Kang GURU Travels to Gorontalo in Sulawesi — September, 2007

Maggie from Kang Guru visited Gorontalo in Sulawesi in September to present Kang Guru Teacher Workshops, visit radio station personenel, adjudicate for a debate competition and meet with Kang Guru-ites. While there Maggie also visted several schools and their English language students.

Ogi at KGRE had organised all the details of my trip to Gorontalo where I was going to do a teacher workshop, be on the jury for a debating contest and visit an SMU school. Alwi had organised the 3 boxes of materials I needed and had them waiting at the hotel for when I arrived. All organized!

I flew out of Bali on a beautiful sunny morning with not a cloud in the sky. The flight was on time and I arrived in Makassar around 11.00. From the airport I went straight to SMK 1 Makassar, where I received a very warm welcome from the committee and members of Best Forum Club (KGCC #03). After meeting the school principal, Pak Syahrir and the committee escorted me to a room where I met all the club members. They were particularly interested in discussing the environment and differences in school policies between Indonesian and Australian high schools. Most students had prepared some interesting questions about these topics and we had a lively discussion. I was really impressed with the standard of English of those who participated. Best Forum Club suggested having KGCC regional and national debate competitions. It was great fun and the hour and a half I spent there really flew by.

After a taxi ride back to Hasanuddin Airport I waited for my flight to Gorontalo. Having never been to Gorontalo, before I was really looking forward to it. Despite a delay in the departure time, I finally arrived at Gorontalo where I was met by Sylvana, Novri and Jefri who had been waiting patiently at the airport. On the way to the hotel I was constantly amazed at the lack of traffic on the road and thought it was probably because it was already night time. They all assured me it was always like this in Gorontalo. How wonderful! No traffic jams and no pollution! I was impressed.

Gorontalo is indeed a beautiful part of Indonesia. Wide streets, lots of shady trees and stunning mountain views create a relaxed atmosphere. I loved the clean unpolluted air, the lack of traffic and the friendly people….it was so easy to cross the road! I also really liked the bentor…the motor bike version of a becak complete with plastic awning and front cover to protect the passengers from rain. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see the beach and the sunset as I was exhausted after the first day , but I hope to return to Gorontalo one day when I have more time to explore what is obviously a beautiful area.

The next morning I was picked up bright and early at 7.00 am and off we went to the Gedung Budaya at Gorontalo State University for the teacher workshop. This was part of a 3- day English Olympiad organised and run by Pak Arzal Ismail( an ADS Alumni) and the committee of the Centre for Language Training and Overseas Study Preparation at Gorontalo State University. The 3- day Olympiad was opened by the Rector and by 8.45 the workshop was underway.   The 130 teachers who attended were a combination of SMU and SMP teachers from all over Gorontalo province. They were very enthusiastic and became more active and vocal as the workshop progressed. Corn, rice and cattle are the main agricultural products here. A specialty of the area is corn soup and I must admit all the corn I ate was absolutely delicious.

The next day I was on the jury for the debating contest with Pak Arzal and Pak Michael from the US Embassy. The contestants, all from High Schools in the Gorontalo province debated using the British parliamentary debating system. 4 controversial topics were debated with 8 participants debating each topic. The jury was impressed at the overall English skills of all the students involved. They were each given a list of about 20 possible topics in advance, but the actual topic they had to debate was only handed out 15 minutes before their debate. They really needed to be able to think quickly on their feet. The winning team was to be announced the following day after the treasure hunt .A really good English Olympiad well organized by the committee.

At RRI Gorontalo in the afternoon I was pleased to meet Pak Halid who told me that KGRE was really popular in Gorontalo province and there had been requests for KGRE to be broadcast twice a week.

After that, Pak Arzal drove me out to MTS Negeri Gorontalo which was in a lovely rural area past rice fields and a tidal river with many fish traps. The students there had just completed a two- week intensive English course run by Pak Jasman Mohamad and a team of really enthusiastic teachers, an initiative of the local Islamic education department. The 40 students had all been given names of body parts and they were addressed as Miss Knee, Mr Palm, Miss Neck etc . After talking about KGRE,they asked me some questions about Australia and my impressions of Gorontalo ( fantastic! ) and then we played some games. Judging from the questions they asked and the English they used while they were playing the game, I would say that their 2 week intensive English course had been VERY successful. Congratulations to all!

On Sunday morning, an early 5.00am start to get to the airport which is about 45 minutes from Gorontalo city. Another beautiful crisp, clear morning as Arzal and Silvana accompanied me via the back roads to the airport. What a beautiful trip as we sped past small villages, rice fields and cows grazing with the mountains in the background! The road was actually quite busy at this time with bentor and dokar as people were going to and from the local market as we raced to get to the airport on time.

A great trip and thanks to Arzal, Silvana, Novri, almost a dinki-di Aussie, and Jefri for making my time there so enjoyable. The flight home to Bali was smooth with a spectacular view of the peaks of Mt Agung and Mt Lempuyang surrounded by clouds.