Kang GURU Travels to Lombok — March, 2007

Cheryl visited Lombok to meet five Kang Guru Radio English language clubs (KGCCs) in March, 2007.

by Cheryl Reid

Before I left on this trip Ogi organised my schedule: a visit to a new AusAID funded school, three KGCC club visits, a radio program and a visit to an AusAID ACCESS funded project in a small village. Tjok took care of the travel and hotel bookings, and Alwi and Nyoman organised for boxes of KGRE materials to be delivered to the hotel in Mataram. All I had to do was find someone to drive me around. Fortunately not long after I arrived I found Pak Oka. He turned out to be a perfect driver — he knows his way around, drives carefully, doesn't smoke, doesn't play music in the car and doesn't talk all the time!

Our first stop was a new school at Narmada, not far out of Mataram. SMPN 4 Narmada is at Dasan Terang, surrounded by rice fields. Its construction is being funded by AusAID's Basic Education Program, in conjunction with the Indonesian Education Department, with the work done by local contractors and community members. Although the school is not fully completed, the students and teachers have moved in as they think it's important for the year 9 students to settle in before the national exams. I met some teachers in the staff room and then went on a tour of the school with English teacher Pak Andri. We visited a year 8 class taught by physics teacher Ibu Yanti and talked to some of the other students. They are all obviously happy to be in their own school at last. Until now they've been ‘borrowing’ rooms in other schools. This is the third time they've moved schools and fortunately it'll be the last time. (For more information about this program, see KGRE's Travel Page for Kalimantan and page 8 of the March 2007 magazine.)

After lunch I set off for a meeting with the English Speaking Club (KGCC #004) at STKIP Hamzanwadi at Pancor, Selong. The club leader Sudarman and the others were very surprised to see me as they were expecting Ogi to visit, and they were expecting me to be a man. However there were soon lots of questions from the club members about KGRE and about learning English. Many of them are studying to be teachers but others are still in school. One of their questions was about preparing for the National Exams. Another was how to improve their English. I was asked these questions at every club meeting. My answers were always the same: learning a language is like learning any other skill. The more we practise the better we get. KGRE helps clubs by providing the radio program, magazine, teaching materials and website but the rest is up to them. They need to practise listening, reading, writing and speaking. This includes speaking English with their classmates, friends and other club members. I also suggested that they write to KGRE and ask for their own copy of the magazine as we can't send enough to clubs for every member.

The drive back to Mataram in the evening was very pleasant. The countryside in Lombok is beautiful: blue mountains, trees, yellow and green rice fields. There are also a lot of beautiful mosques, including this one in Selong.

The next morning I went to SMPN 2 Labuapi, not far from the centre of Mataram. This is a new school too, and it's the home of SMANDA English Club (KGCC #078). Two other clubs also attended the meeting: Alfa English Club (KGCC #013) and Mataram English Club (KGCC #063, formerly known as Rinjani English Club). There were also members of other clubs in the area who wanted to find out more about KGRE. Many of the students had prepared questions for me, including a question about how to encourage club members who were too shy to speak English. I suggested that they start by speaking to a partner, then when they have more confidence they should be able to speak in a small group. They then spent a few minutes talking to their partners about their favourite TV program. I did hear a few words of Sasak and Balinese and Javanese and other languages too, but most people enjoyed the activity and tried to use their English. During that meeting we had an uninvited guest — the school cat, who wasn't shy and made a lot of noise. Thanks to Pak Yusuf for organising the meeting at his school, and to Pak Fadhil and Pak Istiqlal for bringing their clubs too.

That afternoon I had another meeting in Praya. The Sasak English Club (KGCC #023) meet in the Kantor Desa Sukarara, in a street lined with shops selling traditional weaving. Lots of young children came to the meeting too, a big surprise for me.

They were very patient and listened while I spoke to the SMP/SMA/SMK students, then we went outside and played my favourite game: ‘Eleven’. The older club members were very enthusiastic about the quizzes and as usual I asked for a male and female volunteer to tell us all about themselves in English as an example of what to write in a letter to KGRE. After the meeting I spoke to some young men who are interested in setting up other English clubs in Lombok. Thanks to club leader Pak Mulyadi for arranging the meeting.

After another great drive back to the city I arrived at RRI Mataram just in time for ‘English Party Line’ on Pro 2 FM at 7pm every Sunday evening. This show is presented by Pak Fadhil, leader of the Alfa English Club, and Emma. The phone started ringing before the start of the show as many people wanted a chance to answer quiz questions and win a prize from KGRE. They also asked some interesting questions about education in Australia. One of the callers was named Sultan, who had been at the meeting in Labuapi earlier that day.

Pak Ihsan and Pak Hamzah with a villager, Pak Ishak, checking on the water

The next morning I met Mbak Nanik from AusAID's ACCESS program. This program assists in reducing poverty by directly supporting local communities. In the Senggigi area they are supporting Santai (Yayasan Tunas Alam Indonesia) which is working with the villagers in Desa Duduk Bawah, Batulayar to improve their economic conditions. Mbak Nanik introduced me to Pak Hamzah from Bappeda (also involved in IASTP, another AusAID program) and Pak Ihsan who works for ACCESS. These two very enthusiastic men took me to the village which is spread out over a large area including the banks of a small stream and the surrounding steep hills. With the help of Santai the villagers are now involved in a number of small scale projects including managing the forest and raising goats to pay for their children's education.

Pak Rumedan, a villager, in front of the ACCESS sponsored Education Centre

They also attend meetings and regular lessons at a small education centre. Pak Hamzah took with him a supply of plastic water bottles which are re-used in the village to provide slow drip irrigation for the fruit trees planted around the houses. It was great to see AusAID funds used in such a practical way to help villages improve their own lives and provide a better future for their children. I'm looking forward to meeting Pak Hamzah, Mbak Nanik and Pak Ihsan again and going back to the village too.