Roy is from Indonesia and is currently studying at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, hoping to major in Psychology and Biology. Alongside his studies, he works in the neuroscience lab, the protein lab, at the university café and as a Quaker Bouncer! He also received funding for his bio-chemistry research in order to look into molecules that could possibly sensor cancer. So really, just an all-round sensational person.

After finishing Pestalozzi, Roy returned home for a gap year. He volunteered with Volunteer Program Bali and his main duty was to teach English, but he quickly realised that some of his students didn’t go to school at all. He spoke with their parents and managed to persuade them to stop their children, some whom were only eight years old, from working on farms or begging on the street, promising that he would feed and teach them if the parents agreed to this idea. Roy then ran a programme, teaching basic maths and reading, whilst also feeding them with the money he would receive from tips at his evening café job. When I asked him why he did this, his response was ‘Because it was the right thing to do’.

Roy ran that programme for 3 months and showed the parents of these students the importance of schooling. Because of this, many of them are now receiving an education. He told me that being able to convince people about the power of education has so far been one of his biggest achievements.

‘I learnt from Pestalozzi about human kindness. The people that donated money didn’t know us and didn’t expect anything in return; it was genuine kindness. I want to be like that in the future. I try to exercise the principles I learnt from Pestalozzi and its donors. I want donors to know when they give money to Pestalozzi, they are not changing only our lives but they are changing the future. I hope to go into the biology field and have a positive impact there. Other alumni will make their changes in education. The change that comes from donations is so impactful and it doesn’t end with us’.