A MAJOR resource-rich Indonesian region is looking to Warrnambool for assistance in improving its education standards and economy.

Nikson Nababan, mayor of the North Tapanuli Regency, has put a proposal to Deakin University for students from the Warrnambool campus to work in North Sumatra helping school children.

Under the plan his local government would provide land transport, accommodation and basic living expenses so Australian volunteers could experience life in communities for a month helping 26 schools selected for the proposal.

The university will discuss the proposal further with the Sumatran local government and consider it for inclusion in an existing international volunteer program run by Deakin.

Mr Nababan issued the invitation by letter to the Warrnambool campus director of education strategy Alistair McCosh and also shared his vision with a group of Australian residents, including myself, during a visit to Sumatra last month.

“I am extremely excited at the opportunity of potentially establishing this program,” Mr Nababan said.

“I look forward to developing a strong relationship between Warrnambool and North Tapanuli well into the future.”

The mayor said he was keen to get Australian assistance to improve his region which has a population of about 300,000 spread over about 3760 square kilometres.

He said it had many natural resources and his leadership team wanted to improve education standards, farming methods and tourism potential.

“We want to make it a showcase area,” he said.

Mr Nababan said he also hoped Deakin could provide advice on his plan to establish a new university in the capital Tarutung.

Deakin University already has volunteering opportunities for students in India, Kathmandu and Malaysia.

“The opportunity to potentially establish a volunteering program in Sumatra is one we would be certainly keen to investigate further,” Mr McCosh said.

“Deakin’s volunteering projects are designed to introduce students to new people and places, expand their understanding of different cultures throughout the world and engage with unique communities.”

The Warrnambool invitation was triggered by a private project co-ordinated by Koroit resident Alex Hutabarat to build classrooms in his home village district of North Sumatra for children to provide after-school lessons in English.

Funds for construction and employment of part-time teachers have come through donations from south-west residents.

I accompanied him in June along with his wife Sylvia, Mathew Collins of Warrnambool, Ted Skewes of Portland and Dennis Russell of Bordertown.

We spent almost a fortnight in Mr Hutabarat’s village district living among the Batak locals and helping construct a classroom.

Mr Hutabarat said the classes expanded basic knowledge of English taught to children in government schools and would help them achieve career dreams.

He said the request from Mayor Nababan also opened opportunities for south-west retirees with teaching experience to participate.

Mr Hutabarat aims to contact service clubs and volunteer organisations.

“I would encourage people wanting an adventure and with skills to consider joining in,” he said.

Communities around the schools predominantly source their income from subsistent farming of rice, coffee and vegetables.

With an average wage equivalent to about $5 a day for most workers, there is little spare cash for luxuries and medical issues are often left untreated.

However, the Batak communities take a positive outlook and generously share their time and minimal possessions.

We visited a family where the father had broken both legs several years ago and was not taken to hospital.

He cannot walk and struggles to shuffle up the wooden steps into the small three-room wooden house he shares with his wife and two young children.

She has become the breadwinner, doing the heavy manual work on their small farm as well as raising the children.

Mr Hutabarat arranged a meeting with government officials to instigate medical examinations.

North Sumatra is largely off the map for Australian tourists with one long-time tour guide telling me he had only about 100 Aussie customers in 10 years.

Tarutung is endowed with natural resources and attractions including a bubbling soda pond fed by warm natural springs and other hot thermal springs.

You won’t find any fancy resorts nearby, just outdoor pools surrounded by rice fields or village houses.

Settled by German Christian missionaries in the 1860s, Tarutung is now a centre for religious tourism with a 30 metre-high crossshaped tower set on surrounding hills.

Nearby is Lake Toba, the world’s largest volcanic lake with a caldera measuring 30 kilometres by 100 kilometres and fringed by tourist accommodation.

Smouldering Mount Sibayak is a constant reminder of the volcanic activity that formed the lake long ago.

There’s no shortage of mountains and volcanoes.

Further north from Lake Toba is Mount Sinabung in the Karo highlands which erupted last September.

Visitors to North Sumatra can walk on the wild side at Bukit Lawang, a picturesque river village at the gateway to a national park with a large population of orang-utan, gibbons and other monkeys.

We walked for about seven hours through the forest where dozens of the red-haired primates, many with juniors, scrambled down from trees to greet us and pluck tit bits of fruit from guides.

One gently grabbed my wrist and took me for a short walk until a guide coaxed her into letting me go - that’s something you’ll never experience in a zoo.

Capital city Medan is a bustling centre where you’ll find modern shopping centres beside rows of traditional roadside shops and markets.

Three-wheel motorcycle taxis offering ultra-cheap fares skip in and out of the traffic.

One of the few train services in North Sumatra runs between the capital and new international airport, 40 kilometres from the capital.

That leaves buses, taxis and hire cars as the internal travel option apart from a few light plane services.

Most international visitors will be less than impressed with the roads.

Grossly overloaded trucks have smashed large sections into routes that resemble four-wheel drive tracks.

Locals often complained about the millions of dollars in timber, palm oil and other resources being reaped from the island and very little of the revenue coming back to repair roads and services.

Potholes in Victoria are miniscule compared with the caverns in Sumatra.

But that’s part of the adventure into one of the world’s hidden tourism gems.

Mr Hutabarat can be contacted at alexhutabarat83@yahoo.com.au and Mr Collins on pcollo71@gmail.com