Beginning of Summer 2011

I'm in Medan, my father and mother's birthplace. This city is like a mini-version of Jakarta, minus the downtown financial district area. I'm with other students from the US doing community service here -- a strange yet somewhat beautiful mix of my two worlds: US/MIT, where I am a capable person and a dreamer wanting to do great things for my country, and Indonesia, where I am home and truly myself. I've always felt that I am somewhat different when living in both worlds. I've always wanted to reconcile them, and this is my chance to do so.

I have already learned a lot from my 2 days here. I learned about how to organize a project here in Indonesia, including the bureaucracy that needs to be taken care of with the government. I've learned that we need local people who knows what is going on, and connections with the organizations and government that we will be working with. I'm somewhat intrigued, and impressed, by one of our leaders of this project. They certainly know their way around even though they are not Indonesian, and works very hard to get the logistics going, but what impresses me the most is their attitude. Their style of leadership is very gentle -- they do not use "pecking order" to lead, I feel the humbleness and service in the way they interact with the remainder of the members. I adore this kind of leader: not the one who embraces "power", but the one who do not seek higher position than others, in whose humility they become really powerful.