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KangGURU Travels to South and Southeast Sulawesi in 2003 Travels with The Captain KGRE travels throughout Indonesia delivering Teacher
Workshops to English language teachers, visiting schools and radio stations,
addressing KG Connection Clubs and meeting KGRE listeners and readers.
On this trip Kevin travels to Pangkep and Makassar.
He called in on the very active MTTP office whilst
there to see Warren and the team. Then went over to
Kendari for a Teacher Workshop and to visit (2nd
visit) the AusAID funded HMHB project. The
he travelled down south to Buton and Pasarwajo visiting
ACCESS and other development activities linked to Australia (IDPs,
ACCESS, ) plus to conduct a Workshop
in Bau Bau. He also visited language clubs
in Pasarwajo and Makassar - The Best
Forum and the Pioneer Club. The vast majority of questions concerned the Australian Development Scholarship program (ADS). Although I know a little about ADS I suggested that they should contact ADS Jakarta directly and ask their questions to the staff there. There was great interest in studying in Australia, the lifestyles of students there and there were also many general questions about education in Australia. I told them that the August 2003 KGRE magazine would give them quite a deal of information about schools and students life in Australia – KGRE style. After the meeting was over I had an appointment with Warren Whittaker from the Makassar Tourism and Training Project (MTTP), an AusAID funded activity in Makassar and West Papua. We discussed the meeting between KGRE and students and staff at SMK4 planned for the following day. We also spoke about the MTTP and other matters of mutual interest including tourism in the region. He was very interested to hear about the number of foreign tourists on my plane the previous day. I spent the late afternoon wandering around Ratu Indah Mall and drinking delicious coffee at Excelsio. I left the hotel 7.30am for the trip to Pangkep and a Teacher Workshop organized by IPPM – a very active KG Connection Club. Thanks to MTTP once again for the car and driver – much appreciated) There were 60 teachers at the workshop plus close on 80 students as well. The students participated in the early part of the workshop. I told them all about KGRE in Indonesia, the connection to Australia via AusAID and I also invited them to write to KGRE for the FREE magazine. I hope they do write to KGRE as I think the magazine is a good source of English language.
The teachers and students in Pangkep can only listen to KGRE from RRI Makassar sometimes as Makassar is quite far away. I explained how the teachers and students can help KGRE and help themselves at the same time. I suggested that they contact their local RSPD station in Pangkep and talk to them about playing the KGRE program. If they did this then I feel quite sure that the radio station may decide to help. Wouldn’t it be great if that station played the KGRE program so that all the keen English language students in the area could practice their listening skills for example? Let’s wait and see what happens. The same goes for you too. If you are unable to hear KGRE on a local station then you can also approach them and talk to them about KGRE. Maybe they will be happy to do it for you. I returned to the hotel in Makassar by 4.30pm where I met with Muksin from the Wajo Connection Club. Then I conducted an interview with Abdul Majid from the Pioneer Club. The topic of was one aspect of local culture in South Sulawesi. I have started collecting such information in preparation for the December 2003 magazine. On Day Three in Makassar I went to SMK 4 to meet students and to see the work of the Makassar Tourism and Training Project (MTTP). Warren Whittaker from MTTP accompanied me to the school. I met over 100 Level 1 and 2 students from this very progressive and hard-working vocational school. Staff at the school are a keen group and we hope talk about them and their work in Makassar in the December 2003 magazine. The MTTP, an AusAID funded project at the school, l is due to finish in 7 months. It has been working for two years hard helping schools in the area, and especially SMK 4, to develop their tourism centered courses. Several of the students asked questions ranging from the omission of KGRE in Indonesia to the best ways to earn English. There are obviously many keen and hard-working students at SMK 4. They are doing their best to develop their language skills while learning more about the tourism and travel business. In the afternoon I visited the Best Forum Club at SMK 1 in Makassar. The MAKES Connection Club was also there for the fourth such meeting at SMK 1 over the past few years held at that school.
