Packed Impact

By Eleannor Tang

On October 11, 2024, sixteen Dalat students departed for six days of impact travel to West Java, Indonesia. Our purpose was to serve local ministries through sports and English. 

The team was required to meet on campus at 4:30 am to leave for the airport. Everyone who was supposed to be there arrived on time, except for one person. At 4:35 am, I called Kiera Nichols (12) to ask if she was almost here. 

She responded, “Oh my gosh, I just woke up. I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” 

Our flight took off at 11:30 am, and after about 3.5 hours, we finally arrived in Jakarta. After immigration, the most dreadful part of our trip was approaching. We had to be stripped of our phones for almost a week. Some of us saw this as a detox opportunity; however, a couple were absolutely dreading it. 

We started our deviceless bus ride from Jakarta to Bandung, which took about four hours. During the ride, three seniors decided to cope with the boredom by hosting interviews with all the underclassmen. 

“What is your deepest, darkest secret?” Nichols asked Yewon Lee (11).

Laughter flooded the bus as more strange questions arose. 

When we arrived in Bandung, we were taken to the room eleven girls had to share. It had eleven mattresses on the floor, four shower stalls, and two standing fans. After we had settled down, we rushed into the game room to see what they had to offer. We were surprised by a foosball table, ping pong table, and an unlimited choice of board games. In the central area, there was a blue court where we played various sports throughout the trip, such as basketball, futsal, volleyball, and spike ball. We were given about an hour of free time to explore and bond with each other. We grabbed a basketball, and half of us split into teams to play a little scrimmage. 

At about 6:00 pm, the kitchen bell rang to gather us for dinner. A buffet-style table of tacos was displayed in the dining room, waiting to be devoured. Mr. Chin, one of our leaders, said grace, and then we began to feast. Everyone started munching on their homemade tacos, and less than 30 minutes later, we were all stuffed. 

After dinner, we went to the living room to do our daily devotions and discussions. Our leaders, Ms. Keister, Mr. Chin, and Mr. Yoo, briefed us on our plans for the next day. We were set to do an early morning river clean-up and hang out with the Ngoybar people in the afternoon. Just like that, the day came to an end, and we were prepared to embark on a long six-day week of service. 

Bandung Impact Team 2024, Picture by Mr. Chin