RedR Indonesia Field Experience Trip

Overview

Have you ever thought about becoming an aid worker and working in the humanitarian sector? This two-week, hands-on experience in Indonesia will provide individuals with a unique learning opportunity and a chance to gain practical experience and a valuable insight into humanitarian response. By the end of the fortnight, participants will be more aware of whether they wish to continue with further and more formal training or not.

The itinerary will be similar to the highly acclaimed pioneer experience run in 2019. For a description of the 2019 trip please see the following excellent report published in Red Alert.

“I learned a considerable amount from this experience. It showed me the politics of humanitarian work and the social skills it requires are just as important as engineering knowledge. I now have a better understanding and appreciation of the sector, and this will help me so much in my career." Hands-on-Experience 2019 Participant

What will I gain by attending this trip?

Indonesia is a country which is regularly in the international news due to its frequent major natural disasters. Typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions regularly strike the Indonesian Islands. These have a direct impact on people’s lives as well as leading to flooding, landslides, tsunamis and mudflows. Indonesians have developed schemes and systems to mitigate the risks from such disasters and to cater for people’s needs when the disasters strike.

“We had the opportunity to integrate with local communities, NGOs, and government organisations and understand how these groups work together… We also discussed plans with local communities and listened to how they wanted to implement responses.” Hands-on-Experience 2019 Participant

This field experience is aimed primarily at those potentially interested in working in the disaster relief sector. It will again be hosted by RedR Indonesia with support from Dr Mark Errington and Dr Robert Hodgson, both of whom have practical experience of working in disaster areas around the world.

The experience will include living in the sort of basic field conditions often found within disaster relief work and will mainly be based within local communities. Hands-on exercises in rehabilitation and meetings with many different actors in humanitarian relief will give participants a valuable and realistic view of disaster relief work.

“It was a challenge to go into disaster-prone areas with preconceived ideas of what we could do. I learnt that the solution is not always hard engineering one and it’s vital to speak to local communities about solutions because they would often have something different and better in mind." Hands-on-Experience 2019 Participant

Experience Objectives

- To give participants a practical and authentic experience of ‘field work’ to help them decide whether they wish to pursue further involvement in the humanitarian sector.

- For participants to experience living in challenging conditions and working directly with those who have lived through disasters and those who help communities to rebuild following disasters.

- To help the participants appreciate that disaster relief work is very complex and while they might have relevant backgrounds, they will require further specialist training before they can be impactful in the field.

- To give participants authentic and real experiences of field work that they can use in applying for humanitarian courses or jobs.

Who will be facilitating the event?

Mark Errington (RedR SW Group member and ShelterBox volunteer)

Mark has volunteered as a ShelterBox Response team member for the past 4 years. He has deployed to Nepal, Fiji, The Caribbean and Mozambique. Prior to this Mark ran 'The New Build Uganda' taking groups of volunteers to construct school buildings and composting toilets in rural Ugandan Primary Schools.

Robert Hodgson (former RedR UK Chair and current RedR International Co-ordinator)

Civil engineer Dr Robert Hodgson joined RedR when it formed in 1980.  Since his first RedR assignment in Uganda that year, he has undertaken about 25 disaster relief assignments in 4 continents, helping relieve suffering during and after natural disasters, complex emergencies and acute health epidemics.  Robert has served as a Board member of RedR UK for 14 years, being Chair for 3 of them, and is currently the Honorary Coordinator of RedR International.  Robert's day job includes design and construction of water infrastructure, flood defences and maritime structures.

Benny Usdianto (RedR Indonesia Board Chair)

Benny is the CEO of RedR Indonesia. He has been active in disaster management and humanitarian actions in complex emergencies with international organisations working in Indonesia for almost 20 years. Benny's job involves indirect project implementation and facilitation of various trainings, particularly in tsunami early warning systems and building resilience for communities, government and NGO workers.

Agnes Intan Pupadewi (RedR Indonesia)

Agnes was the key coordinator during the 2019 trip, and we are very happy that she will be working with us again this year. She is a full-time member of staff at RedR Indonesia.

