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KangGURU Travels to Flores in 2004 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 Waikabubak and
SMP1 in Waingapu in Sumba. He then went onto Flores
calling in on Ende, Bajawa and Maumere. He went to see AusAID projects
including ACCESS, NTT PEP,
COREMAP and the Australian volunteers (AVIs)
working in SMP schools in the Ende, Bajawa
and Maumere. While in Ende Kevin visited RRI
Ende to organize the broadcasting of KGRE in the area.
We were now flying on just one engine. About 5 minutes later the pilot announced to the passengers about what had happened and told us there was nothing to worry about. It seems that the plane can fly quite well on one engine. If that is the case why did they waste the money and build the plane with two engines in the first place. I was however a little concerned because if one engine could stop then maybe the other engine could stop as well. Can Fokker F27 aircraft glide? And we were getting lower and lower and as it seemed to me heading towards rocky and very hard land surfaces below. It turns out that the airport at Waingapu was about 15 minutes away. Landing was a bit scary as the plane swerved along the runway with the squealing of tires on the tarmac and passengers being tossed from side to side. There were emergency vehicles at the side of the runway too with their red flashing lights spinning furiously. At the end of the runway it was quite difficult for the pilot to turn the plane around with only one engine working. Eventually we made it safely to the terminal and disembarked. Minutes later the aircraft mechanics were looking at the engine but it was funny because they were actually inspecting the left side engine and not the right side one. They had the wrong engine! I just chuckled a bit and went on my way. Denny, my driver from the Hotel Sandlewood in Waingapu, was terrific and he was there to pick me on the morning of the 8th to take me to SMUN1 and the KGRE Teacher Workshop. Members of the organizing committee were there including Pak Sylvester, Pak Han and Pak Wan. We got under way after a welcome address by people from the DINAS and I want to thank them for their support of the activity too. The workshop went well as did the meeting with students after wards. Although fairly quiet there were a handful of students who asked many questions and were really keen to talk and ask questions. Of course QUIZ TIME made more students more willing to get involved. I hope that they write to me and ask for the KGRE magazine and possibly join the KGRE Connection network soon. They have to form a club first but and I really think that they will do that. I told them that I would be waiting for their first letter. After leaving SMUN1 we went to Radio Pelita Kasih to talk about broadcasting KGRE in Waikabubak. Management seemed quite interested and hopefully the students in that central Sumba town will soon have KGRE each week on their radios. The 4 hour drive back to Waingapu was wonderful. The rains of recent
days had turned the countryside green is so many areas and the setting
sun created a wonderful, postcard type view for much of the journey. Sumba
villages dotted the highway and although I didn't take a lot of pictures
I did managed to get a few. Some interesting points all along the way
were the number of horses on the roadside, the high pitched roofs atop
the low slung houses, children and their bright smiling faces and curly
hair. I enjoyed every minute of the trip even though I nodded off
for a few minutes here and there. Parts of the scenery reminded
me very much of Gippsland in eastern Victoria and also of the central
highlands of northern New South Wales. Rolling hillsides where I fully
expected to see dairy cows around the next corner. There were cows of
course but not the Australian jersey and friesian cows that I am used
to. After that quick look 'n see journey along a very narrow and winding, dusty track we headed for the next site in Desa Kawangu. Dusun Karaha. This particular community is well into the ACCESS process of meetings, discussions and planning. At this meeting community members discussed with Arnidjawa and Roslina staff from LSM Pananua about the possibility of using goats rather than cows as an income generating activity.
