Manado: Man lives to educate others

Nov 6, 2013 by Jessica

Have you ever heard of Bunaken? The world famous underwater marine park located in the province of North Sulawesi. Last August my parents, brother, husband and I were privileged to be able to visit this beautiful area for a full 3 days. It was quite a rush but my brother was about to go on his final year internship in Kuala Lumpur so we had to maximize the time we had. However, limited time wasn’t an issue as our accommodation was special. A family friend of ours who are Manadonese have a holiday house in Airmadidi district and they very kindly offered us their house. Very blessed indeed!

We experienced a whole new experience during our stay in Airmadidi. Having been living near a mosque in Jakarta, we were surprised that instead of hearing morning prayer from a mosque, we heard Christian songs and community announcements travelled through the air. Apparently it’s a custom in the area that people pay Rp.2000 (A$0.20) to request a song as a donation for church building or events such as Easter or Christmas. The “radio” opened for request from around 6am so it was like an alarm that woke us up each morning.

One most memorable thing from our trip to Manado was a Minahasan (the biggest tribe in Manado) philosophy that was also the slogan of the city; “Sitou Timou Tumou Tou” which means “Man lives to educate others” or in Indonesian “Manusia hidup untuk menghidupkan orang lain”. I found it profoundly deep and heart warming. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a city with a slogan similar to this. It was a great reminder for everyone that we had a purpose in life and not to live selfishly.

Writing this blog is my way to educate others; by sharing pictures from places we’ve been, recipes of food that we love and my thoughts on everyday things. What would yours be?