|
Pollution is not unusual in big cities and especially in megacities but the pollution I saw in Jakarta on my arrival from Denpasar on November 11th was the worst I have ever seen. The Garuda Boeing 737 plane was almost on the ground before we got through the smoky haze that covered the airfield. The pollution was very bad. Jakarta was hot as well. I was on route to Jambi so stopped over in Jakarta for a few days. During those few days I visited IALF headquarters and called into the Australian Embassy.
My visit to the Embassy was for a brief meeting with Allison Sudradjat, Minister Development Cooperation for AusAID in Indonesia. I wanted to spend a few minutes with her for a quick interview about the role of AusAID in Indonesia. Allison spoke for about 15 minutes about Australia’s aid program in Indonesia and how more particularly, how the cooperative process operates. Her explanation was very clear and simple and you can hear it on KGRE in late 2006. Check the December magazine too. I also met with the Public Relations people from AusAID had a very brief chat with Louise Hand, Australia’s Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia. KGRE hopes to catch up with Louise soon. I was surprised to find out that Louise was once an Australian Volunteer International (AVI) too just like me. |
|
On Friday I returned to IALF briefly before flying to Jambi for a Teacher Workshop on Saturday. My Adam Air flight was very nice actually with prompt check-in and departure. I had a window seat but ended up sleeping nearly the whole way to Jambi. I thought I was in Jakarta again as we landed as the pollution was very bad there too. Lots of smoke very close to the ground. A blue haze sort of covered the airfield. I guess Sumatra is the worst for smoky haze in the whole country? Pak Soko and Pak Azmi met me at the airport. Soko works at Sekolah Menegah Atas Titian Teras, a very special school about 20 km from downtown Jambi. He was one of the hard-working members of the Organizing Committee for the workshop. Azmi on the other hand was chief organizer for KGRE’s 2003 visit to Jambi.
I checked into the Abadi Hotel and after a short rest the crew picked me up to go to a student meeting at Sekolah Menegah Titian Teras. The school is about 40 minutes from Jambi. It is a huge school and there was a huge number of SMA level students there waiting to meet me. I think that there may have been about 200 students there all dressed very smartly in their brown school uniforms. They were attentive, highly motivated and ready with lots of questions. The meeting began at 7.30pm and drew to a conclusion around 9.15pm. |
 |
 |
| On Saturday the 11th, I was once again picked up by the crew and whisked back out to the school for the teacher workshop day. That was at 7am. The workshop finally got underway at 9am with opening remarks from the Principal of the school and by the DIKNAS representative. The workshop fun started at 9.45 concluding some 5 or so hours later. The teachers were a little quiet to begin with but soon ‘fired up’ as the activities began. It is always interesting how teachers take time to warm up but once they do they are fine. |
Many thanks to Pak Soko and his team at Sekolah Menegah Titian Teras, Muaro, Jambi plus the support given by DIKNAS Muaro. Thanks also to the students for helping me with interviews for KGRE. If these four young students are representative of students at Sekolah Menegah Titian Teras then the school certainly has wonderful students. Good Luck to all of them and I hope KGRE hears from them in the near future.
|
|
|
I returned to Jkt immediately after the workshop flying on Lion Air. It was a good flight BUT the crowds of people at Jkt airport was certainly a surprise. I don’t think I have ever seen so many travelers at Jkt airport before. It was so busy that I found iut difficult even to get out to the taxi rank. I guess more people are flying these days as there are cheaper airfares and more flights available.
Sunday was a rest day although in the late afternoon I met up with Indonesian actor, Samuel (Sammy) Rizal at Pondok Indah. He was very keen to chat about his career, his films, his sporting interests and life in general. The interview lasted fro probably close to a full hour. He spoke very well and was also quite interested to hear about KGRE in Indonesia. Sammy will be featured on KGRE radio in early 2007 plus in the March 2007 magazine. If you are impatient you can see Sammy on the KGRE website in mid-November. Thanks Sammy – good fun! |
|
Monday it was airport time again with an 11 o’clock departure to Balikpapan. I was met there by Drs. M. Fahrur Roji, M.Ed and members of his team. We drove straight to Samarinda with a lunch stop at Sumadeng, half way point on the trip. It was interesting to hear of Pak Fahrur’s trip to Australia later in November. He, along with 9 other teachers from Samarinda, are traveling to Brisbane to check out possible teacher and student exchanges for the future. Pak Fahrur has already studied overseas and has quite a history of exchanges too. He certainly is a well traveled teacher – keen and enthusiastic about education.
The workshop in Samarinda was very well organized with just 150 teachers present. They were keen and quite a lot of fun actually. The workshop, although the venue was quite hot, went well and the re was the usual madness at competition/prize time. KGRE certainly gave away many, many of the latest Compilation Packs – Celebrity Interviews, Best of Radio Series 50, 51 and 52 plus Different Pond Different Fish. Even KGRE stickers were very popular. KGRE also took over 100 orders fro Teacher Packs including the soon to be released SMA Teacher Package.
|
|
Almost as soon as the workshop was over we started the student meeting. Probably close on 100 students from local SMP and SMA schools attended the meeting. They were particularly clever with their questions and before we knew it, 90 minutes had passed by. It is always great to meet students such as these – keen and lively. We finally worked out when RRI Samarinda plays KGRE so students all promised to listen on Sunday at 16.00 on 88,5 FM. I also met two of the English language interactive program presenters from RRI Samarinda and it is hoped that they will join the KGRE Presenter’s Network soon.
|
|
On Wednesday I flew via Jakarta to Bali arriving at almost 5pm. That was a long day’s travel as it was begun at 6.30am.
Return to Past Travels of KGRE
in Indonesia
|
