There is something quietly powerful about showing up — not once, not twice, but three times. That is exactly what UniGo Australian Volunteers International of the University of Tasmania did when they returned to Yayasan Cipta Mandiri (YCM) in January 2026. A hattrick, as some joyfully called it. And like every great hattrick, it was built not on luck, but on trust earned over time.
The story began long before January, of course. YCM has spent years building a space where young people from Bogor can grow — learning, practising, and finding their voice in a world that does not always make room for them. For many of YCM’s students, especially those still building confidence in English, the arrival of UTas students each year is more than just a cultural exchange. It is a rare chance to be heard, to try, and to discover that they are more capable than they thought.
This time, it started with something as ordinary as a green angkot.
On January 14th, YCM’s adult students did something bold: they went to pick up 36 UTas students and three AVI coordinators from their hotel, navigating the city in Bogor’s iconic public transport. It was a small act, but it carried weight. These young people were not waiting to be guided — they were stepping forward, leading the way. By the time everyone arrived at YCM and sat down together for lunch, the walls had already started to come down. Conversations flowed, laughter followed, and a shared afternoon of performances and Q&A sessions set the tone for everything that came next.
The days that followed took both groups deeper into Bogor — and into each other’s worlds. On January 15th, UTas students walked through the Pulo Geulis Suryakencana area, learning the layers of culture, history, and community life woven into the city’s streets. Then, on the 20th, the whole team ventured further out to Saung Eling on the outskirts of Bogor for a Sundanese cultural tour. January is known for its heavy rains, but the sky held back — as if it, too, understood the importance of the moment.
The final gathering, on January 30th, brought everyone home in the fullest sense of the word.
They started the morning in a traditional market nearby, UTas and YCM students side by side, bargaining in Indonesian, choosing ingredients, and navigating the cheerful chaos of a local pasar together. What they brought back, they cooked. What they cooked, they shared. Around the table, there were no guests and no hosts — only people who had, over the course of a few weeks, become something closer to friends.
After the meal came songs and dancing, chatter and laughter, the kind of warmth that is difficult to manufacture and impossible to fake. And then came the goodbyes — which, as anyone who has experienced real connection knows, are never truly easy.
But here is the thing about a hattrick: it proves a pattern. It shows that what happened once was not an accident. What happened twice was not a coincidence. What happened three times is a relationship — one that has been chosen, returned to, and renewed.
For YCM’s young people, every one of these encounters is a small step on a longer road. A road toward confidence, toward opportunity, toward a future that feels a little more within reach. And for UniGo’s students, it is a window into a world that expands their own — one bargained purchase, one shared meal, one honest conversation at a time.
This is what collaboration looks like when it is done right. Not a transaction, but a relationship. Not a programme, but a community. And communities, when they are real, do not simply visit. They come back.
Until next time — and there will be a next time.