Another thanks to Amy and David Alton on SV Starry Horizons for the content they captured of the opening ceremony. Check out their blog and YouTube channel “Out Chasing Stars”.
**** Don’t miss the bloopers at the end of the video*****
When Trevor and I learned about the 7.0 earthquake that occured in North Lombok on August 5th, 2018….we knew that we wanted to do SOMETHING for that community. However, at the time of the earthquake, we were hundreds of miles NE of Lombok (safe thankfully). Our rally had a planned stop there as a main point for us to renew our 60 day visas but it was unclear if the earthquake would prevent us, the rally, from stopping there. Fortunately, the rally confirmed later it was safe (enough) to travel in the area and to proceed to the designated anchorage in North Lombok, Medana Bay marina….That is where this story begins….
The Plan
We arrived at Medana Bay marina the morning of September 11th, ironically, after an overnight sail from Komodo National park. Arriving before the fleet allowed us to conduct “hands on” recon to see what relief efforts we could organize. Peter and Ace, owners of the marina and already busy with Rotary relief efforts and fixing the marina, took us in with no questions asked. Immediately we all discussed what options were both viable and accomplishable. It was like a puzzle: limited time, budget, manpower, local authorities, community needs and greatest impact received…By that evening it was decided to rebuild a kindergarten school in the Desa (town) of Medana.
The government had set up this tent as the temporary school where the school once stood….. 
The tent was so hot inside that it was not being used…trust me it was an oven in there and I totally understand…
Indonesian politics…we had to talk to 3 levels of local officials to get full agreement before this project could take place. Here is Peter and Ace and Trevor speaking to second in command. 
Peter and Ace were able to communicate to them our plans and intentions. It was critical to get local support both for labour and materials. Speaking the local language was a must!
Near the end of the project, it was decided the plans and budget that were being constructed could be used in other communities as a guide to rebuild other structures. We sincerely hope others can benefit from it and continue to rebuild their communities.
The Materials – Buy local
It’s not like we could go make a materials run to a local Home Depot. The support of the local government allowed us to receive “local” pricing and contacts for materials and we could even get them delivered to the site. The bamboo was literally cut 10 km away, I assume the dirt and sand was sourced not much further away. The doors, toilets, and septic tanks came from the local hardware stores along with the nails, glue, and cement. The batik (used for the walls) was hard to get and pricey due to the high demand but with a bit of pleading, one of the local officials was able to get it fo us. Additionally, the lashing used to secure the bamboo joints was delivered to us by Molly’s friend from a larger town down south. The roof was sourced purely by Molly and her friends. All machinery was brought to the site from Molly’s personal shop by local help. Trevor has never worked with these types of materials in his career so really we were learning as we went along. It was not only a good challenge but also a wonderful experience to learn and work with these materials…not to mention our fantastic local teachers! Basically Trevor really enjoyed himself ; )
Trevor and Budi (1st level of local government) talking about material delivery and prices
one of the hardware stores 
horse and buggy…Trevor’s new truck 
He is having too much fun! 
Local shop
I had a bruise on my shoulder for days after carrying this incredibly heavy post… 
Peter allowed Trevor to go through old material at the Marina…Trevor then sanded and cleaned up all the wood before building with it.
Total of 4 truck loads of dirt….. 
Got dirt?! 
Total of 5 truck loads of sand…most had to be sifted so it could be added to the cement mix.
Well there is a first for everything… Total of 150 pieces. We had to “order” different diameters to accommodate different structural needs Batik is a mat woven of strips of bamboo. 
Each stick of bamboo had to be “cleaned up” with a machete before we could use it… 
The lashing (coconut husk) to secure the bamboo joints was very scratchy (glove wearing scratchy)…and there was a method to lash each joint depending on how many angles there were. The lashing also broke if pulled to tight. 
Then we had to paint glue ALL over the lashing…this is where the lashing gets its strength.
Total of 25 ct 40 kilo bags of cement mixed 1 part cement to 5 parts sand and poured. 