Behind us on the open dry fields the local lads played football. Their game was occasionally interrupted by a Sumba horse wandering across the field. It was great to watch as horses appeared from everywhere and caused great uproar on the football field. We all laughed as did the players. The horse weren't amused though as players threw dirt and yelled at them to get off the playing area. On Friday morning, Pak Bernados from Yayasan Karya Sejahtera picked me up on his new Honda WIN. We went to SMP1 in Waingapu for a hastily organized meeting with English language students there. There were about 25 students from SMP1, SMU 1 and SMU 2 at the meeting. They fired all sorts of questions at me and we a very keen and enthusiastic group indeed. Although I was unprepared for the visit I did manage to get a few prizes together fro a quiz. The students really loved that activity. They were also very keen on the idea of starting a language club and I hope that they do. Their teachers, Pak Melki and Ibu Ice were also interested in teacher workshops for 2004 and the possibility of getting KGRE broadcast in Waingapu. Before leaving for the airport I met with Pak Petrus from an ACIAR supported study project called 'Impacts of Fire and its use for sustainable land and forest management in Indonesia and Northern Australia'. Pak Petrus really is into his work and was delighted to tell KGRE all about it. Flores
Day Five was Teacher Workshop Day in Ende. Ginny and Sharon, together with assistance from the DINAS, had spent many weeks putting together the workshop for local teachers. Teachers were already at SMU1 when we arrived there at 7.30am. Some had traveled over 3 hours from their isolated country school areas. It was great to see them so keen and raring to go. The workshop ran from 8.30am until just after 2pm. There were 70 or so teachers in attendance and they were keen to hear what I had to say. Many thanks to Ginny and Sharon for their help throughout the workshop. Twenty or so teachers ordered the Teacher Package and there was considerable interest in the free Reading Class Sets too. After the workshop I took a quick break and I returned to the hotel for a refreshing mandi. The evening was spent with Ginny and Sharon having dinner and gossiping! On Sunday I went shopping with Ginny for ikat. We also drove past the house where President Sukarno lived after he was removed from the Presidency of Indonesia.
Arriving in Bajawa took me back to 1986 when I lived and worked in a little mountain town in Victoria called Woods Point - mountains all around, low clouds, cool air and everything very green. Bajawa is a pretty looking place with very friendly people. The school children were particularly friendly. The driver was fine and we listened to the same tape over and over again on the stereo. We heard Shania Twain for three hours. I soon met up with Duncan Buchanan, an AVI who has had a long relationship with Flores. Duncan came to Indonesia at the same time I did back in 1990. We both came as volunteers - he went to Ruteng and I went to Lombok. Duncan returned to Flores 18 months ago as a part of the AusAID/AVI project in Bajawa. Ginny and Sharon are a part of the same team as Duncan.
On Tuesday I traveled with Duncan out to the Seminary at Mata Loka for the KGRE Teacher Workshop. He picked me up in a funny little green van. I asked him about the bemo type van and it turns out that it is the local prison van used to pick up and transport prisoners. The wife of the local Head of the Prison, Iby Ery, organized the transport for us and she actually came along as well. The ride was fine but we did attract a few funny looks especially when we arrived at the Seminary and got out of the prison van in front of the huge church.
My last day in Bajawa was Wednesday October 15th and it began once again with a very cold mandi. For breakfast I had a boiled egg, a banana pancake an coffee - HOT coffee! My first appointment for the day was at NTT PEP to find out all about their radio program activities. I conducted interviews with local staff members Moses, Sri and Hendra plus Aussie staff members and head of the communication section of NTT PEP, Jason Brown. It was very interesting to hear all about the work of the project and you can hear that news on KGRE in early 2004. The trip back down the mountain to Ende was uneventful. The driver kept his hand on the klaxon whenever he could, even on straight stretches of road. We heard country and western music by Conway Twitty for the full three hours. In Ende my hotel did not keep the booking for me that I had made two days earlier. So after the long trip and with a headache I settled into a kamar biasa for a little rest. Ginny and Sharon picked me up and we went out for dinner again. It was terrific as we talked about radio stations in Ende, their volunteer jobs (which are about to finish) and life in Ende. They had some more orders from their teachers for the Teacher Package and reported that the teachers who attended the workshop last week really enjoyed it. Let's hope those teachers use some of the ideas and activities we did when they next teach English in their classrooms.
They were actually using the KGRE Reading Class Set from August. They
were doing the Music Quiz and it was terrific to see their reactions to
the questions. I must include more quizzes, music and language, in the
next Reading Class Set. Sharon was team teaching with Pak David Rani,
a keen teacher from that school. The students were terrific and obviously
enjoyed their new styled lessons with these two teachers. It is all a
part of the AVI project in Flores - actually being in the class and assisting
local teachers with methodology. On hands interaction and assistance.
