|  | Current Issues | No.50 May 2007 |

Pelita Harapan (School of Light and Hope) Jason Myers & Steve Metcalfe |
In December 2004, “Tsunami” suddenly became a familiar word around the world. A major earthquake off the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, created a massive tsunami, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and affected millions more in its wake. Aceh became a recognizable spot on the geographical map of the world for all the wrong reasons. The small fishing town of Meulaboh was one of the first areas to be hit by the wall of water and was devastated by this tremendous force. In a single day, over 10 000 people were known to have died and hundreds of thousands were left without shelter, food or the fundamental requirements for life. A week after the event, surviving residents were eating leaves to stay alive. Eighty percent of buildings and infrastructure was destroyed in a few moments; land became unusable; paid employment faded to nothing. Our school responded immediately through involvement with “Operation Blessing”. Thousands of “Survival Boxes” were packed containing basic necessities. These were distributed to many towns and cities throughout the providence of Aceh. As a result, we have maintained relationships with the people of Aceh as we continue to empathize with their suffering and have a desire to make a difference. As time goes by, houses may be rebuilt, food may be supplied and material possessions can be replaced. But for a devastated people, there needs to be a restoration of hope and no amount of money can provide that.
In 2004, Karawaci Youth Sports League (KYSL) was created as a training ground for both young students to participate and also young men and women to be trained as coaches, mentors and role models. Our concept is simple; teach, train and coach university and high school athletes to become coaches as role models to elementary school children through the youth program. This program then equips students to lead and participate beyond simply playing the game of basketball or soccer. It instills in them a desire to reach out, mentor, show compassion, sacrifice to help younger and less fortunate kids. KYSL brings together elementary students from a variety of schools located within Lippo Karawaci, and gives them free basketball/soccer training and games. At the point of conception, KYSL was simply to impact the students of Pelita Harapan and the community of Lippo Karawaci in Jakarta, Indonesia. This same group of KYSL sport coaches, decided to show compassion through basketball to victims of the tsunami. We went to Meulaboh to teach and train high school students and coaches to learn how to play a simple game and basketball gave us a chance to then to give hope to a community where there seemed to be none. We were accompanied by a group from the USA, Convoy of Hope which included a former NBA player, plus a group of university players and coaches. The goal of this outreach was to run a daily basketball camp followed by a Meulaboh High School basketball tournament. The winning prize for this tournament was an all expenses paid trip to Karawaci to play in the Pelita Harapan Cup National Basketball tournament, which took place in October 2006. There were over fifty teams from all over Indonesia competing in this tournament. Each day while in Meulaboh, we traveled to a different high school to run the basketball camp. Throughout the week over five hundred boys and girls attended these camps. The mornings were focused on individual skills training and team development. The afternoons were reserved for the basketball tournament itself, with a grand final at the end of the week. In the afternoons, the tournament grew with an audience of hundreds of people watching the finals. The most valuable component was the testimonials given by the SPH & UPH student athletes. Many of these players have earned scholarships for their successful talents in academics and sports. Through this program, we have seen an empowered community unite together in a way never seen before.
We also ran coaching clinics with local teachers, giving them a chance to develop skills through observation, practice and questioning. They were given a chance to see a practice in action with the students of SPH. Also, four high school coaches and Head of the Department of Education were sponsored by Asia’s Little Ones to travel with the Meulaboh Team to Jakarta, Indonesia in October to further develop their coaching strategies. This basketball outreach was a chance to build bridges with the people of Meulaboh who lost everything over two years ago. Although we weren’t constructing any physical structures, we were able to build solid, friendly relationships with the students, teachers and coaches participating. There were also bridges built between the high schools in Meulaboh where there seemed to be little continuity. The week concluded with an exciting grand final and closing ceremony where over five hundred basketballs were given away to the local people. Lives, attitudes and relationships were dramatically changed by simple friendly interaction via sporting activity. Below are comments from students who participated.
