KangGURU
Travels to Kendari
It was probably one of KGRE’s quickest trips. I left Bali at 7.00pm on
January 31st and flew direct to Kendari. However, the full journey did take
over 7 hours – bad weather and delays as usual. But by 1.00am I was
safely in the Hotel Aden in Kendari. I first stayed in the Aden Hotel in 2001
when I visited the HMHB project for KGRE. That AusAID project is finished now
but I still have fond memories of the staff of that project and the hard work
they did with health centers and their staff.
This quick trip was to catch up with the 2005/6 AIYEP
participants – that stands for Australia Indonesia Youth Exchange
Program. This annual program supported fully by the Australia Indonesia
Institute (AII) and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta through the office of
Beverly Mercer, the Cultural Attache. The program basically allows 18 young
Indonesians to go to Australia and live with Australian families. At the same
time they follow experience programs in line with their interests and skills
here in Indonesia. After their 2 months in 2 different locations, the
participants meet together with 18 Australian AIYEP participants before they
all return to Indonesia. The whole team then goes to a village somewhere in
Indonesia to live and work together. This year the locations were Pasawajo
– off the beaten track for sure - and Kendari, both in South-east
Sulawesi. In recent years I thas not always been possible for the Australian
participants to return to Indonesia with the Indonesian group but this time,
around 8 of them DID join in the last part of the program – that was
great!
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The first time I met them was when I jumped onto a bus outside
the Hotel Aden at 8.00am on February 1st. I sat next in the back of the bus
next to a young fellow called Hendi from Semarang. He knew about KGRE and
started filling me in on what the plan was for the morning. The team, about 20
participants in all, had been helping local people in a village, 20 km from
Kendari, to renovate some of their houses. The trip out to the village was a
rough one as the roads around Kendari are not the best. In fact the joke was
that the participants felt they should also be helping to renovate the roads as
well.
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We finally arrived at the village and the team began
painting and helping to fix up two houses. They had been there for several days
and were quite familiar with what they had to do. They banged in nails, cut
wood, painted walls and generally helped the locals. It was great to see. At
the same time I managed to interview 10 of them for KGRE. They talked about the
wonderful time they had in Australia – the host families, their work
experiences, their visits to famous locations and their views on Australia and
Australians in general. You can hear all of this on KGRE radio during 2006.
Even check the latest AusAID Page on the KGRE website for more information and
photographs on my visit to Kendari. There is also information about how you can
become an AIYEP participant and follow in their tracks to Australia.
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Note from the Australian Embassy:
For those Indonesian who would like to apply the AIYEP, so they can contact Dinas Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan or Dinas Pemuda dan Olahraga in each province.
Usually, the selection process will be
conducted by the end of May or begining of June depending on information from
MENPORA, Jakarta.
Selection is handled for all of the
International Youth Exchange Programs: Australia Indonesian Youth Exhchange
Program (AIYEP), Canada - Indonesia Youth Exchange Program, Malaysia -
Indonesia Youth Exchange Program, South East Asia Youth Program.
Cultural Section
Australian Embassy, Jakarta
Jl. HR. Rasuna Said Kav. C15-16
Jakarta Selatan 12940
If you are interested in AIYEP then check out information from your local
Department of Youth Affairs office or contact KGRE. For more photographs -
Click Here
Return to Past Travels of KGRE in Indonesia
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