In
the third week of March Kevin visited Makassar once again and this time
he was accompanied by Kathryn Elliott from AusAID Canberra and Valerie
Haugen, an educational consultant from Sydney. They were interested in
seeing how KGRE works together with clubs and how AusAID can help KGRE
to do this more effectively in the future. While in Makassar they visited
some the active KG Connection Clubs in their headquarters. Here is part
of Kevin’s report:
‘Sunday March 21st was KG Connection Club Day in Makassar. In the
morning we visited Fort Rotterdam. In this very popular tourist spot in
Makassar the Pioneer English Meeting Conversation Club meets every Sunday
morning. We arrived at 10.15 to see the banner of the club waving in the
wind. Underneath the banner there were probably 60 club members getting
ready for their weekly meeting. After everyone was seated the meeting
began. The meeting was opened by a rather nervous, but very good, Master
of Ceremonies - Pak Leo Kasim. The first activity was the introduction
of newcomers. People who were attending for the first time introduced
themselves to the other members. Even Val and Kathryn had to introduce
themselves to the club. I gave a report to the club and told them some
of the latest news from KGRE. There were lots and lots of questions from
the members. Some of the questions were about scholarships, club activities,
Australia and even more personal questions to Val and Kathryn about their
lives. It was all in good fun and the question and answer sessions were
fantastic. Members spoke freely and were not afraid to speak up. This
was great to see. This Pioneer English Meeting Conversation Club (Club
of the Month for January 2004) is very active indeed. They are currently
contacting other clubs by letter to further develop their position in
the KG Connection network. They even suggested that
maybe clubs in different areas of Indonesia could get together and asked
if KGRE would support such an idea. That would be great wouldn’t
it? Clubs from different provinces meeting together - a great idea indeed.
I told them that they need to think about their idea more and then contact
KGRE with their plans.
In the afternoon we went across town to SMK 1 to once
again visit the Best Forum Club. Under the guidance of Pak Syahrir and
his committee the club continues to grow and develop. Members from the
KGCC Makes Club and some other English Clubs such as RRI Fan’s Club,
SMK 6 Makassar and SMK 1 Makassar attended too and their participation
was fantastic to see. KGRE
hopes that those other Clubs will soon join KGCC. After introductions
were over we had a quick KGRE Music Quiz. That was fun. Daniel Hunt from
the Australian Embassy in Jakarta joined us for this visit and he was
put to work talking to members about their club and their English language
studies. Then members moved into three groups and spoke with Val, Kathryn
and Daniel separately. These were lively discussions with discussion topics
including KGRE, the clubs, life in Australia and teenage issues. The groups
stopped their chatter around 5pm after almost 90 minutes of lively and
very informal chatting. We all left the Best Forum Club very happy with
what we saw and what we learnt. Many thanks to Pak Syahrir and his club
members and also to members of MAKES and the three other English Clubs.
It was a good day and I know that the three visitors really enjoyed their
time with KGCCs in Makassar’.
In
the third week of March Kevin visited Makassar once again and this time
he was accompanied by Kathryn Elliott from AusAID Canberra and Valerie
Haugen, an educational consultant from Sydney. They were interested in
seeing how KGRE works together with clubs and how AusAID can help KGRE
to do this more effectively in the future. While in Makassar they visited
some the active KG Connection Clubs in their headquarters. Here is part
of Kevin’s report:
Sunday
morning. We arrived at 10.15 to see the banner of the club waving in the
wind. Underneath the banner there were probably 60 club members getting
ready for their weekly meeting. After everyone was seated the meeting
began. The meeting was opened by a rather nervous, but very good, Master
of Ceremonies - Pak Leo Kasim. The first activity was the introduction
of newcomers. People who were attending for the first time introduced
themselves to the other members. Even Val and Kathryn had to introduce
themselves to the club. I gave a report to the club and told them some
of the latest news from KGRE. There were lots and lots of questions from
the members. Some of the questions were about scholarships, club activities,
Australia and even more personal questions to Val and Kathryn about their
lives. It was all in good fun and the question and answer sessions were
fantastic. Members spoke freely and were not afraid to speak up. This
was great to see. This Pioneer English Meeting Conversation Club (Club
of the Month for January 2004) is very active indeed. They are currently
contacting other clubs by letter to further develop their position in
the KG Connection network. They even suggested that
maybe clubs in different areas of Indonesia could get together and asked
if KGRE would support such an idea. That would be great wouldn’t
it? Clubs from different provinces meeting together - a great idea indeed.
I told them that they need to think about their idea more and then contact
KGRE with their plans.
KGRE
hopes that those other Clubs will soon join KGCC. After introductions
were over we had a quick KGRE Music Quiz. That was fun. Daniel Hunt from
the Australian Embassy in Jakarta joined us for this visit and he was
put to work talking to members about their club and their English language
studies. Then members moved into three groups and spoke with Val, Kathryn
and Daniel separately. These were lively discussions with discussion topics
including KGRE, the clubs, life in Australia and teenage issues. The groups
stopped their chatter around 5pm after almost 90 minutes of lively and
very informal chatting. We all left the Best Forum Club very happy with
what we saw and what we learnt. Many thanks to Pak Syahrir and his club
members and also to members of MAKES and the three other English Clubs.
It was a good day and I know that the three visitors really enjoyed their
time with KGCCs in Makassar’.