the plate and offered his time, skills, and resources to revive the center.
The reopening of the NGO has brought renewed hope to the community. There are ambitious plans on the horizon. Partnerships with local businesses, government agencies, and other NGOs are being forged to create sustainable programs and initiatives.
If you are interested in supporting the Medan center or getting involved as a volunteer, please visit our website at www.ihfonline.org
Together, let us continue to celebrate the resilience and compassion that define our shared humanity.
Read Medan Center Manual Here: