Previous story
I’m Ot, a student at Vedruna Vilafranca School who has completed 3rd ESO in this 2023-2024 school year. During the first term, I took the Labdoo elective, where I learned the importance of helping others.
Towards the end of the second term, my parents and I decided that we would go on vacation to Indonesia in July, a country in Southeast Asia located in the world’s largest archipelago.
A few days before the trip, I came up with the idea of trying to collaborate with the Labdoo project by carrying laptops and/or tablets to some place in Indonesia. So, I asked Ferran (Labdoo teacher at Vedruna Vilafranca) if there was a demand for "dootronics" (any electronic device) at my destination. He suggested that I could send an email to the Labdoo platform explaining my intention to contribute to the project if it was possible.
That day, as soon as I got home, I wrote the email and sent it, because there were only five days before leaving for Indonesia, and the process needed to be quick. Shortly after, Eulàlia, a Labdoo coordinator, replied to me and started looking for possible places where I could deliver between 3 and 5 dootronics. Two days later, Eulàlia told me about three schools in Indonesia that had requested some computers long ago and had not received them all yet. From these three, I chose the one that was best for us according to our itinerary. This school was called IHF (International Humanity Foundation) Bali, located in the east of the famous island of Bali, near a town called Manggis. From that point, the only thing left was to tie up all the loose ends and carry the dootronics, which were initially supposed to be 4; 2 laptops and 2 tablets.
I wrote these texts after the trip, but I wanted to narrate the events of each day as if it were at the end of the same day (before going to sleep) to give it more emphasis.
This morning, my mother and I went to pick up the dootronics from school; 2 laptops and 2 tablets. Ferran explained everything to us and also suggested that I could do a report for the press about my experience, which made me very excited. Another thing that made me happy was knowing that I would be the first student in the school’s history to carry computers to an edoovillage (schools where dootronics are delivered).
As soon as we got home, we packed the backpack in which I would carry the laptops, which was the last thing remaining to do. After struggling with the backpack for a while, we realized that there was no way we could fit both laptops and tablets in it, so we could only take one laptop and the two tablets. I agreed with Ferran that I would return the other laptop to him in September when we go back to school.
Eulàlia tried to contact the edoovillage in Bali several times through different channels, but she didn’t receive any reply. For now, we don’t know anything about the IHF center in Bali, but we’ll still take the dootronics and go to the address that it’s on the Labdoo platform to deliver them.
After lunch, we got dressed and took the train to El Prat Airport. We chose the train that goes along the coast because it has fewer stops than the one that goes through inland, allowing us to reach the airport more quickly. Even with fewer stops, it took us 2 hours from leaving home to arriving at the airport, which was a bit much. Upon arrival, we checked in the three large backpacks and brought the dootronics backpack, another backpack, and a clothing bag into the plane’s cabin.
Now, we are flying to Dubai, where we have a stopover. We are scheduled to arrive at 5:45, and if everything goes as planned, we might leave the airport for a moment to see the Burj Khalifa, but we’ll decide that when we get there. The next flight, heading to Jakarta, departs at 10:50, and we should arrive there around midnight, accounting for the time difference. Now it’s time to sleep, so… Good night!
Finally: the day of the delivery. This morning, we woke up early and went to the IHF school in Bali. After an hour by car, we arrived… and to our surprise, we found an educational center right next to the beach, a very beautiful building that seemed to be abandoned, as there was no one there, and it wasn’t well-maintained. Seeing that it was abandoned, we asked some workers from a nearby hotel if they knew anything about the school. One of them said that it had been operational some time ago but had been abandoned for many months, and she didn’t know if the center had relocated or simply no longer existed.
At midday, while we were having lunch, I tried to contact the foundation through the email addresses and phone numbers listed on their website. In some calls, they answered me and then hung up, and when I tried via WhatsApp, they said one word and then nothing more. In short, it was impossible to keep in touch with them, so I gave up.
This afternoon, I told Ferran and Eulàlia how everything had gone and that if we couldn’t find another place to deliver the dootronics, we would have to bring them back to Catalonia, which would be a shame.
Today we arrived at a small island north of Lombok. This island is called Gili Air and it’s only 1.73 km². It’s a very popular tourist destination due to its crystal-clear beaches with an abundance of fish of all types and colors. But it’s not just hotels and beaches; some people live on the island all the year, so there’s a primary school. This school is called SDN 1 Gili Indah, and my mother discovered it on Google Maps while searching for schools where we could give the dootronics.
When she told me about it, I didn’t hesitate to visit and see what it was like to know if the electronic devices we had would be helpful to them. After lunch, we went to the school to see if anyone was there, even though it was 3 PM, and they usually go to school from 7 AM to 1 PM. When we arrived, a group of boys and girls, who were helping some guys paint a mural, greeted us and led us to a teacher on duty to comment on our proposal. After a few minutes talking with her, she asked us to come back the next morning while the students were in class. Moreover, she mentioned that they wanted to create a STEM classroom, so these electronic devices would be very helpful for them.
At the end, we found a place to donate the computers where they would greatly help the students studying various subjects. The Labdoo project is a wonderful solidarity initiative because it’s not just about giving the gift of education to children, it’s also about experiencing it and helping to make the project bigger.
The day has arrived; now, for real. Today, we woke up early and, full of nerves, walked to the school. As soon as we entered, we went straight to the teachers’ room. There were two teachers there: Gede and Mustapha. We explained how the Labdoo project works and told them about the electronic devices we wanted to donate. They were very kind and hospitable to us throughout our visit. They committed to filling the form to register on the Labdoo platform as an edoovillage when they could.
Afterward, we went to the class that Gede was teaching to show the children the dootronics. They were impressed because it was probably the first time they had seen some tourists come to the school wanting to help. It was a very special moment for me because I felt like closing the Labdoo circle. I had given talks to the younger students at my school to encourage them to donate computers, participated in sanitizing computers, and now, I had contributed to a Dootrip (a Labdoo trip).
I want to thank Eulàlia for her dedication, Ferran for teaching this subject and wanting to take school projects beyond the classroom, Jordi Ros for creating this project, and my parents for supporting and accompanying me during the Labdoo trip.
Date it was last updated: 10/11/24