Surya says, “Before we went to Meulaboh I thought I would be the one doing the teaching. We went through orientation and lots of preparation but I was humbled to be the ‘student’ for the whole time. The place, the people and the atmosphere taught me something no books, formulae, laws or theories can do. I simply had my eyes opened to reality. The reality is that the world is not as good or nice as I used to think it would be. I could clearly see what the Tsunami has done to the people and land there. Most of the kids who joined the basketball camp had lost their loved ones, their houses and even their hope in any future. Many friends of mine have said that it is not enough to just teach these people how to play a game and to give them a basketball. They say that that food and other financial and construction support would be a better option. But I think they are wrong. Basketball to me is a universal language and it can teach about a lot. You can donate things to these young people like houses, money, food, clothing, stationery, but those things are things which money can buy.” Nathaniel reflects, “In Meulaboh, we were working with Convoy of Hope, they distributed wrist bans which read, “Give Hope”. That’s precisely what our mission in Meulaboh was- to give these students more than money or possessions, but rather HOPE. Many people may wonder how basketball can give someone hope. The University of Pelita Harapan in conjunction with Sekolah Pelita Harapan hosts a basketball tournament every year. At this tournament there are scouts offering basketball scholarships to the best Universities in Indonesia. The winning high school of Meulaboh will get an all expense paid trip to participate in this tournament. On our last night there we hung out with the students we coached. They took us for a drive around while telling us the most horrifying stories I, personally, have ever heard. It is very different when talking to someone of your own age who has been through the worst of times. Laksamana’s thoughts, “Packing my bags for the trip, my mind was filled with a stream of thoughts... the flight, the accommodation, would the teenagers be open for us to teach them? Would I be able to make a difference? I wanted to be a significant spark to change the lives of high school students in Meulaboh, and that felt exciting and yet I was fearful too. What happened was such a surprise to me. I learned so much from teaching and from my peers, my coach and from the missionaries for basketball from America. My first trip with the purpose of outreach, with the purpose to teach, turned out to be an experience of being taught and of being enlightened by the smiles of the kids of Meulaboh. Yuyung was a bright teenager who became orphaned by the Tsunami. I could not imagine what it would be like to lose my parents. Yuyung, however, showed a spirit of maturity that touched me. He became a leader among his peers and led his basketball team. When his team was down, he would provide words of encouragement to them, he would make “highlight” plays when necessary, and he would respond with such innate intelligence and quickly use what he had learnt from us in a game scenario. Yuyung’s attitude and ability stirred me emotionally and caused me to become ever more grateful for what I have.” Matthew considers, “The Meulaboh trip was a great experience as it helped me to develop as a basketball player and a better person. The suffering and effects of the tsunami seemed so foreign and vague to me before this experience as I saw only pictures and irrelevant newspaper articles. I could witness the reality of what I’d only read about on every face in Meulaboh as I walked along the roads of this small fishing community. After spending time in this town, I could not even imagine what these people must have felt nearly two years ago. We had come to bring hope of something better through a simple sport, basketball. The youth of Meulaboh greeted us with open arms and from that moment on I knew we could not disappoint them. We put our heart and soul into forming these high school students into fundamental basketball players. I will never forget the friends that I made in Meulaboh and how they affected my life. We went there to change the lives of these people, but I never knew that they would change my life in a different way.
Countering the Tsunami - A Hopeful View Gordon Middleton (Convoy of Hope) One of the most striking sights was many large palm trees that appeared to have been sheared off near the ground by the tsunami or had been stripped of their palm fronds. Some of these palm trees were 35-40 feet tall! It was a very forceful picture of the size and force of the tidal wave. One of the coaches observed that, “Some of the young people at our basketball clinics were like those palm trees. They’ve had almost everything taken away that gave them identity and meaning.” A number of the young people at the basketball clinics lost many relatives in the tsunami and only escaped with their lives. “Our hope is that by our coming to Meulaboh these several hundred young people have come to know they are significant. They are not just left-overs from the storm. Our desire was also to inspire them with the message that individual effort and teamwork can help them achieve important goals in their lives, even if they have to start over and grow new ‘fronds’.” We can see how Sport is such a valuable response to disaster. So many walls of issues comes tumbling down including religion, and people are freed to be able to live peaceable through the enjoyment of activity. Contact Jason Myers Sports Program Director Sekolah Pelita Harapan Jakarta INDONESIA Email: myers.jason@sph.ac.id Steve Metcalfe Sports & Arts Director Universitas Pelita Harapan Jakarta INDONESIA Email: steve_metcalfe@uph.edu http://www.icsspe.org/portal/index.php?w=1&z=5 Pelita Harapan (School of Light and Hope) Jason Myers & Steve Metcalfe