With the start of a new semester, ETA Emma Barnes is looking forward to finding new ways to get more involved in her local community. She was given the opportunity to begin volunteering with a local pre-school, which is owned by the husband of another teacher at SMAN 5.

On this particular day, she and her site mate, ETA Anna Misenti, spent a Saturday morning helping out with the day’s activities, which included morning reading practice, followed by stretching activities and origami envelope making. The students seemed to have a lot of fun, and it was a lot of fun for Emma to learn more about a part of the Indonesian school system outside of a high school.

After the kids left around noon, Emma and Anna shared a meal with the other teachers, the pre-school’s owners, and some of their family who was visiting from out of town. The meal was served in the traditional Batak style, with banana leaves laid out on the ground and piled with rice, rendang daging, terong sambal, and sayuran. The meal was delicious and it was great to meet and learn from more people in the Padangsidimpuan community.

Emma Barnes is currently teaching at SMAN 5 Padangsidimpuan, North Sumatra