In the evening I had some free time and went on a sunset boat cruise. One of Warren’s friends has a small boat so the three of us went on a 90 minute trip around the harbor at Makassar and along the seafront area of the city. It was calm (thank goodness) and the sunset was quite spectacular. What was most interesting was the size of the port area and the number and variety of ships and boats we saw. There were very large ships berthed at the wheat and flour mills wharf for example. I was told that those flour mills are the largest of their sort in Asia. Wheat is transported from Australia by ship and is unloaded in Makassar. The wheat is then processed into flour and then transported to places such as Surabaya to be made into things such as pasta and bread. On Day Four I traveled to Kendari in South-East Sulawesi by Pelita Air.
The plane was scheduled to depart Makassar’s Hasanuddin Airport
at 10.45ambut we finally hit the skies at 11.45am. The flight was
very peaceful and calm as I slept the entire trip. That is a nice way
to travel sometimes. The wet season has just begun in Kendari with rain
every few days. The weather was quite humid as well. After unloading my
things at the Hotel Aden I rushed off to RRI for a listener’s meeting.
The meeting was broadcast live on radio and I guess that quite a few people
were listening from home. There were about 60 students present and their
questions were fast and furious. The meeting lasted two hours and
there was great interest in KGRE. Most of the students had KGRE magazines
but it was interesting to see that some of the magazines were from quite
a few years ago. As usual the competition activities were well received
with t-shirts and key-rings being popular prizes. The Kendari Teacher Workshop was held at SMK 3 in Kendari, Thirty teachers joined the workshop and they were active, interested in English and keen to learn more about KGRE. Lunch was provided by the students of SMK 3 who prepared, cooked and served the food in their school’s dining room (classroom). Lunch was just like being in a real restaurant and I want to congratulate the students for their hard work. The workshop finished at around 3.00pm. I even had to do an interview for local television at the conclusion of the workshop. I then went by taxi to the offices of HMHB to organize a series of interviews during the coming days. The HMHB project comes to a finish in November 2003 and this was my last chance to talk with the staff and hopefully prepare a report for the December 2003 magazine. I interviewed Ronnie, one of the Indonesian workers on the project first of all. Ronnie has been with the project since it began five years ago and has been a driving force within the project for all of that time.
In the middle of the interview with Ronnie I had an emergency telephone call from Ogi in Bali. Apparently I was supposed to be out of town interviewing Pak Sahardi and Pak Sutumo at BPTP I had obviously forgotten about it and Ogi was wondering where I was and what I was doing. I knew better than to argue with Ogi so I quickly went about 16 km out of Kendari to conduct the interviews. These two men work at BTPT and they are working to help solve the problems of disease and pests in local cocoa crops. South East Sulawesi grows 70% of Indonesia’s cocoa crop and it is very important that the problems of disease and pests in those crops are solved. The first interview with Pak Sahardi was conducted in Indonesian while the second interview with Pak Suhono was in English. Hi to Pak Wahab too who didn’t actually join in with the interviews but was busy supporting his two colleagues as they spoke to KGRE. Be sure to listen to them in coming months of KGRE and possibly in the December 2003 magazine as well.
On Friday morning Dave Nix and I traveled
to Buton. We boarded the ‘La Bomba’ ferry in Kendari Harbor
for the four hour ride to the capital of Buton, Bau Bau. For most of the
journey I sat on the outside deck watching the islands pass by and enjoying
the sunshine and the wind in my face. Towards the end of the trip I returned
to my inside seat and watched the end of the silly but entertaining film
called ‘True
Lies’ starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It certainly had great visual
effects and I may have to rent it soon to get the complete story. By 1.30pm we were all on the road to
Pasarwajo and our visit to one of KGRE’s newest Connection Clubs
– the
Pasarwajo Speed English Conversation Club #37. The drive took
90 minutes on rough roads but through fantastic scenery. The villages
along the way were wonderful to see with most houses raised up on stilts
and all immaculately clean and neat. The members of the
Pasarwajo Speed English Conversation Club were eagerly awaiting
our arrival and it was great to meet them all. Several parents also attended
the meeting and were quite interested in the club and their connection
to KGRE. This meeting gave me my very first opportunity to actually give
a Connection Club a Welcome Package personally to a new club. I was able
to explain to them first-hand about Club Activity Reports, membership
cards and the various little gifts that we always give clubs when the
