Indonesia — Jerora Sintang August 2025 Here we are, almost a month has passed since our return to Italy and we are now back to our hectic routine. Yet, the fatigue of getting back into the swing of things takes our thoughts back to the other side of the world. We can still hear Sister Iki talking to the animals and taking care of the large park around the house, or the nursery school children singing Ave Maria, directed by little Vivi and under the careful supervision of Sister Magda. It brings back the aromas of Sister Bona and Sister Anas’ cooking, who, together with Sister Emil, take care of their fellow sisters and their beautiful little dogs, including our favourite, Franca. We remember the proud and dignified looks of Sister Pipit and Sister Hendrika towards their girls, full of affection and genuine, almost maternal love.
We returned from this trip to Indonesia full of enthusiasm and enriched by a faith that goes beyond appearances and reminds us not to rush but, slowly, to go deeper and take care of ourselves and others in Truth. Thanks to this mission, we were able to overcome limitations that seemed impossible to overcome: the language – outside the convent, English and Italian were totally unknown – the food (we still remember eating snake, which has now become a source of pride with family and friends), the humidity that made us sweat more than painting the school, and last but not least, waking up at 6 a.m... a time we hadn’t seen since high school. We landed in Jakarta without knowing a word of Indonesian, and right from the start we had to learn a few words that would characterise our weeks in Sintang.
Satu, dua, tiga, which we heard repeated dozens and dozens of times, with different cadences and accents, but always with the same smile and the same happiness in their eyes, marking the few seconds before any of the photos we happened to take on almost every occasion. And terima kasih, or thank you, but which literally – we have learnt, and if we are wrong, please correct us – encompasses the roots of two different verbs: terima, to give, and kasih, to receive, and in particular to receive with affection, as if to recall the essence of life in society. And so it was for us, who tried to give something, who received so much and who, now that we are back in Europe, cherish every single memory. So all that remains is to say thank you to the Sisters of Charity who welcomed us and took care of us, taking us by the hand and accompanying us to discover their life and their culture.
Martina Zucchetti e Filippo Pelacci
