Anniversary celebrations of the Sister State relationship between Western Australia and East Java After visiting Ririn backstage and watching her performace, Suryadi and Kevin went to the DBL Stadium in Surabaya. The basketball match played there was between West Australia and East Java in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the West Australia-East Java Sister State relationship. Suryadi and Kevin knew nothing about basketball but they really enjoyed the match - front row seats too. The game was fast and furious and those Aussies were really good at throwing and sinking baskets. Well done to all of you AND to the terrific (shorter) Indonesian team - also well done!

Champion Suryadi at the West Australia-East Java Sister States Basketball Match at DBL Surabaya on october 3rd   After dinner in Tunjungan Mall, Suryadi returned to Madura to meet with teachers the following day and then to prepare for his trip to KGI in Bali on Tuesday, October 5th.

More 20th Anniversary celebrations of the Sister State relationship between Western Australia and East Java

On Monday the 3rd of October, Kevin attended three 20th Anniversary activities. The first was a cultural event held at SMA 15 Surabaya - a BRIDGE school and a very active partner with Australia. KGI has visited that school many times and it was great to see old friends again. The visiting group from Australia included the Governor of West Australia and several WA parliamentarians. They were treated to a spectacular cultural show and performances. Then the visit was ended with a mini-performance by Australian puppeteers The Turtle and the Trade Winds, a Perth-based theatre company.

The second event for the day was the Official Opening of the newly rennovated Karya Mulia School for the Deaf in Surabaya. The $100,000 funding provided by the WA State Government helped significantly to strengthen this school, which had suffered a bit of decline in the past few years. This was due to mainly a lack of funds and severe water damage because of the old, leaking roofs. The school now has brand new Blue Scope Steel roofs, a second storey addition with library and audiology room, and all the water damaged classrooms have been re-plastered, tiled, painted and renewed. A fantastic job - thanks to everyone concerned.

KARYA MULIA SCHOOL FOR DEAF CHILDREN SURABAYA, EAST JAVA

Did you know that Indonesia has over 20 million deaf people? Sekolah Karya Mulia was founded in 1954 by the father of East Java Governor’s wife, Mrs Basofi, who was Patron of the school.

The school’s figureheads were Professor Harjono Soedigdomarto, renowned obstetrician and gynaecologist, and his wife Sri Rahajeng, who administered and nurtured the school since its inception.

After 9 years working in a home for abandoned babies and children, Sri was asked by the Head of the Ministry of Social Affairs to run the school. The name Karya Mulia means “Nobility in Labour” and reflects the strong vocational leaning of the school.

Sri started with 26 students and two teachers. The school now employs over 60 teachers handling more than 300 pupils, ranging from kindergarten to high school. Sri, 85, continues her involvement with the school, along with her daughter Dr Lenny.

Karya Mulia is regarded as East Java’s premier deaf school and is the only one catering solely for deafness. It is mainly funded by non-Government sources and makes good use of its limited facilities. Some, but not all teachers are employed by the Education Department and the rest by the school’s Yayasan (Foundation). The school’s philosophy of giving children academic, vocational and emotional support is evident in its happy atmosphere.

In their High School years, as well as the usual studies, including English, boys study cabinet making, printing and pattern making. The girls study dress making, beauty and hair dressing. Each has the opportunity of obtaining a job in the trade studied although the child may have no spoken language as only a small number have a hearing aid and so are unable to learn to speak. The school has a good record of getting their graduates placed in work and thus having the opportunity of having a reasonably normal life.

Despite its worthy aims, the school is greatly under-resourced, with little audiology support and the fabric of the building has suffered greatly in recent years from leaking roofs and damaged classrooms.

The grant of $100,000 from the Government of Western Australia (through a partnership between the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Disability Services Commission) to replace the roofs, refurbish damaged classrooms and add a second storey library and audiology room, provides much needed assistance to this important educational facility.

Western Australian involvement with the school dates back to the commencement of the WA – East Java Sister State relationship 20 years ago.