first join the Connection network. I really enjoyed that and I guess they
did too. If not that then the Quiz Competition that followed certainly
got their interest going. The meeting finished after the usual round of
photographs and autographs. The autographs were Dave’s and not mine
by the way. We left Pasarwajo at almost 6pm for the trip back over the
hills and through the picturesque villages of this part of South East
Sulawesi. Day Two in Bau Bau it was to SLTPN 3 for a Teacher Workshop. Over 60 teachers attended. They were obviously very impressed with the KGRE Teacher Package and how it can be used in classrooms. Orders for 22 packages were taken and I hope that those teachers can use the packages and activities to really encourage their students to study harder. I also hope that the packages make the job of these hard-working teachers a little easier. Many of the teachers were from Bau Bau but many of them came from outlying areas as well. It was great to see such enthusiasm and interest in teaching English. After the workshop Rusdi for the Pasarwajo club called by to my hotel to chat further about club activities, CARs and the future plans of his club. At 5pm Ridwan Ade from the Save The Children Fund (SCF) came to see me. I invited him to talk about his activities in Bau Bau with SCF and AusAID. Ade has been working alongside his colleagues with Internally Displaced Persons, or as they are often called IDPs. In this case, IDPs are people who have moved to Buton as a result of conflict in other areas of Indonesia. For example in the late 1990s many people left Ambon because of the trouble there. They wanted to go somewhere safe. Buton is close to Ambon but also because many of the IDPs have ancestors or family members who originally came from the Buton area. Thousands and thousands of IDPs flooded into the Buton area and of course there were many problems as a result of the influx. One of the major problems was education for children, or rather the lack of it. SCF with support from AusAID came into the area and began working with the IDPs and with local authorities too. You can here what Ade has to say about the work his project did in those troubled times on KGRE in late 2003. Ade speaks wonderful English and has a lot to say about the plight of children in Indonesia. The interview was very interesting and it was a pleasure to meet and chat with him. I had dinner with Dave, Baaziri and Zukiri in a beach side warung. That meal was great and after that I was introduced to pisang kipas and sarabba. The fried bananas were thinly sliced and in the shape of a fan whilst the drink called sarabba was made from ginger (jahe), hot water (air panas), susu kental manis (condensed milk) and gula merah (red sugar) - DELICIOUS! It is quite a special drink from Bau Bau and I shall always remember it. I wonder if I can make it when I get back to my house in Bali next week.
On Sunday the 10th of August Dave Nix and I both left for Kendari on ‘La Bomba’ at 12 midday. The trip was a little rough in parts but generally a smooth and picturesque journey. We arrived in Kendari around 4.30pm. The harbor in Kendari was crowded with small boats as people enjoyed the beautiful weather and a pleasant Sunday afternoon on the water. Day Eleven of this lengthy KGRE trip was basically spent in the offices of HMHB in Kendari. I spoke with and interviewed several HMHB staff members about their work with the project. You can hear their interviews on KGRE later this year. I also met two members of staff from DINAS Kesehatan Kendari, Pak Alfis and Pak Sudin, as their department is the government counterpart department for HMHB. They spoke of the co-operation that exists between HMHB and the DINAS and how this has already led to the Dinas Kesehatan producing some of their own health related material for the community. This material was designed by them and funded without assistance from the HMHB project. This work will continue well after HMHB has left the area as Dinas staff are now well equipped, both technically and financially, to carry on the work. In the afternoon I also spoke with Gillian Lang, Training and Curriculum Coordinator for HMHB in SULTRA. Gillian spoke especially of the work of the project with village midwives, traditional birth attendants and cadres in the Posyandu. One of the most interesting things that Gillian talked about was the fact that it has been Dinas Kesehatan staff who have implemented all the training for HMHB in the province. It is really interesting to hear this aspect of the project’s work and you can hear it on KGRE in late 2003 and into 2004. On my final night in Kendari I went out for dinner with Gillian and John from HMHB, Dave and Carol Nix plus Ina Hernawati MPH from the Directorate of Family Health in Jakarta who arrived earlier in the day to work with the project for a few days. The restaurant was called Fajar and it was very good with fantastic Thai styled soup. One of the interesting things about the dinner conversation was that we didn’t talk about projects very much. Instead we talked about tourist destinations in Indonesia, airport security and Buton hotels. Good fun it was as well. |
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