Here in the mountainous region of Tana Toraja on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a local Toraja man named Natsir began offering free English lessons to children from the surrounding villages in 2008. Due to their families’ financial difficulties, these children often have limited or no means of accessing further education that could lead to a brighter future. Through these free lessons, Natsir hopes to change that. Since 2008, alongside building three classrooms on his property, he has also expanded the permaculture practices on his family’s adjacent plantation. Here, he aims to teach the children a sustainable and ecological approach to nature, so that future generations can continue to benefit from and enjoy the beautiful flora of the Tana Toraja region. 

Natsir’s dream is to raise awareness of the project beyond the neighbouring villages and to build a community that works together to ensure a good school education for the children and a respectful and ecological approach to nature.

The local residents do not yet seem to fully grasp Natsir’s vision and ideals. Of course, there is no question of giving up. 

Since 2014, Natsir has been offering accommodation on his farm to volunteers from all over the world who wish to support the project. They teach the children practical English, help with the harvest on the plantation and have always sought to expand the project and drive it forward in many different ways.

This fundraising campaign is also part of that initiative. As a team, we have some ideas for helping Natsir and his family build up a passive income, ideally. The family uses the money primarily to keep everything running (electricity, food, drinking water & water for the eco-farm, fuel). Anything beyond that is invested in expanding the project. This means, for example, employing local teachers on a permanent basis so that the children can receive higher-quality teaching over longer periods. So far, they have been taught either by foreign volunteers, who often stay for only a few months at most due to visa regulations in Indonesia, or by Indonesian volunteers from an NGO in Java, which also supports the project. Both options are limited in their potential, as there is a lack of continuity in the teaching schedule and a personal connection with the teacher.

Furthermore, Natsir would like to build two additional rooms on the property to accommodate more volunteers or teachers. We also want to buy a second scooter that Natsir can rent out to the volunteers, thereby increasing passive income. They usually rent a scooter in the nearest town anyway, 20 minutes away, so the prospect of renting out our own seems sensible.

My name is Luca and I have set up this fundraising campaign. I have been here since the beginning of October and will likely stay for the next six months. I will soon be launching a YouTube channel for the project. One in German and one in English. On this channel, I’d like to publish update videos documenting and showcasing the latest developments. In these videos, I’ll clearly explain how all donations are being used and put them into context. That way, everyone can see exactly where the funds are going and what we’re able to achieve with them.

Thank you so much for reading, and perhaps we’ll see each other

! ^^

In any case, lots of love and all the best!