KangGURU Travels to Bali in February 2005

Rachel and Ogi traveled to Jembrana Regency in Bali on February 26th to visit the KGCC #041 
Formula English Club in Jembrana, Bali. They also visited a micro-credit activity supported by the Bali Rehabilitation Fund (BRF), a part of AusAID's ACCESS project. Here is Rachel's report on the day's activities.

Jembrana Regency in Bali - February 26th
written by Rachel

On Saturday 26^th February I visited my first Kang Guru Connection Club. Ogi and I traveled along the coast of Bali to Rambut Siwi Temple in the Jamborana district of west Bali. It was a really beautiful journey. There were so many beautiful rice fields and forests of coconut palms. The coastline was stunning and most of the beaches had black sand. The temple was right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was a fantastic location.

The Formula English club organized the day. They come from SMP 1 Mendogo, Negara in Bali. They have been members of the Kang Guru connection since November in 2001. They are a very active and enthusiastic club. The Formula English club invited along three other clubs to join in for the day. They were the Generation English Club, The Teenagers English Club and The Fellowship English Club. They also invited some representatives from the Negara district department of Education and Culture.

The first event was a magnificent welcome dance performed by some of the Generation Engliih Club. They were really excellent dancers and extremely beautiful girls. Next there were some opening speeches from the organizers and the department representatives. Ogi and I felt so warmly welcomed. For the rest of the morning each club took turns performing. The Generation English club told stories and performed poems. The Formula English club members performed a mini drama and performed a dance. The dance combined both traditional movement and modern pop dance steps. Then the Teenagers English Club performed a mini drama of their own. The theme of this drama was "United we stand, divided we fall". After that the Fellowship English Club told some really great stories.

After these wonderful performances the clubs showed Ogi and I some of the typical language activities they do at their club meetings. Firstly, the Formula English Club held a discussion forum. The topic was the new government rule that SMP level students cannot drive motorbikes to school. I think the majority of people watching agreed with the government. The Teenagers English Club then did a guessing game, this was a "who am I?" activity. It was really well done. After that the Generation English club did a great quiz and then the Fellowship Club did an activity called Hunting Words.

Just before lunch Ogi and I had our turn. First we gave the club members some feedback. But there was little to say! The clubs were so well organized, they all used variety of games and activities, such as quizzes, discussions, music and songs, mini drama, story-telling, poetry.But the most important thing was they all seemed to really enjoy themselves. All the activities and performance I saw were really great. I could not believe how well the students spoke. Many of them had really good pronunciation and very natural intonation and expression. Well done to all of you!

Ogi and I then told a story. Story-telling is one of my favourite English Club activities. We told a story about a young man who learns how to make his dreams come true. It is one of my favourite stories. Finally, Ogi and I did a quiz about Australia and gave away Kang Guru "goodies" as prizes. We gave a lot of good things, T-shirts, key-rings, posters, notebooks, stickers. Lots of goodies!

It was a wonderful day and I went home feeling very tired and very happy! Thanks you guys. You were wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Jembrana Pig Raising Project
After lunch we said goodbye to everyone Ogi and I climbed back into the car and drove along the beautiful coastline for another hour or so. We were on our way to visit a family who are part of a new pig-raising project taking place in Bali. We passed through many beautiful villages along the way. I had never been to this part of Bali before
so I enjoyed it very much.

In March 2003 AusAID started the Bali rehabilitation fund (BRF)* of $1.5 million used to improve the opportunities for earning a living for those Balinese and other Indonesians who were badly affected by the bomb in October 2002 and the loss of tourism that followed. The main tourist area near the bomb, Kuta, was not the only area that suffered. The bomb had a terrible affect on the lives of people all over the island. The purpose of the BRF is to provide grants of money to local partners who can then help people who lost their income or are no longer employed in the tourism industry.

We stopped in the market of Melaya village to pick up Pak Okadana and Pak Gede who were showing us the way to the families' house. Mr. Gede Mustika (check) is the manager of Dian Bhuana Lestari Found (DINARI) who are the local partners and organizers of the pig-raising project. He explained all about the project in the car as we drove on to meet Mrs. Meliani at her home in Ekasari village.

Ibu Meliani joined the project about eighteen months ago and started raising pigs. Her and her husband used to work in the town but after the Bali bomb they lost their jobs. When they returned to the village they didn't have any work. Ibu Meliani and her family welcomed us very warmly and Ogi and I chatted to her for a while. It was wonderful to hear all about the project and how it has helped Ibu Meliani and her family get back on their feet as we say in English. She had many stories to tell us about how she had to learn all about taking care of pigs. And it wasn't so easy at the start either- she had problems with the pigs getting sick. Now it's all settled down and it's working very well.

After our chat we went and had a look at Ibu Meliani's pigs and took the photos you can see here. The baby pigs were so very cute! I wanted to take one home with me. Thank you so much Ibu Miliani and Pak Okadana and Pak Gede.

Finally, Ogi and I climbed back into the car, totally exhausted but feeling very happy. I have to admit I saw very little on the way home.I was snoring away dreaming of little flying pigs.

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