KangGURU Travels to Papua

Kevin travelled to Timika, Jayapura and Sorong in Papua in september, 2006. He presented KGRE Teacher Workshops in both Timika and Sorong plus visited radio stations in Timika, Jayapura and Sorong. He also met with students in many schools during his 7 day visit.

It was late night, actually early morning, flight from Dps to Timika in Papua. KGRE had been there before but this was the first time KGRE presented Teacher Workshops and met with local students. Ibu Emma from SMA Al Falah made it possible for KGRE to visit Timika. So many thanks to Emma and to her team of helpers. Also many many thanks to her school as they supported the workshop fully and arranged snacks, lunch, transport and so all form their own funds. That was fantastic. Kevin arrived at 6.30 in the morning after the 4 hour flight from Bali. He was a little tired of course but no time to rest. Kevin had to check in immediately with the local police and immigration but Emma had all of that organized. She has been in Timika for 5 years and certainly knows a lot of people there including the police. KGRE thinks she is a bit of a celebrity actually.

After checking in with the police Kevin was taken to his hotel. The Sheraton is a large international hotel built near the airport BUT almost in the middle of the jungle. Emma worked there for several years previous and once again knew most of the staff. Emma had been involved in staff training at the hotel. The hotel is very nice however they do have some odd pricing arrangements for people who have to check in early as Kevin had to arriving in Timika at 6.30 in the morning. Kevin stays in many hotels around Indonesia and that was the first time he had to pay for the full day rate for just a few hours – from booking in at 9.00am until very early afternoon. Kevin has written about this to the hotel and is interested to see if he gets a reply. Travelling is full of little hurdles and of course, pleasures too. Luckily there are other hotels in Timika for the next KGRE visit. Kevin saw those hotels as he was driven around the sprawling town of Timika and although they are not quite of Sheraton standard they will be fine next time if need be.

Kevin checked into his room and then almost immediately off to Emma’s school, SMA Al Falah to meet with the Principal and staff. There were approximately 100 students waiting for him at the school. They had been invited by SMA Al Falah and had come from many of the nearby schools. The KGRE student meeting lasted fro over two hours. There were many questions and as usual, the students had a lot of fun with KGRE quizzes and games. After the meeting Kevin interviewed four of the students. Their names were Masakif, Karmain, Ida and Aurelia. Thanks guys.

Then brief stop at GEMA FM, 105, before Kevin returned to his hotel for a sleep. Ibu Emma also volunteers at the radio station helping with the broadcast of KGRE. She has an interactive program there and although the broadcast area of GEMA is only about 15 kilometers from the station, they still get calls from Timika English language students. He hadn’t had sleep for about 32 hours except for an hour or so on the plane from Bali.

On Wednesday morning Kevin was picked up by Emma to go to the workshop. The actual workshop didn’t get started until almost 10.30 due to jam karet, a long welcoming ceremony and then cups of tea and some snacks. The Chief Executive of Education, Pak Alosius You, opened the workshop with a lengthy speech and finally the traditional three taps on the podium. The teachers at that workshop were wonderful and full of fun. They really concentrated on what Kevin had to say and according to Teacher Feedback Forms, they all enjoyed the workshop and what it had to offer them. Special thanks to all of the students who assisted by serving lunch and cleaning up throughout the day. Well done.

On Thursday morning Kevin literally bumped into Roni from Tunas Hijau in Surabaya. What a surprise. Roni and Andi - he designed the March 2006magazine cover for KGRE - were in Timika giving presentations on the environment to students. It was great to catch up with them both and they discussed future possible collaborations with KGRE including information in the December magazine perhaps about green spaces in cities.

Emma took Kevin on a tour of the Freeport Mine – not the actual mine but the township that has been created for the workers. This township is in the middle of the jungle about 10 kilometers from Timika. It has a supermarket, library, and sports facilities including an 18 hole gold course. The houses and streets that they are on look just like a suburban street with full facilities and gardens. It is quite amazing. There is another town just like that one only smaller at the mine itself which is another 3 hours further up into the mountains. This town looks quite different to the city of Timika.

