KangGURU
Travels to
Jakarta in November 2004
Kevin travelled to Jakarta is late November
to attend an AusAID Team Leaders Meeting
and to also visit an Australian Volunteer International hard at work at
DEPLU. While in Jakarta Kevin also visited
Gene Sugandy, saw an HIV AIDS Parade and called
into RRI Jakarta for an interactive radio program broadcast
with Pak Fahmi.
Travelling to Jakarta is pretty easy. Generally Danu
or Supadi, drivers for IALF Bali, pick me up at my house and take me to
Ngurah Rai Airport. On this particular day it was Danu. Denpasar's airport
is south of Kuta and is quite easy to get to. The flight is just 90 minutes
and then the city of Jakarta is a quick 40 minute taxi ride from the airport.
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On November 23rd
I went to Jakarta for an AusAID Team Leaders Meeting. This was a meeting
of all leaders of AusAID
supported projects from around Indonesia. There were about
20 participants at the two day meeting. Presentations included mini-overviews
of each project from individual Team Leaders and the latest news from
AusAID itself. Discussions were held on how projects can work together
and share news. It also gave an excellent opportunity to 'network'
- for people to meet together and get to know more about other project
leaders and projects. The meeting continued on Friday. Later that
day I visited IALF to meet with CEO, Geoff Crewes. After meeting with
him I walked the 500 meters to AusAID at the Australian Embassy. I
had brief interviews with Robin Davies, Minister-Counsellor (Development
Cooperation) at AusAID and Dan Hunt, Second Secretary,
Development Cooperation.
In the interviews they talked about the work of AusAID with particular
reference to KGRE and the year ahead - 2005. They both agreed that
2005 - 2006 are going to be pretty exciting for KGRE in Indonesia. |
Gene Sugandy is one of KGRE's website advisors - Yakindo
Web Designs. Gene also is responsible for the design of
KGRE merchandise including the posters, stickers and buku tulis. She lives
in Jakarta and I visited her on Saturday to discuss and work on a minor
re-design of the website for 2005.
| On Sunday morning
a parade passed by the hotel. It was a World
AIDS Day Parade. There were thousands of people in theparade.
Many of the participants are involved with NGOs in Indonesia fighting
against the AIDS epidemic. It was noisy and fun with bands and marching
groups and lots of color and movement.
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On Sunday I went to RRI Jakarta to be a guest on their
English language interactive radio program. The program is called "Fun
with English - Interactive Radio English" and is broadcast
every Sunday at 15.00 Wib - FM 91.2 MHz. Listeners can call (021) 34834350
or 3862375 to speak with Fahmi. The program is broadcast throughout the
Jakarta area. Pak Fahmi is the presenter and the program is produced by
Irma. Irma was an IASTP
participant several years ago and studied in Australia through the courses
offered by IASTP. Now she is a producer at RRI Jakarta. There were quite
a lot of callers during the program.
| The program ran between 3 and 4 pm .We conducted several
quiz competitions and the two lucky winners were happy to win KGRE
Radio Packs - a KGRE t-shirt, buku tulis, keyring plus some posters
and stickers. These packs can be won on a regular basis on Fahmi's
program each month so be sure to listen on Sunday afternoons. KGRE
plans to return to RRI Jakarta on January 23rd for two
interactive programs. The theme of these program swill be Aussie Aussie
Aussie. January 26th is Australia
Day - Australia's National day much like August 17 is here
in Indonesia. The first is the national interactive program at 8.00am
and the second for the day will be Rahmis' program at 3pm. |
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On Monday morning I visited DEPLU
- the Department Luar Negeri - in Senayan. Jason
is an Australian Volunteer International placed there to assist with
English language training for the diplomatic service. Jason arranged
for me to interview two trainee diplomats at DEPLU. Naya, a former
Australian Development
Scholarship scholarship student, and Dion have been with the
Department of Foreign Affairs for several years. They are due to have
to first overseas placement next year and both of them are very excited
about that. Naya is currently working in the training department of
DEPLU while Dion works with other organizations which in turn work
in cooperation with DEPLU. You can hear them on KGRE early in 2005.
They have some wonderful advice for anyone thinking of a career in
the diplomatic service for Indonesia. |
I flew back to Bali at 13.00 on Garuda and there ended this wonderful
trip for me. One more trip is planned for mid-December to Makassar and
Jakarta. More later, okay?
Return to Past Travels of KGRE in Indonesia
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