KangGURU
Travels to
Kalimantan in March 2005
Kevin went to Jakarta, Banjarmasin and Balikpapan
beginning February 25th. He visited RRI Banjarmasin
and RSPD Balikpapan for listener meetings. He presented
Teacher Workshops in Banjarmasin and Balikpapan
and met with a group of keen students at SMP Kana'an
in Banjarmasin and at Universitas Balikpapan.
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First stop was Jakarta for a 2 hour
meeting with Gene Sugandy, KGRE's website designer. We discussed
ideas for the new KGRE Busy Letter and some other items of
merchandise being developed for 2005.
Then I went back to the airport in Jakarta for
an afternoon flight to Kalimantan.
Nila Schreiber was there to meet me at the airport in Banjarmasin.
Nila is an Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange alumni and she was
primarily responsible for the organization of this trip to Banjarmasin.
Nila participated in the AIYEP
in 2003/4 when she and 17 others went to West Australia. Members
of the organizing committee met me at the hotel later in the evening
for a chat about the arrangements for the following day. |
| The workshop
was held at the Balaikota and there were probably
250 participants. Most of these were teachers but some others included
students and interested learners. The workshop went well and I think
everyone enjoyed it. I did anyway! Straight after the workshop I
met with students from nearby schools. Some of the students traveled
for 2 hours by car to meet with me. When I had finished the chat
with these students, Josephine Ratna from the Australian
Education Centre in Surabaya, presented information to a
group of interested people about education in Australia.
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Sunday was actually
a 'day off' for me but I spent significant time in my room writing
articles for the April 2005 magazine and for future radio programs.
Nila called by and we spoke of plans for the following few days.
On Monday, bright and early, Nila picked me up and we headed for
SMP Kana'an Banjarmasin for an unscheduled but fun meeting with
35 of their keen students. It was held in the school's computer
lab and went quite well. |
RRI Banjarmasin was next and after a very
interesting meeting with Head of the Station, Bp. Rachman Hakim S. Sos.
It was interesting to see a radio station that seemed so well run and
organized. The offices were neat and tidy with cultural artifacts on the
walls and even plants to brighten up the rooms.
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Staff were friendly and there was an obvious interest in using computers
for running the station. There was access to internet by managers
of the station and the station is in the process of developing an
internet site of their own. The radio station's auditorium was filled
with around 70 high school students who were full of questions and
fun. Hot tea and coffee and delicious cakes were set up for the
students so thank you very much to the station staff for organizing
that. It was terrific to meet such a great group of students too.
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They were bright and cheery and had
many, many questions. After chatting with Bp. Rachman Hakim and
Bp Faturraman it appears that RRI Banjarmasin is very interested
in interactive radio in conjunction with KGRE. Nila seems keen to
be involved as well. Let's hope this gets underway soon - possibly
by April 2005. |
| The next stop
was Balikpapan. On Tuesday the 1st of March KGRE was at RSPD Balikpapan
meeting a few listeners including one young SMU student who I actually
met three years ago at SMP 2 Balikpapan. We had a bit of fun and
KGRE is now going to support the radio station's Speech Competition
on March 5th. Great going guys. |
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I met with Markus
Aprisyanto (right), a film maker from Surabaya. His recent movie
'Djedjak
Darah:Surat Teruntuk Adinda' won the Piala Citra award for
best short film. He spoke about the film and about film making.
You can hear more of KGRE radio during May and June 2005.
Thanks to old KGRE friend Juni Arfiandy (left)
for his help organizing the brief interview with Markus. |
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On Wednesday March 2nd
it was Balikpapan KGRE Teacher Workshop Day at Gedung PEMKOT. Many,
many thanks to the Mayor's office for their support and for the
wonderful organizing committee under the leadership of Pak Henk
Tumundo. Also thanks to DR. Ellyano S. Lasam, SE,
Msi, Rector Univ. Balikpapan for his support and assistance with
the arrangements for the visit of KGRE to Balikpapan. Around 70
teachers attended the workshop and they were active, interested
and lots of fun.
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| After the workshop we headed for
University Balikpapan to meet with students for a student dialogue
and mini-presentation from AEC. Great to see so many students there
and to see Lucia from the Australian Education center Surabaya who
spoke with the students about Study In Australia.
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Return to Past Travels of KGRE in Indonesia
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