Sharon, Ginny and Duncan also do workshops with teachers and when combined
with team teaching experience they have provided valuable help tot heir
teachers, and therefore to their students as well.
After that school we drove up the hill to the orphanage run by Sisters of St Fransiskus where we had lunch with the sisters. They were lovely and the kids in the orphanage were so charming. Ginny also teaches at a nearby orphanage in this lovely and very picturesque part of Flores. She goes to Detusoko for three days every week. Ginny travels to Detusoko by bemo which means changing bemos twice each way and being on the road for at least an hour each way. Ginny loves the kids in these schools and just loves the countryside and the town of Detusoko.
After lunch with Ginny and the sisters I left the orphanage. I headed
to Maumere with my driver, Pak Hengky. It was a long drive and quite amazing
really. There were many scary and damaged parts of the road. There were
many landslides last wet season so road repairs were happening all along
the road. The roads are built right on the edge of very steep mountain
slopes and sometimes I just didn't even look down. The scenery is amazing
and so rugged. I nodded off a few times but basically saw most
of the sights along the way. The music on this trip was disco hits plus
a cassette of old 50s rock and roll. On Friday night I went out for dinner with a large group of people including John Schottler from COREMAP, Maumere AVI Jo Keating and her family plus Jane Studdard. I first met Jane when I visited an AusAID supported series of activities in far west Kalimantan in 2002. It was good to catch up with her and to hear about her work as a volunteer in Maumere. Earlier in the day I also met Geraldine Deutromn. I first met her on my visit to Maumere in 2001 when she was involved in the very early stages of NTT PEP. Geraldine did much of the research for that project and it was very interesting to hear of her continuing involvement with the project. She expressed interest in what KGRE was doing these days and she hopes to have time early next year to drop in to the KGRE office in Bali to chat on KGRE. Geraldine is an expert on education and is very interested in how children learn especially in the first few years of school. Saturday October 18th was a big day for me. Roberto from COREMAP picked me up at 6.00 am to go to the harbor in Maumere From there we went some villages on nearby islands. The trip was very in a high speed COREMAP speedboat. It only took 45 minutes compared to two and a half hours by local boat. Our boat was called Kangguru 2. That was funny to see written on the side of the boat.
I went on the boat ride with staff from DKP - Dinas Kelaut dan Perikinan. COREMAP was assisting them with transport and luckily I was allowed to go along as well. My guide was Pak Donatus Suban Garak who has been working with COREMAP for several years. We visited Desa Parumaan first and met with several locals involved with the work of the project. Then Donatus and I went in the boat to visit an area just offshore from Desa Pangabatang where the coral reef areas are under protection and surveillance. The water was crystal clear but the coral was damaged due to bombing and much of it was dead. The onto the village of Desa Kojadoi where we once again spoke with members of the community. This village is very active and very committed to not only COREMAP but to their own development and growth. Several valuable things have happened in the village recently. There has been assistance from COREMAP but also considerable input and effort from the community. The installation of a generator means that now there is electricity in the village between 6pm and 11pm each day. Seaweed cultivation is very successful and a thriving business. After these two brief visits we returned to Parumaaan to pick up the people from DKP. They conducted a meeting with locals there while we were away and by the time we arrived back they were just finishing up. We had lunch and I want to say that the fish and the terong were the best I have had for a long time. The ride back to Maumere was even quicker than the journey from Maumere. The ocean was like glass - smooth as silk! I was back in my hotel by 1.30 pm and I really had to have a rest. All that sea air and climbing in and out of boats was quite tiring. Later in the afternoon Pak Donatus came to the hotel for a KGRE interview. You can hear him on KGRE in early 2004.
On my last day in Maumere I walked across the road from the hotel and had breakfast with Jo Keating and her family. I took the opportunity to interview her and her three daughters. They talked about their schools and how they feel about living in Indonesia. They have been in Indonesia for two years and they really like it. They attend high schools in Maumere. Be sure to listen to KGRE in early 2004 to hear all about their activities in Maumere. My plane left Maumere at 12.15pm and before I knew it I was home in my house in Kerobokan by 1.30 pm. Another KGRE (epic) journey over. Back to the office now to finish writing the December magazine. |
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