Hello from Nipa Island

What would you do if you were stuck on a passenger ship for two days and two nights? Anita and Dana, two MSI TransformNation graduates on their way to Nipa Island, used their teaching skills!

 

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This is not a luxurious cruise ship. You don’t have a private room and you sleep on a thin mat on the ship floor with hundreds of other passengers. Traveling on a passenger ship is the only way to get to Nipa Island. You have to be prepared to spend days with hundreds of other passengers in the same big rooms. The ship only provides space to sit and a place to put your mat. No comfortable beds, private rooms, or separate washrooms. These are typical conditions when traveling to remote islands in Indonesia.

But this didn’t get Anita & Dana down. Even with the pandemic risks lurking in every corner, their eyes were set on something bigger and more beautiful: the lives of children. They started teaching on their first day on the ship when they met a little boy who struggled with reading. Their intuition as educators told them to do something, so they spent the next day trying to get close to the boy to help him.

Now, they teach 38 kindergarten students on Nipa Island. The month after they arrived, they were able to meet their students at the school. But as the Covid-19 cases rose on the island, the local government restricted more activities, including schools. It’s been two months now since the children have had to study at home with lessons being sent to their parents by Anita & Dana.

Click on the pictures below to see their journey!