Chicken wire to create more strength and minimize cracking in the cement floor 
We had these anchors made to hold down the chicken wire
Cap nails for roof and batik siding…we had to assemble them ourselves 
Roof material was a “green” product Molly purchased. 
Roof top cap was made of tin
Septic tank! 
Last minute decision was to purchase and put up these shades to keep the rain mostly out.
Some ideas are priceless!!!
The Work – Shovels, sand, and sweat!
OK….There is no way I can walk you through 17 days of hard, sweaty, back breaking work but I have organized the below images in chronological order for you to see the progression and process of the school being rebuilt. There are too many small details and funny stories to post but I hope you get the bigger picture : )
Day 1 – tent removed…it’s time to get started! 
ok…just one selfie : ) 
Found tiles underneath rubble…should we keep them? Later we decided to get rid of them due to post locations and lack of stability
After days of clearing and digging holes the first post was set…I almost cried! 
Going old school with this gravity water level 
Husain helping to mark… 
Just a little momento for the people who eventually tear it down 
Husain digging the massive hole for the septic tank
Need I say more…this is not their first rodeo!
It’s harder than you think to get things plumb when you are building on top of rubble…with round bamboo… 
The puzzle masters! These brick pavers were broken and uprooted. These ladies put them all back to create a play area for the kids.
Building braces to connect pieces of bamboo for the wall top plate 
Of course the kids and teachers need a toilet …a small 2 stall hut will do. 
Wall top plate going up..making progress : )
The site was a bit out of level so we had to build up one side of the site with rubble….Mind you that we had already cleared the site of this debris so this is probably the second time we moved these broken tiles…. 
Grading the site…we had existing foundation perimeter for a guide 
It’s common here in Indonesia to pour cement on top of dirt rather than gravel (that has a a higher compact rating)…when in Rome! 
So after we filled the area with small rubble pieces, we spread dirt and then watered it so that the area would compact as much as possible before pouring the floor.
Sorting bamboo…straight..ish vs. curvy 
End of the first weeks work 
Toilet hut roof getting framed
Batik is really strong…
we needed to re-weave some pieces in place. Husian showing us how
Batik pony walls with bamboo top cap
The truck loads of sand had to be sifted…these ladies sifted for 4 days straight! 
A hand made tamper…this thing was a beast! 
We found the same decorative tiles on the other side of the play area. It made sense to clear a depth of nearly 2 feet to gain more play area for the kids. When we got to the stairs, we were so excited!
Building rafters and battons for the roof 
The roof highway…planks laid upon the bamboo joist 
Husian…he was the only one who weighed little enough to go up…and he knew what he was doing! 
More support was added: criss cross, diagonal, across, and up….all these joints had to be lashed and glued….
There was a lot of GLUE!!!! 
The sifted sand pile is getting taller…great job ladies! 
Cement forms placed and ready for the pour…exciting! 
Floor area filled with dirt, then watered down, then compacted, then small gravel from the sifted sand, then chicken wire. Blue line was stung to create a guide for a level base of the cement floor
The roof!!!! My job was to make sure the base of the roof line was straight…enough (LOL) 
One side of the roof done….
First pour of the floor…
Basically a team of locals came to do this in the early morning
However, they all left for a lunch break with only half the floor poured…… 
Toilets in and level, ready for cement to set them.
Well the locals never came back after lunch to pour the other half of the floor…. 
So it was up to us to finish it…. 
Everyone…that included me!
The design… 
I wanted to commemorate all the countries of the cruisers who helped so I asked for coins from their home country to display in the center of the floor
After the second week…the roof almost done, Batik almost done…it’s starting to look like a real structure : )
More glue – Glue was painted on to the Batik to make it stronger and “water proof”. At least 2 coats I was told…I glued a lot! 
The glue came in concentrated bags and we had to mix it with the right amount of water for the consistency needed.
