After saying goodbye to our new Red Cross friends, we visited the USINDO school project. Al LaPorta was just finishing up some meetings and was on the work-site, so we got the pleasure of his company and a tour around the grounds where USINDO, in conjunction with Sampoerna Foundation and some other sponsors, are building a model public middle/high school.

This project is unique in a few ways; among them is its target student audience. This school seeks to welcome kids from rich and poor families, putting them side by side, and under an education program designed by Syiah Kuala University (who donated the grounds for the school), in partnership with a Missouri University. They’ll have a modern computer lab, language facilities, a library, and some other things the usual schools here don’t have.

They’re hoping this model will take root & help develop the education system here. Also, they are using some new technologies in the construction of the buildings: reinforced walls (re-bar) of course, but there is a new, light concrete that they’re using. It’s a touch brittle, and looks air-whipped like concrete. It’s amazingly light-weight, and won’t kill people if it falls. They’re giving innovation a chance here.