Merpati left Timika on time and I flew to Jayapura. The plane was full and Kevin says the flight was a little rough – weather problems. However he arrived safely and before too long was booked into the hotel Yasmin in Jayapura. This hotel is in the middle of town and he says that it must have the smallest rooms of any hotel in Indonesia. – tiny and crowded.

Kevin quickly caught a taxi to RRI Jayapura to attend a Listener Meeting with Sophe, one of the members of the KGRE’s English Language Presenters’ Network. About twenty listeners were there to meet Kevin and although he was late, they were pleased to see him. The activity involved a ‘live-on air’ show with listeners calling in as well as listeners in the studio asking questions too. It was a busy time for sure with at least 8 calls from outside and a further 5 or so questions from within the studio.

Sophe’s program is called ‘JEV and is broadcast every Sunday on RRI between 4 in the afternoon and 8 inb the evening. That’s four hours of KGRE, interactive calls and fun. Well done Sophe. Pak Edwin from SMK 1 dropped by the hotel to see Kevin early evening. Pak Edwin was one of the organizers of the KGRE Teacher Workshops held in 2005 in Jayapura. He is a very active teacher in the town and Kevin was most interested to hear about his student exchange plans for Japan in October. Twenty students, fully supported by the local government, will go to Japan on exchange to the city of Tamagata. More on that later on KGRE from Edwin himself.

Friday morning was Sorong Day – Kevin left a sunny Jayapura at 10.45 am for the 90 minute flight to Sorong. It was very unusual to see so many children lined up along the sides of the runway as the jet landed in Sorong. They had been playing football and when Kevin’s jet landed they stopped kicking the balls and watched the plane land. This would never happen in Australia for example – children playing beside the runaway and in fact, on the runway too. It would be seen as a major safety and security issue.

he wet season seemed to have already started in the area as Sorong was wet and muddy. The sides of the roads were water-logged and Jack Rahamitu, the Head of the Organizing Committee, told Kevin that it had been raining for quite a few hours and heavy rain at that!

The day’s Sorong activities commenced with a visit to RRI Sorong and a meeting with Pak Allo, Head of Broadcasting. Interactive radio, with the help of Jack and friends, sounds very promising. Then it was off to Police Headquarters for an immigration/security check for Kevin. In the late afternoon Kevin went to STIE Victory Sorong for a student/teacher meeting. It was wet and windy but students were still there to meet Kevin and to learn more about KGRE. Their questions were terrific and they were all obviously very keen on English and ‘things English’. There were two guys there very interested in the environment so hopefully they will write to KGRE soon with details of their activities in Sorong.

The second day in Sorong was Teacher Workshop Day was opened by Pak Bistok Siahaan representing the Head of DIKNAS Sorong who was unable to attend. Due to Pak Jack’s organizing skills really showed as the workshop went ahead without hassle. They were a great group of teachers and the day was a big success. That day actually finished at STM with a student meeting of over 100 students from around 10 local schools – SMP, SMA and SMK. The first two hours of the interactive program was broadcast live on BBS radio which is based at the school. It is hoped that this school-based station will soon broadcast KGRE soon. Kevin says that the students at the event were wonderful and so keen and so good at English. Questions were clever and well asked and kevin tried his best to answer them all.The meeting, including musical presentations and a live band, was an ‘innovation’ according to Jack. Kevin agreed. The students loved the activity and they have already planned a follow-up, interactive activity for mid October. The meetings will rotate around schools in the district so that is a great idea too.

Ayu Amanda from SMA Negeri 1 and Rais Usman from SMA Negeri 3 Sorong

Kevin returned to Bali from Sorong via Timika on Sunday. He was home in his house by 4pm after 6 days in the far parts of Eastern Indonesia – fantastic!.