The ladies of the town came one day to help clear and clean up…All the men loved it…they were all smiling! 
Surprise…a group of volunteer electricians came to wire up a few lights…that wasn’t in our budget… 
Privacy granted…doors finally hung.
Final touches…we splurged and purchased 11 rolling screens to really make this place complete. They had to be hand strung and rolled. 
We had extra cement so the locals really wanted an outside area to put shoes and to lead to the toilet hut….we were beat and had to set some boundaries so we told them we would clear and place the boards but they needed to pour…
A call out to the locals before night prayer got a few men out the next morning…. 
The cement was poured…. 
It looks lovely!
They also asked for a classroom divider…. 
and doors…. 
so our last day was super busy but we got it all done. 
Finished toilet hut includes a sprayer.
At last…after 17 straight days….. 
final completion!
The Opening – Supplies, smiles, and a prayer…
Finally, on September 26th, we opened the school up for business. Throughout the weeks, we had been collecting donations from cruisers and it was time to sort and organize them. Another surprise, I received a Facebook message from another cruiser who had somehow heard about these efforts and started to collect funds from her friends/family back in Australia. Even though our construction was done, she contributed the funds and we went shopping for the school…after we got a shopping list from the teachers. We had an official opening complete with snack boxes (we were told this was expected) and the local government made a few speeches. The kids had a coloring contest and we handed out “prizes”. Finally, we had a short prayer…. we handed over the school to the community…what a feeling!
Here is the chef at the marina making his mark on a few empty donated jars….we were thinking pencil holders?! 
Marina staff helped me sort and identify what was relevant for the kindergarten students. The other, more advanced donations were given to the primary school.
The surprise cash donation went towards a shopping list from the teachers. They requested 52 kid flip flops?! 
And so it was..I am pretty sure the staff at the store thought we were crazy but oh well… 
Here are the teachers accepting the donations and supplies we purchased with the surprise cash…. their list was long and our time limited but we did the best we could. It is customary here to receive a signed declaration that they received these items, and we were glad to accept it.
Ribbon ready to be cut…. 
Ribbon cutting…. 
Love that the kids noticed the coins!!!! 
A moment of silence and a prayer……. 
And the school is in your hands Medana!
The Fun!!!
Come on!!!! If you know us at all…you know we have fun anywhere we go. Here is just a snap shot : )
The kids would come to school most days and when it was time to leave, they would all come around and say goodbye..precious! 
Many coffee breaks! 
why not dance in the mud? 
Opps…. 
Ice cream break : ) 
It’s purple..and has a string on it… SV Sky Blue Eyes..this one is for you! 
Rock on! 
SV Moon Shadow are great musicians and they held a benefit dinner/performance at the Marina to raise more funds for the school…..yes…they have all this gear on board…amazing guys, thank you!
The Challenges – Pride, politics, and emotions…
A few words on some of the challenges…these things never go without at least a few : ) Without mentioning the obvious (language barriers, cultural difference for starters), we only ran into a few setbacks.
Organizing something like this was something I had not done before and though I understand I opened myself up to criticism, I wasn’t as prepared as I should of been to receive feedback. Don’t get me wrong, nobody was upset with what was being organized but more or less the affiliation with the rally and people had different ideas of how I could of done it. No hard feelings, just an honest reflection that I should of been more careful with my presentation of the project and other events that went along with the Lombok rally stop.
On 3 separate occasions, one most memorable to me, we were almost shut down by the Army (I think). A man in uniform grabbed my arm and started to lead me away from the site and started asking questions about the site and who I was…etc. Soon I realized he may not want to help (like I would assume with all the people who stopped by to take a photo or stop and talk to us about what was going on). So I rushed and got Molly as my broken Indonesian was clearly not getting me anywhere. Molly took over the conversation…I went back to work…on a ladder. About 20 minutes later,Trevor is yelling at me to get down from the ladder..confused I did but slowly…the ladder was quickly put away and Molly was still talking to the uniformed man. It turns out he did want to shut us down but Molly said “Fine, then get me 20 of your guys to finish the building”….he declined but demanded that no “tourist” can be over 4 feet off the ground at any time…the ladder was about 8 feet high. It is still unclear why…we have our suspicions and really the guy was trying to do his job…but this “new” requirement meant that all the roofing and anything above 4 feet had to be done by locals. Trevor and I never knew how many people would show up on any given day so this was a real concern of ours. Of course all worked out but man…could of put a major dent in the project.
