Kang GURU
Travels to Makassar and Gowa, South Sulawesi
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by Kevin Dalton
On April 11th, KGRE went to South Sulawesi to join with the Australian
Ambassador and officials from the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The Ambassador
was there to visit some of the wonderful AusAID projects in that part of
Indonesia. They included cattle fattening with ACIAR,
maize drying with IFC, and the Australia
Indonesia Basic Education Program which is building 2000 new schools
across Indonesia PLUS the Official Opening of the SADI
office in Makassar.
Here's Kevin's report for you to read.
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The Ambassador presented special awards to local SMP and SD students.
Congratulations to all those students.
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It was 9am departure on Garuda from Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar for the one
hour flight to Makassar, or as some people still call it, Ujung Pandang. The
flight was good and although landing seemed a bit odd, the plane arrived
safely. I went straight to the hotel and almost as soon as settling into my
room on the 9th floor overlooking the Makassar foreshore, I started work.
Out came the trusty KGRE laptop and I started on the next 6 radio programs
numbered 5601 – 5606. Those programs will feature interviews from Tora
Sudiro, Anggun and Nicholas Saputra. Be sure to listen in June and July as
there will also be a few competitions, a few musical segments plus valuable
information about Australian Development Scholarships for 2007. I also worked
on KGRE's ongoing efforts to get contacts going between the KGCC network of
language clubs and Aussie teachers and students. During May and June it is
hoped that clubs and their members will exchange information on the topic of
the environment. That happens to be the theme of the 2007 September magazine.
Did you know that? It will prove to be a very interesting and informative
‘international’ activity for all concerned in the
KGCCs.
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On Thursday the 12th, I joined the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia's
official party and traveled with them out to Gowa. That was about 30 minutes
from Makassar. The Ambassador, Mr. Bill Farmer, met with officials at the
offices of the Bupati Gowa, Mr. H. Ichsan Yasin Limpo in Gowa. It was an
official visit but nevertheless Mr. Farmer managed to have people laughing
along with him as he addressed the meeting in bahasa Indonesia. Within the
speeches, the basic features of the AusAID's new Small Agribusiness Development
Initiative (SADI) were outlined. To finish off the meeting Mr Farmer commented
that agriculture was very close to his heart. After all his last name is Farmer
and that is petani in bahasa Indonesian. The audience thought it was
very funny. So did I.
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Ir. Rachmat Rahman, MSc, researcher from the BPTP-South Sulawesi chatting with
the Ambassador
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The offcial party then moved on to the
ACIAR cattle fattening project in Lemoa Hamlet, Pattalikang Village,
Kecamatan Manuju, Kabupaten Gowa to see some of the anticipated work of SADI in
South Sulawesi and other provinces. The journey took about 45 minutes. We went
to the village of Pattalikang to meet with farmers and to look at the work
being done with grass varieties. Improving the quality of grasses eaten by
cattle is very important to the growth and therefore the value of those cattle.
Mr Farmer took a great interest in the work being done and was keen to meet
with local farmers to talk about their situation. The village was very pretty
and there were hundreds of people watching as the SADI team explained their
work to the Ambassador.
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Farmers chatting with Mr Farmer
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Next stop was
International Finance Corporation (IFC) integrated maize drying project in
Kelurahan Kalaserena, Kecamatan Bontonompo, Kabupaten Gowa. Jagung is a very
popular product of South Sulawesi and this factory, with all of its workers,
were busy producing bag after bag of golden yellow corn. SADI will soon be
assisting with the growth and development of this industry. Next stop was for
lunch at Limbung Mas Restaurant in Limbung, Gowa. It was great BUT the fish was
just about as pedas as it could be. Wow!
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Workers bagging the maize
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Jackie together with the owner of the maize
drying factory, Mrs. Abdul Malik Hamid
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In the afternoon the Ambassador's party returned to Makassar for the official
opening of the SADI office. Jackie Pomeroy, SADI's Team Leader, welcomed guests
into the building where SADI will work from during the next three years, and
hopefully much longer than that. In fact it is expected that SADI will work for
the next ten years in four provinces including South Sulawesi, Southeast
Sulawesi, NTT and NTB. That is fantastic news for farmers and agriculture in
general in Indonesia. Check in the June 2007 KGRE magazine for more
information.
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In the evening Mr Farmer hosted a dinner at the Imperial Aryaduta Hotel to
celebrate the official opening of SADI. It was a cultural evening with cultural
performances presented from the four provinces in which SADI will be working
— South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, NTT and NTB. The dances were very
entertaining and proved very popular for all onlookers. It was no surprise that
the Ambassador was invited to dance on stage. He added his own style to the
dance that he was invited to join and it was a memorable performance indeed.
The Aryaduta Hotel was terrific but it was the SADI team who decorated the
hotel meeting room and in fact the whole evening was very special for everyone
concerned.
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The Ambassador with Jackie Pomeroy and other guests at the SADI Dinner
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On Friday April 13th, the
Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr. Bill Farmer, led the way to Parangloe
Village, Kecamatan Manuju, Kabupaten Gowa to the Dedication Ceremony of
just one of the new 2000 SMP schools in Indonesia. This field visit by the
Ambassador, AusAID and Indonesian government officials was a highlight for that
excited community of parents and students. The community really joined in with
the excitement of their new junior secondary school, SMPN 2 Manuju, in
Parangloe Village. The school is being built through the cooperation of the
Australian and Indonesian governments and AusAID's
Basic Education Program.
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There were hundreds of school children there to greet the Ambassador and his
team from Jakarta. The school is not yet finished but it is well on the way to
being a terrific school for the students who live near this school.
SMPN 2 Manuju, Parangloe Village, Kecamatan Manuju, Kabupaten Gowa
Other important speeches, in a mixture of English and Indonesian, were
delivered by both Indonesian education offcials from both Jakarta and South
Sulawesi, plus Mr. Farmer representing the Australian government.
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One of the early highlights of the opening ceremony was the speech given, in
English, by one of the SMP students from the area. He spoke extremely well and
was a real inspiration to everyone who listened to his speech. He thanked the
Australian and Indonesian governments for working together to build a new
school for him and his freinds. The Ambassador made a special point of thanking
the students personally immediately after the student finished his speech.
Two students who participated in the Dedication Ceremony. Andi Manuntungi,
(left) presented the Opening Prayer while the other student, Firmansyah,
(right) spoke about his new school, and in excellent English.
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The school is being built to a very high standard as it is the local people of
Parangloe who are responsible for the construction. It is their school for
their children and grand-children SO it has to be built strong.
Our new school — fantastic!
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Although the visit was quite a short one, the visiting officials were taken on
a tour of the school buildings. Many of the rooms are already identified
— teacher's room, canteen and library. It will be a great day when they
are fully completed and students are enjoying their lessons in their new
buildings.
The Ambassador spoke with officials as he toured the new buildings at SMPN2
Manuju including Bupati Gowa, Mr. H. Ichsan Yasin Limpo (second from left) and
Pak Suyanto, Dirjen Manajemen Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah Depdiknas (fourth
from the left).
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