Kang GURU Travels to Jakarta and Bandung in April 2008

Indonesian athletes preparing for PON and the Beijing Olympics

I met these athletes at the Hotel Century Atlet in Jakarta for interview about their careers, the English language skills and the their plans for both PON and the Olympics. Sandow is from Medan and Sinta is from Bali, and both are weightlifters and already champions in their respective fields. Sandow for example, he won a gold medal in the SEA Games in Thailand in 2007. Sinta won gold at PON 2005, a silver medal at the Junior World Championship in China in 2006 and a gold medal at the SEA Games in Thailand in 2007. Shenny competes in the 10 meter platform event in diving. She won a gold medal at the SEA Games in 2007, 1 gold and 1 bronze in PON 2000 and at PON 2004, 2 gold and 2 silver.

Sinta - champion weightlifter for Indonesia

Ida, for example, has won many tennis titles including Singles Runner Up in Taipei in 2005 and Singles Winner in Sri Lanka in 2007. Although not a sports champions, Eva Kasim is a champion in the Directorate General for Social Services and Rehabilitation in Jakarta (Bagian Organisasi, Hukum dan Humas, Direktorat Jenderal Pelayanan dan Rehabilitasi Sosial, Departemen Sosial). Eva’s main responsibilities are to coordinate the services of her department and the 5300 social service organizations around Indonesia. Eva has also held numerous advisory and executive roles including with the Indonesian Association of Disabled Persons, the Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities and the Indonesian Federation of the Physically Handicapped. Eva is an Australian Alumni and her work was recognized recently in the 2008 Australian Awards held in Jakarta.

Kerensa and Yunis

While in Bandung, Kevin visited SMPN 1 Cimahi to chat with students and teachers. The visit was only a few hours but in that time Kevin saw traditional dance and a performance by 40 students playing angklung angklung. Then for the chat where students asked amazing questions using their wonderful English language skills. Their dedicated teacher is Agus Suganda who has been a great supporter of Kang Guru for many years and who is currently leading some of his students inn the Kang Guru e-learning activity which Ayu is looking after from Bali. The last 40 minutes of the visit was taken up with Kevin chatting with teachers from SMPN 2 Cimahi plus nearby schools – all these teachers are members of the local MGMP.

Students and teachers at SMPN 1 Cimahi

Members of the RRI Bandung English Conversation Club met Kevin at his hotel for a chat about their club and Kang Guru. Kevin was surprised at how active and enthusiastic these members were when talking about their club. The club meets regularly and conduct a series of interactive radio programs on RRI Bandung. Their outdoor programs are also extensive and they brought so many wonderful photographs for Kevin to see. Good Luck to all of them and their fellow members.