Lesson learnedThe school is on the main road between towns and we would get many visitors stopping and looking at what was going on. Most of time I was happy to chat and ask them if they wanted to help.. .Sometime they would and grab a shovel and help out for a little bit. However, the last week we were approached by a group of officials demanding us to stop working. We had electricians that day, ladies cleaning up, kids doing school outside, it was a mad house but things were progressing well…why stop? The reason was….the head…top…ministry of education from Jakarta (the capital) was on his way to the school and these men were the scouts to make sure everything was ok and in place. Ok fine…no problem…we stopped work and madly cleaned up the site as best as we could to make it presentable…then we waited for over 2 hours!!! He finally arrived with about 10 camera crew?! I think my wires were running short that day and I just lost it…emotionally. Yes it was an honor to have the top guy come and visit our little humble, temporary school…but somehow I felt like they wanted to take credit for the project..not that WE needed the credit but I was sure as hell pissed about the government taking credit for all the work we all had contributed! Of course I over-reacted….. I was told later he or his department was not taking credit but thanking everyone for their hard work. A few fun songs and lots of “terima kasih” (thank you in Indonesian), they all left. Looking back, I could of had a bit more grace about the situation… in fact Molly and I later laughed about how she was wearing ripped jean shorts (knees not covered) and a t-shirt….this is not the attire for greeting with such a high official. I understand now what a great honor it was for him to make this visit. Lesson learned…don’t assume…It’s all good!
kids waiting… 
lots of littel shoes 
Big dog with the kids 
speeches…Trevor and Molly were h
The People – Kindness, generosity, and hope…
None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the help of the local people: Teaching us about their building materials, building techniques, translations, guidance through the local politics, and most importantly…teaching us about them and their culture.
Meta (Molly) Medd – This woman is amazing and needs a special shout out! She and her employee, Husian, worked with us everyday and we are truly grateful for their expertise, patience, and commitment to see this through with us…no matter the heat, the challenges, or cost. Molly had so many roles during this project it’s hard to capture but I have attempted below. Additionally, Molly organized the purchasing of the roofing materials from a local donation she received from friends. she understood that this structure we were building needed to have the ability to be semi-permanent. Molly continues to support her local community by empowering and organizing different business and relief efforts. Molly we wish you all the best luck in your endeavours and can not thank you and Husain enough for your incredible dedication to the project and us!
Molly the cement mixer 
Molly the interpreter and public relations 
Molly the teacher and school bus driver 
Molly the inventor!
Husian taking the lead in the hole digging contest…he won! 
Husain would come every morning and leave every night with this mini truck loaded! He rode it like he stole it…but not really ; ) 
Husian the engineer 
Husian the monkey…seriously! 
Well deserved nap 
Husian at the top of the world…almost 
Husian the artist…he spent over an hour making sure these coins were well placed and secure and clean. He was the true hero of this story because without him, we would still be in Lombok!
Peter and Ace – These two were instrumental to getting this project up and running. Ace is the president of Rotary locally and was incredibly busy with other relief efforts around Lombok as a whole….her precious time and brut honesty kept us focused and motivated throughout the project. Peter’s marina had some damage and between the school project, both rallies in his marina, and fixing/building the marina facilities…Peter always made time for us to discuss materials, engineering, local politics to adhere by, and drove us to where we needed to go around town. They allowed their staff to help us everytime we needed something, even something as trival as ribbon for the opening ceremony. Their marina was our home for 3 weeks…example…we ate every meal at their restaurant. Let’s just say we knew their staff and their families well by the time we left Medana Bay Marina. Thank you to you both for all the support and faith in us!
