The Indonesia Study Tour 2026 was held under the theme “Experience the Lives of Rural Leaders!” After the intense days at “Kenny’s Farm” covered in our first report, the group drove to their next destination: Nagasaribu in North Sumatra. In this second installment, we bring you our learnings at the activity base of ARI graduates Gani Silaban (2008) and Lampita Silaban (2014), along with our homestay in local households, traditional cultural experiences, and our visit to a nursing college.
■ Travel Log: “Seed to Cup”—Behind a Cup of Coffee and Community-Rooted Living As coffee farmers, Gani and Lampita have organized a local coffee farmers cooperative called the “KSU POM Humbang Cooperative,” powerfully leading their rural community. The participants were greatly inspired by their overflowing energy.
- Gani’s Session and Coffee Tour: As the representative of the cooperative, Gani is busy every day advising local coffee farmers, working on branding, collaborating with other NGOs and local governments, and educating the next generation. “You can’t do it alone, so organization and cooperation are important,” and “I simply love coffee,” he says. As Gani guided us through the coffee production process with shining eyes, participants could truly feel his strong and bright way of living.
- Homestay (2 Nights): Participants split into groups of two or three to do a homestay with local families. While facing challenges such as communicating across language barriers and bathing with cold water, we received warm hospitality, shared meals around a table, and fully enjoyed these once-in-a-lifetime encounters.
- Visit to the Cultural Experience Facility “Siholta”: Here, we learned about the culture of Batak people, the ethnic group native to the North Sumatra region. We observed houses with unique traditional architecture and experienced the lively Batak music and dance.
- Nursing College Visit: We visited Stikes KB Doloksanggul, where Gani teaches, and had a fellowship program with students who are aiming to work in Japan. In response to the local students’ wonderful dance and song performances, we introduced traditional Japanese games and origami. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, it was a time filled with bursting smiles.
■ Voices from the Program Participants (From the post-tour survey) The program participants provided passionate feedback after experiencing a different form of leadership from Veny and Kengo (featured in Vol. 1), immersing themselves in the deep local culture, and witnessing everyday life exactly as it is.
“What was common among the various leaders we saw was that they were full of energy. Seeing them give their absolute all for their missions was impressive.” “It was great to be able to experience Gani’s initiatives and Lampita’s activities, which are of a different type.” “Learning about the hardships of coffee producers and being able to imagine the production process added so much depth to my coffee drinking experience.” “Experiencing taking a shower with cold water, just like the locals do, was valuable. It was only a few days of living there, but my definition of what is ‘normal’ regarding home baths, toilets, and even wearing socks has changed.” “What left the biggest impression on me at the college visit was learning how the students think about Japan.”
This was the middle stage of the tour, where each program participant’s learning deepened further by witnessing leaders like Gani and Lampita working with conviction on the front lines of local issues, and by touching the reality of the people living there. These powerful experiences were thoroughly digested by the participants, leading to deep reflections and questions about their own “ways of life.”
Vol. 3 will be our final installment. We will report on our visit to a local elementary and junior high school, sightseeing in Parapat, and the community development initiatives by graduate Junpiter, which we briefly mentioned in Vol. 1. Stay tuned!
