Makassar - KangGURU Travels in Indonesia

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Home > KGRE Travel in Indonesia > Makassar

KangGURU Travels to Makassar in December 2004

Kevin from Kang Guru travels to Makassar to meet with KGRE Connection Club members and the MTTP project from AusAID. Kevin also met with people involved in a new initiative from the World Bank - The Support Office for Eastern Indonesia or SOf EI.

KGRE Travels to Makassar Dec 13 - 14, 2004

The flight to Makassar from Denpasar was spectacular. The weather was good with the occasional huge white cumulus clouds dotting the skies over Bali. The view of Mt Agung was the best I had ever seen. The Garuda pilot made it possible for passengers to see a better view of the volcano. He dipped the wing of the aeroplane on the left side of the aircraft as we passed over the volcano. It gave us a wonderful view right into the crater itself. That was quite a sight and not one that many people get to see. Landing in Makassar was equally as spectacular with the bright green rice fields of Makassar gleaming brightly in the morning sunshine. Flights like that one are always remembered for their beauty.

Pak Mustafa with one of his tourism students.

I was met at the airport by Francis De Silva from MTTP and we immediately went to the project office at AKBAR. I held a brief interview with Laurie Vandenberg, Team Leader of the project. MTTP is due to finish in March 2005. Laurie, along with his team, has been working together with the tourism industry in South Sulawesi for over 4 years. I chatted with Francis afterwards and you can hear both of them, and the interesting they had to say, on KGRE during March/April 2005.

In the afternoon I called into SMK 4 Makassar to meet briefly with Pak Mustafa. He, along with his team, has been working very hard with MTTP over the past few years. He told me about their 'Cadre of Champions' and the new Traineeships program. He certainly has 'may hats to wear'.

In the evening beginning at 6pm, thirty members from the five KG Connection Clubs in Makassar met me at the Istana Laut Seafood restaurant for dinner. It was a good opportunity to meet with members of these clubs and to inform them of the latest news from KGRE. Twenty two club members attended. The clubs were the Best Forum # 3, PEMCC # 21, ECC # 34, Benteng # 39 and MAKES # 49.

The members enjoyed receiving the latest KG magazines 'hot off the press'. We also played a great scanning/reading game called 'Spot the Information'. Prizes included packages of KGRE merchandise. It was a fun night. But more important were the questions asked. Guests asked many questions about club membership, activities and the plans for KGRE for the next few years. Plans for a second Makassar based KGRE Get Together' for mid-2005 were initiated and hopefully that will go ahead next year. All who attended were keen to chat and interact with members of other clubs and all in all it was a very successful three hours of eating, chatting and laughing.

On Tuesday afternoon, I met with Richard Manning from a World Bank initiative in Makassar - The Support Office for Eastern Indonesia or SOf EI. This new activity promises to be very exciting for Eastern Indonesia and we will have more news about it in future KGRE magazines and on the radio program.

You can also check out the World Bank Press Releases for SOf EI by Clicking Here

Return to Past Travels of KGRE in Indonesia

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