I had a fantastic two weeks volunteering with Manengkel Solidaritas. From the moment I arrived, I felt welcomed and at ease. Sella bought me medicine as I was sick when I arrived, as well as inviting myself and the other volunteers to their family villa in a nearby town, Tomohon for the weekend. 

 

At the start of the volunteering, we were introduced to the current projects and could decide the areas we wanted to help out with each week. I had the opportunity to visit Kapitu, a rural fishing village, where we helped monitor and plant mangroves as well as help the local women’s group prepare soil bags to grow oyster mushrooms, which they can sell for their livelihoods. We also spent a lot of time with the cute local kids, who were eager to learn English and we did some informal lessons and games with them on the beach. 

 

I also helped plant trees at a resort and at the foot of Mount Klabat, create some new webpages, create and publish new social media content and contribute to writing a new grant proposal. This made for a really interesting and varied time. It’s clear the charity are doing some incredibly important and impactful work here. I’d like to thank everyone again for such a warm welcome. I would love to come back and volunteer again if I get the chance.