Leading Western Australian early childhood figure, Dame Patricia O’Sullivan, visited the school in 1990 when she accompanied husband Dan to Surabaya (in his role in the establishment of the sister state relationship). She asked to visit a local school for children in need, and was taken to Karya Mulia. She immediately set about organizing a range of training, materials and audiology services for Karya Mulia School, to assist with improving the support given to the teachers and their students.

Patricia was greatly supported in this work by the Rotary Club of Floreat (now Cambridge) and Rotary Club of Surabaya, which together raised funds under the banner of the East Java Hearing Project, to provide equipment to the Dr Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya, and Karya Mulia School.   In 2002 the Child Assessment Suite in the Hearing and Communication extension of the hospital was opened. Dr Brian O’Brien (Rotary Floreat) and Mr Guy Setiadi (Rotary Surabaya) have championed this project and continue to be involved.

In 2004, the Patricia O’Sullivan Humanitarian Project Inc. was begun. Its aim is to continue to support Karya Mulia School, equip the school’s new audiology clinic, provide audiology training to suitable candidates in Western Australia, and see the school fulfill its role as a lighthouse centre of excellence for children with hearing disability in East Java and indeed Indonesia.

Over the past 20 years many Western Australian dignitaries and parliamentarians have visited the school. It is the only known WA-supported humanitarian project in East Java.

The official 20th Anniversary program also included a special WA food promotion dinner featuring food and wine from the South West region of WA and an introduction to the foods of WA by Celebrity Chef Dennis Mifsud (see left) at the Sheraton Hotel, Surabaya.   There was a WA parliamentary delegation, a Rotary dinner with fundraising talk from Dr Brian O’Brien – a great WA Rotary supporter of Dr Soetomo Hospital and Karya Mulia (the Rotary East Java Hearing Project which equipped the hospital with audiology testing equipment, and provided funds for my mother to establish a very extensive play library at the school to enrich the children’s learning environment).

Australian Embassy Jakarta Press Release

4 October 2010 - Western Australia-East Java Celebrate Their 20th Sister State Anniversary

Western Australia’s Governor Dr Ken Michael AC will visit East Java 3-5 October to commemorate the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Western Australia-East Java Sister State/Province relationship. During his visit the Governor will sign a re-affirmation of the Western Australia-East Java Sister State /Province Agreement originally signed on 21 August 1990. The Sister State /Province relationship remains important in promoting bilateral trade and business as well as fostering people-to-people links.

The Governor will also officially open the newly restored buildings of Surabaya’s Karya Mulia, the only school in Indonesia offering full education to deaf children. To commemorate this year’s anniversary, the West Australian Government contributed A$100,000 towards building improvements to the school.

The week long anniversary celebrations, which started on the weekend, will be showcasing the positive linkages and people-to-people relations already established between the two states/provinces. Celebrations kicked off with friendly international basketball games between Western Australia and East Java teams at Surabaya’s DBL (Development Basketball League) Arena. This will be followed by a West Australian food and wine showcase. Puppetry performances of The Turtle and the Trade Winds by Perth-based theatre company Sandpiper Productions will take place at one of the Australian Government BRIDGE sister schools-SMA 15 Surabaya. These performances tell the stories of North West coastal communities of Australia linked by culture to the seafarers and fishermen of Makassar. The celebrations will then conclude with public lectures by University of Western Australia’s Adjunct Professor Brian O’Brien and former NASA Principle Investigator on the 1960s Apollo moon expeditions at Surabaya’s 10 November Institute of Technology.

“The strong and active Western Australia and East Java Sister State/Province relationship has seen many programs and exchanges occurring in the areas of agriculture, education, governance, health, sport and culture. We look forward to this continuing and further developing into the future,” said Australia’s Acting Deputy Head of Mission, Michael Bliss.

BRIDGE is an Australian Government student and teacher exchange program which has seen 91 teachers from 47 Indonesian schools in 7 provinces visit Australia as a way of forging ongoing relationships between schools in both countries. Turtle and the Trade Winds performances in Indonesia were funded by the Australian Government, including through the Australia International Cultural Council and the Australia-Indonesia Institute.