For one week starting April 26th, we welcomed a delegation of eight visitors from the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP), the organization that has produced the largest number of ARI graduates. Based in North Sumatra, HKBP is the largest Protestant church in Indonesia. Among the visitors was a graduate who is a coffee farmer from the Lintong region, famous for its delicious coffee, and they kindly brought a generous gift of their beans for us.
Of the eight visitors, four were graduates from the classes of 2006 to 2014, and two were spouses of graduates. As all eight members work at disability support facilities under the umbrella of HKBP, they requested to visit local social welfare institutions during their stay at ARI. To fulfill this, we conducted consecutive visits to several facilities: Nishi-Nasuno Kindergarten “Shalom” (a child development support center), Ma Maison Kosei (a support facility for persons with disabilities), and Elm Fukushikai (which operates facilities for people with disabilities, the elderly, and after-school care). It was a week filled with immense learning for both our director, Osamu Arakawa and myself, Tomoko Arakawa, as we accompanied the group to provide transportation and interpretation.
On their final evening, an “Indonesian Night” was held, where our guests delighted the ARI community with authentic Indonesian cuisine and traditional songs.
