| Hans van Sluijs in Indonesia |
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Hans van Sluijs, the coordinator of the Indonesia projects, visited the country again in November and December and reports about the local progress. "It was great to see the progress in the village of Sakaqlotoq. A lot of work was done to the fishing ponds. Four small ponds were made into one large pond, giving the fish have more space and oxygen to grow. And a reservoir was added to the water supply area, where the water level is higher than in the ponds. This enhances the water flow through the ponds. Next to the reservoir a so-called ‘treatment pond' was dug to measure the acidity degree of the water and add the required quantity of lime. All this has improved the water quality substantially and we now see Nila fish mate in the pond, which was impossible before. The problems with predators have been solved too: nets have been tightened over and around the pond and the pond is now lined with wood. Despite all the works the ponds have been able to make a profit in 2008, realising a sale of 373 kilos of chicken and 155 kilos of fish! There is a plan to join a more ponds in 2009. If the whole system of chickens and fish is well organized such a pond can maintain a whole family! The kindergarten is developing very well too. A block of land of 15 by 40 meters in the centre of the village was bought and the construction works can get started. In the village people are ready to help with the building activities. I have not experienced this before! The kindergarten has currently more than 40 children and teacher Louisa is doing a wonderful job. Because one teacher is not enough, Essa, a young woman from the local church, will be sent to Samarinda to receive the required education. We like to see this happen. Good luck Essa! We also enjoyed seeing that so many people, especially young people, attended a service in the local church. Thamrin, our project leader, told me that many more people, especially older people, have come to the church since November. This is special! He also told me that it feels like the sky above Sakaqlotoq has spiritually opened. He is convinced that the prayers in Holland can also help to make good changes happen.
The program for tree planting can unfortunately not start due to insufficient funding. But we found a forestry engineer in Saraminda who would like to help with the planting and the creation of an education program for the schools in Sakaqlotoq. This is a great blessing. God helps us to succeed!" |
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