“Indonesia Free Homestay” (IFH) is a hospitality & friendship networks between Indonesians and international travelers, we use IFH to connect with each other.
If you are NOT INDONESIAN and Going to Visit/travel to Indonesia, interested in making friends with Indonesians; learning about Indonesia culture, language, & people, we invite you to join this group. Our Indonesian members enjoy hosting & making friends with international travelers like you. Our Indonesian members (the hosts) are welcoming you and providing you a FREE accomodation for you while traveling to Indonesia. Many of our Indonesian members are students who are eager to learn and to improve their international language, so they are most welcome to be your friends, to speak your language and to learn your culture. When you’re traveling to Indonesia, IFH community enables you to connect safely with locals who will introduce you to their towns, their cultures, their lives and their friends. As a member of the IFH community, you’ll feel welcome everywhere you go in Indonesia and you’ll experience places on a deeper and more meaningful level.
If you are INDONESIAN who wanna have friends from other countries and to improve your mental and international language, we invite you to join IFH as a Host. You provide a room for our international members Free who visit Indonesia, especially your city. IFH is a great way to meet international travelers who are visiting Indonesia and your city – whether you share travel tips, a cup of coffee or even your home, your life will suddenly become more colorful, cultural and interesting. You’ll get to experience the world without ever packing a bag and then, when you do have time to travel, you will have friends and places to visit all over the globe.
If you are not interested in visiting Indonesia neither becoming a host in Indonesia but you just want to connect your friends who are looking for free homestay in Indonesia and making friends with Indonesians, we are also welcoming you to join with IFH community.
Many of our Indonesian members are students who are eager to learn and to improve their international language, so they are most welcome to be your friends, to speak your language and to learn your culture.
Started by a few friends who are passionate about making friends between Indonesians and international travelers, IFH is about connecting good people who are open to meeting, helping each other, and developing frienship networks internationally. It’s also about making travel to any places in Indonesia affordable and accessible to international travelers. So now you can enjoy Indonesia and make friends with Indonesians!
OUR MISSIONs
1. We want to develop friendship networks between Indonesians and as many as foreigners who are traveling to Indonesia.
2. We facilitate Indonesians to have international friends, to practice their international languages, and to learn international culture.
3. We support cultural exchange and Indonesia tourism programs.
4. “Indonesia Free Homestay” is also a support program for “Motivasi Beasiswa” (http://motivasibeasiswa.org), a community program for encouraging Indonesians to get scholarships and to pursue their study dreams.
Our main responsibility is to serve the needs of the IFH community by listening to feedback and always making safety a priority. We are going to keep IFH free!, so that it will always be available to travelers regardless of budget and economic background because for us friendships is our goal.
Indonesia Free Homestay really works because – at its core – are people who genuinely love to make friends. The hosts especially want to practice their international languange and to interact directly with foreigners in daily life. The Community relies on the generosity of hosts and locals, who give their time and energy to visiting Travelers. The travelers, in turn, get a chance to return that generosity by helping with the dishes, bringing a small souvenir or even just sharing stories about their home.
For something that has nothing to do with money, you’re going to feel very rich here. As a guest, we only ask that you treat everyone with respect, kindness, friendly and to be friends of Indonesians.
HOW TO JOIN IFH COMMUNITY?
IFH community is a closed community meaning that anyone who want to join with us must be approved by this group admin.
If you are going to go to Indonesia (maybe not now, in future) and looking for a Homestay, you can join with this community adding me (“Tony Dwi Susanto” – admin) as your FB friend and sending me an FB message:
* introduce your self (name, gender, age, hobby, activities)
* your plan to go to Indonesia (cities & dates) – optional
* a reference, is a person who has become a member of IFH community OR an official in your office/organisation/school/university. Please give a link to his/her FB account and asked him/her to add me as his/her friend too. This reference is required for us to approve your membership.
HOW TO FIND A HOMESTAY AND TO BE A GUEST?
To find homestays for you, here is the steps:
Step 1: You must join with the IFH Facebook Network at http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/indonesiafreehomestay/
Step 2: Find the homestays
Option 1: See and pick a host from the Host Google Map: http://bit.ly/ifhhost, or
Option 2: post your plan to go to Indonesia in the group wall then hosts will reply your post, or
Option 3: contact admin (FB account “Tony Dwi Susanto” or send email to tonydwisusanto[at]gmail[dot]com: introduce your self & your travel plan to Indonesia), we will contact the hosts for you
Step 3: Contact the host in person, introduce yourself and do chatting and video conference (YM, skype, gmail) before your departure. This personal communication before your departure is a MUST.
* As a guest, you are also required to send via email or FB message a Copy of your Passport (identity page) before your departure.
Step 4: To assist your traveling in Indonesia, please contact the IFH admin (FB account “Tony Dwi Susanto” or send email to tonydwisusanto[at]gmail[dot]com) before your departure and after you leave Indonesia.
HOW TO BE A HOST?
If you have become a member and want to be a host, please send a message to admin (“Tony Dwi Susanto”) to provide information about your city, your availability as a host, gender, activities, and hobby, your house location (from the city, airport, etec), and photos of you and your house. We will add you in our host database and contact you when there is a request for a homestay in your city. You can also response any request posting on the group wall.
Attention! For safety and convenience reasons, you just can approve and accept a guest who has become a MEMBER of IFH Community. You should send a message to “Tony Dwi Susanto” or email to tonydwisusanto [at] gmail [dot] com when you are going to receive a guest or after receiving a guest.
TRIP & HOST SAFE PROGRAM
Indonesia Free Homestay is all about connecting with real people around the world who visit Indonesia and Indonesians who are generously providing Free Homestay for international friends and travelers. Because many of you will be meeting offline, your safety is our top priority. We offer the following safety features to keep you and our community as safe as possible:
1) A Reference for joining this group/IFH
2) Chat and video conference before departure
3) Sending a copy of Passport identity (the Guest) to the Host before departure, cc to “Tony Dwi Susanto” or email to tonydwisusanto [at] gmail [dot] com.
4) Feedback or brief testimonials written by members, describing the experiences they have had with each other. We highly recommend that you take the time to read them, as references are an excellent indication of what it may be like to meet, host or stay with other members.
5) Indonesia SOS Hotline list. You can read and print a hotline list of police, embassy, and other emergency lines on this group document (we will provide you).
CONTACT US
Please send any enquiries to FB account “Tony Dwi Susanto” or email to tonydwisusanto [at] gmail [dot] com
IFH Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/indonesiafreehomestay/