Trip Structure: 

The trip will start and finish in Yogyakarta and travel will be within Java. The full itinerary cannot be anticipated – in a disaster-prone region it may change according to circumstances and is kept deliberately vague to replicate the nature of disaster relief deployments. Please be aware that accommodation will be arranged on a ‘what is available’ basis and will sometimes include shared accommodation. This is again to replicate the realities of working within disaster relief.

Cost 

Tickets for this trip cost £650 per participant and this fee will cover all costs in Indonesia. It also includes a £50 administration fee per participant to RedR UK and £50 donation to RedR Indonesia.

The cost includes all essential accommodation, food and transport from arriving at the venue close to Yogyakarta airport to delivery back to Yogyakarta. Participants will be required to pay their own flight or travel costs to arrive at the start point near to Yogyakarta plus visas if needed and insurance.

There will be additional costs for optional post-experience sightseeing according to participants’ preferences and participants may wish to bring additional cash to buy treats or souvenirs. Alcoholic drinks may be available at times during the course, consumption of these is allowed within reason but they must be paid for by participants.

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?

The minimum age for this event is 21.

Who should attend?

This course is aimed at those with an interest in joining the humanitarian sector.

Health and Safety

All activities can or may pose some risk to participants who choose to take part in the trip. Specific hazards or risks to participants will be highlighted by the person in charge of the activity (RedR Indonesia staff, Mark or Robert).

Some activities may bring certain risks which can’t be completely removed, for instance activities which take place outdoors or tasks that are affected by weather conditions. It is assumed that all participants are in a good state of health appropriate for outdoor activities unless they have advised the facilitators of any particular conditions they may have. There will be a first aider present during activities and this will be Mark Errington. Despite there being first aid support available, all participants choosing to take part in the trip do so at their own risk and must take full responsibility for their own safety and actions during the event.

Although the Coordinators (Benny, and other RedR Indonesia staff) and facilitators (Robert and Mark) will be in control of all activities, participants must agree to follow all Health and Safety instructions provided.

Participants who choose to take part in the Hands-on Disaster Relief activity do so at their own risk and RedR won’t be held responsible for any injuries, accidents or sickness that may occur during the trip.

Participants will be asked state their acceptance of the risks which may involved in the trip when booking their tickets through Eventbrite. There will be a box which ticket buyers must tick to confirm their consent to take part in the event, despite the potential risks. Please do tick this when prompted, otherwise the booking will not be considered and you will not be able to attend the trip.

Participants who endanger other participants through their actions, ignore direct safety directions for the facilitators or act in such a way to cause physical or mental harm to other participants or the trip organisers will be asked to leave trip and no refund will be given.

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?

The minimum age for this event is 21.

Other details

A minimum of 8 and maximum of 12 participants will be attending the trip.

We reserve the right to alter the trip within reason if insufficient participants sign up. In the unlikely case of this happened they will be less facilitators however the overall aims of the trip will still be achieved.

Cancellations

• Please note that we are only able to cover our local bank charges and not the recipient’s bank charges when refunds are made.
• If we receive a cancellation request 4 weeks or more prior to the trip starting, we refund 75% of the fee. Please not that we cannot refund for any other purchases made such as clothing, flights and footwear purchased for the trip.
• For bookings cancelled less than 4 weeks before a trip, no refund or transfer of value will be provided.
• No refund will be made for non-attendance on a trip. Non-attendance includes: failure to cancel your place in time; cancelling your place after the close of normal office hours on the last working day before the course or less than 4 weeks before the trip; failure to attend the course, and; informing us of cancellation following the start of the trip

Questions?

If you have any questions about this trip or require further information, please contact Robert at:[email protected] or Mark [email protected]

RedR UK is committed to making sure everyone’s needs are met, including people of different genders, ages and disabilities. If you have any specific access requirements or learning needs RedR are committed to try and make reasonable adjustments to support your needs, please [email protected] or phone +44 (0)20 7840 6000 at any stage of the booking process to talk directly to RedR about your needs.