Ace actually told me later that she was skeptical of us and our project as she has had many before us want to help but those projects never came through . We cried together when it was done… 
Peter was such a support for us to debrief every evening while having dinner and to confirm we were headed in the right direction…or not! We appreciated the guidance!
So many local people came to help…most of them lived very close by and we would see them as we walked to “work” each day. Some would come for a few days and and some just for the morning shift when it was cooler. Never the less, we appreciated their presence as it meant to us, they blessed the project and more importantly, promoted the well being of the school. Working side-by-side with them…even though we could hardly communicate with one another…was so much fun….a smile speaks a thousand words, no matter the language barrier.
The Sail 2 Indonesia crew – Thank you for making sure this project was indeed within our visa limitations and supporting us.
Raymond actually worked at a few wheel barrows of debris..Well done! 
Being silly with our immigration team
As foreigners, most of us could not contribute local knowledge…but where we lacked in local knowledge….we all made up in our own specialty skill sets….not to mention from all over the WORLD! In our fleet we have captains, engineers, doctors, builders, lawyers, writers, artists, professional sports, police, teachers, music directors, surfers, business owners, fishing, news correspondent, musicians …just to name a few skill sets : ) We all had something to contribute and that we all did!
All Hearts and All Hands (we called them “the Purple People” because the organizations shirts are purple)- Medana Bay Marina was also a hub for Rotary and other relief organizations. During the school project, we were approached by the manager asking if their volunteers could help us out. Unfortunately their volunteers were available due to a massive accident that happened at one of their sites. However, it was a win-win situation…we needed “hands”…and they needed to work and take their minds off recent events (we were told working helped them to heal a bit more). Thank you all for your spunk and energy for 4 days straight….the sand sifting could not of happened without you all…not to mention dancing in the mud!
Wayne Hitchings(UK), Emily Moss (UK), Charlotte Feigen (UK), Haley Macrae (UK), Sean McLaughlin (AUS), Dominique Lopez (USA), Callie Raymond (USA), Nicky Millar (USA), Mark Porter (USA), Cat Denial (USA), Guilia (ITA), Michelle (USA), Sonia Moussaid (FRA), Pradeep (NES), Kubar (NES)
Trevor and I were prepared to complete the school by ourselves and with our own funds. We did not know the level of interest or participation of the fleet nor did we want to make others feel pressured to participate as every boat/crew has a budget, time constraints, skill sets, and possibly physical constraints. However, the main goal was to organize a focused relief project where anyone could come and help at any level and any skill set…..The response was incredible!!!! Thank you Sail 2 Indonesia and Sail Indonesia Fleets. There are too many of you to thank personally but understand by just showing up to Lombok gave hope to the people here who’s economy of tourism has to be rebuilt. Thank you all for your support and contributions…you all know who you are!!!
“Every situation – even a disaster – is an opportunity to be your best.” ― Rosalene Glickman
Frankly, one of the unintended consequences amid the disaster and destruction, was bringing each other closer and working together for a greater purpose….this does wonders for the soul. I did not witnessed anyone who would finish a shift or a day working in the heat that did not leave walking taller and with a smile on their face. The kindness and generosity that was displayed was seriously overwhelming with not only the contributions but with one another talking over beers or a meal. I believe I saw everyone at their best!
SV Randivag wrote an article about the school project that landed in a Swiss sailing magazine?! I can’t read it but maybe some of you can. Enjoy : )
Beautifully written!
Kimi, I am extremely proud of you both. Your love and compassion for others is a great gift to everyone you meet. No matter where your travel the world will be a better place because you were there. Dad D.
Really proud of you both, Kimi and Trevor. I was really looking forward to reading more about this incredible project, and the story didn’t disappoint.
Huge kudos to you both, and all the many many others who helped make it happen