Ten ninth-grade students from the grammar school and secondary school sections of Collegium Josephinum Bonn travelled to the Indonesian island of Sumba with Mr Völzgen and Mr Werner from 28 May to 6 June 2026. The journey from Bonn to Sumba covered around 16,000 kilometres. On the island, the group was able to see and appreciate the results of the Asrama fundraising campaigns.
The trip led the students directly into a partnership that has connected CoJoBo, the Redemptorists in Bonn and the Redemptorists on Sumba for many years. Since the 1950s, the Redemptorists have played a formative role in the Church and educational life of the island. In 1957, the first Redemptorists from the former Cologne Province came to Indonesia and to Sumba. Out of this missionary history, a living bond has grown between Sumba and today’s Province of St Clement.
One student summed up his impressions in these words: “With regard to religion, I found it moving to see how important faith is in the lives of the people on Sumba — much more important than it is for most people in Germany.”
Before the journey, many in the group thought that the Redemptorists ran one boarding school on Sumba. Once there, a much larger picture emerged: the network includes 13 primary schools, one middle school, one high school, one kindergarten and two boarding houses or residential homes supported by CoJoBo. In addition, there are institutions for priestly formation, including an aspirant seminary, a postulant seminary and a novitiate house. The group was able to see how large and vibrant the Catholic community on Sumba is, and how concretely the fundraising campaigns in Bonn make a difference there.
Among the places visited were the Redemptorist Andaluri primary, middle and high school in Waingapu, as well as the primary school in Ngarukanoru, which lies deep in the forest, without electricity or running water. From Waingapu in East Sumba, the journey there takes around two hours over adventurous roads. Some children walk up to four hours to school every day and then another four hours back home. Some set off before sunrise in order to arrive on time for lessons. For the students from Bonn, this was one of the most impressive experiences of the trip.
At every visit, the group was welcomed with great warmth and friendliness: with dances, gifts, traditional Sumba scarves, the Sumba kiss — touching the other person’s nose with one’s own — and many speeches. Everywhere it was clear how much joy the visit from Bonn brought. The hosts thanked the group not only for coming, but also for supporting the preservation and development of their schools.
The Asrama fundraising campaigns at CoJoBo are urgently needed. They truly make a difference. The travel group was able to see this for itself on site.
A central role in all this is played by Father Jack Umbu Warata, the Provincial of the Indonesian Redemptorists. He accompanied the group during the journey and coordinates many of the educational projects. One student said of him: “What impressed me about Father Jack was the passion and dedication with which he carries out his work there, and how deeply he cares for the well-being of the people, especially the children.”
Another student said: “This journey made me realise how well off we are in Germany, and how small the everyday problems in our own lives are when you hear, for example, that some children walk four hours to school every day and then four hours back again.” A further student said that he personally took away from the trip “that the money going to Sumba is being put to good use, and that it is important to think in terms of solutions rather than problems.”
The group returned to Bonn with many vivid impressions — and with the conviction that this partnership is an exceptionally valuable project. It shapes Sumba, and it also shapes Bonn: through the regular visits on site, through the growing bond with the schools and boarding houses, and through the Indonesian confreres who are now serving pastorally in the Province of St Clement. Those who were once missionised have themselves become missionaries. That is a success story in the truest sense.
A final student quotation brings the experience of the journey into focus: “What impressed me most about Sumba was the largely untouched nature. Culturally, I found it interesting how well the culture has been preserved over such a long time, and how strongly people still orient their lives around it. In general, I thought it was wonderful that we were given such a deep insight into our partner schools on the other side of the world — schools we had only heard about before.”
(Vz, We)