Adolescent participants in Power of Goodness at Tambakromo, Pati on June 23, 2025. Photo by : Dedy

The 2025 Internship is Haverford College’s second internship program at Peace Place Pati.

This program was made possible through a collaboration among The Center for Peace and Global Citizenship (CPGC Fellowship), Haverford College, and Friends Peace Teams Asia West Pacific. The program ran from June 12, 2025, to August 10, 2025. Emma and Caroline, two Haverford College students, participated in the internship program at Peace Place Pati, Indonesia, along with Bayu, Tito, Mellia, and Nadhif from Indonesia. To support Peace Place Pati and PAUD Joglo in efforts to foster a culture of peace among children, communities, and early childhood schools, each intern chose a role aligned with their focus:

  • Tito organized the activities and team in facilitating stories about the power of kindness with children, supported the translation of the story sessions, and prepared the agenda to support the classification of the agenda by age group.
  • Emma worked on classifying the Power of Goodness agendas by age group.
  • Caroline supported the practice and documentation of Universal Design Learning in the early years curriculum developed by PAUD Joglo.
  • Mellia practiced UDL (Universal Design Learning) by practicing with children to interpret words in actions, selecting books appropriate to the theme, providing props, and using pictures or photos appropriate to the theme to support the diverse developmental levels of children in the 8-week curriculum.
  • Bayu translated books to support the library, specifically providing books appropriate to the curriculum’s themes. He translated Power of Goodness activities with children and assisted Haverford interns outside of the activity sessions.
  • Nadhif prepared books appropriate to the theme for translation and led library team meetings to review children’s book translations that aligned with the 8-week curriculum designed by PAUD Joglo.

The first week was a time for student interns to transition. In the second week, they began community visits, conducting Power of Goodness storytelling activities with children and adolescents.

In Tondomulyo, on June 20, 2025, a Power of Goodness mini workshop was held for 15 children aged 6-7 years. On June 23 and 24, 2025, a workshop was conducted on the theme of affirmation for teenagers in the Kendeng Mountains region in collaboration with Tambakromo 3 Public Junior High School, attended by 31 teenagers and 6 teachers, with each session lasting 3.5 hours. On June 30 – July 8, 2025, interns joined the Interfaith Youth Regional Justice and Peace training attended by 36 people from 7 countries; Indonesia, the Philippines, the U.S. , Bangladesh, Malaysia, Australia, and Karenland.

After the training, Emma, ​​Caroline, and Bayu became interns as facilitators, while Tito, Mellia, Nadhif, and Altof became initiators and led the Power of Goodness activities. Power of Goodness facilitator internships were held on July 25, 2025, for 34 teenagers in Tambakromo. On August 4, they facilitated 20 children aged 5-12 at the Al-Quran Education Park in Kacangan Hamlet, Giripurwo Village, Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta. On August 6, 2025, they facilitated 50 children aged 6-13 at Peace Place Pati. On August 7, 2025, they facilitated stories about the Power of Goodness for 32 teenagers in Winong Village.

Interns had the opportunity to mentor early childhood children at Joglo Early Childhood Education Center (PAUD) and participate in teacher meetings. Everyday after working with the children the interns joined a teacher meeting, which also serves as a time for group learning. Including a check-in, a review of the day’s activities, one thing practiced today, feedback from the team, preparations for the next day’s activities, and a closing session.

The interns participated in workshop activities, community visits, and mentoring children, and also had an opportunity to learn about Indonesia. They visited Prambanan Temple, an ancient site dating back to 850 AD and a Hindu place of worship, and Borobudur Temple, a Buddhist temple from the Syailendra Dynasty from the 8th and 9th centuries. Both temples were designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1991. They also visited the Keraton Ngayogyokarto Hadiningkrat area and the Malioboro, a craft shopping center in Yogyakarta.

Emma leads Big wind blows, at Junior High Scool Tambakromo, Pati, June 23, 2025.Photo by Dedy

Here are some of their responses:

Nadhif: I’ve become more confident, dare to lead a team in book reviews, and I feel my skills in choosing appropriate words that are easy for children to understand have improved. I feel closer to children’s books, especially those that align with the 8-week curriculum at the beginning of the year.

Mellia: I feel grateful for the opportunity to delve deeper into this year’s internship. I received guidance from a mentor to understand the meaning and objectives of the curriculum, and participated in completing the documentation for the 8-week curriculum used at the beginning of the year, using universal learning design. I feel my knowledge and skills in assisting children have grown, especially with children with different needs. I’m challenged to always provide teaching aids for children and find appropriate book references.

Bayu: I feel a change in myself. I used to think negatively about myself, but now I can see the good in myself and others. I have confidence, broadened my perspective, improved my skills in interacting with peers, and cultivated life values ​​of peace that will be useful in the future. The internship isn’t just about what I do, but about the process of transforming myself.

Tito: This year’s internship supported my development in program management, including planning, field preparation, team building, agenda preparation, activity implementation, and team debriefing. Classifying the Power of Goodness agenda by age was a challenging task, especially in carefully examining the introductory sessions based on age group themes, choosing words and constructing sentences that were easy to understand, creating discussion questions, and selecting core activities related to the theme.

Stopping, introductions, presenting the agenda, reflecting on practice agreements, reading stories, discussions, sharing life experiences, playing together, and practicing a balance between listening and speaking. These activities encouraged everyone to be open and get to know each other better. This is life. This is peace. Peace is already present within us, and this is how we can maintain it.

Bayu, Mellia and Emma on the Power of Goodness with adolescents at Winong. Photo:Petrus