Kang GURU Travels to Padang and Surabaya

Sue spent almost a week traveling to Padang for a workshop with P4TK Bahasa teachers and then back to Surabaya. In Surabaya she met with Tunas Hijau, a fantastic group of students who are all very interested in the environment. Sue finished off her visit to Surabaya by presenting a teacher workshop to LAPIS-ELTIS teachers in training at IAIN Surabaya. Here is Sue's report -

From Bali to Padang is quite a long journey as I had to transit in Jakarta. Many planes were delayed. Traveling by plane today is more like travelling by bis kota – if the plane leaves one destination late then the wait gets longer and longer at every stop ahead. The airport was full of passengers waiting to fly to a new destination. Luckily the plane to Padang was only delayed by about 40 minutes. On the plane I met a very nice young man from Depok called Danny. He was going back to work after spending time at home. He worked for Bank Mandiri and had been transferred to Padang. He had to work in Padang for three years. He had great English and I asked him if he had studied abroad. No, but when he was at school every Friday afternoon he and his school friends had met with foreign students from a local international school and spent a couple of hours speaking English. I asked him if he enjoyed working in Padang. Not really as there was no cinema and watching films was one of his hobbies. The time passed very quickly and we were soon landing in Padang.

When we arrived in Padang I said goodbye to Danny and caught a taxi to the hotel. I was in the only taxi in Padang with a DVD player – or so the driver, Pak Defri, told me! I’m not sure how safe it is to have a DVD player on the dashboard. Several times Pak Dufri asked me what certain words or phrases meant as we drove along – he was reading them on the DVD screen as he was driving! However he was very polite and so we exchanged mobile phone number and made arrangements to pick me up again the next day to take me to the workshop venue. It rained that evening so I ate at the hotel and as I was in Padang I chose rending of course!

The next day I didn’t have to be at the workshop venue till after lunch so after breakfast I went for a walk to the market near the hotel. It was still early and the market was very busy but many of the other shops had yet to open. It was already quite hot. As I walked through the town I saw many of the distinctive roofs of the Minhangkabau culture. When I got back to the hotel I worked on my presentation for Singapore CLaSIC conference. Although the conference does not take place till December our papers have to be in by October if we want them to be included in the conference book/ CD Rom. I was quite pleased as I go most of it done and even gave a practice presentation to myself to check the timing! At 12:30 Pak Dufri picked me up and we drove out to the LPMP which was at University Padang.

At the university I met Ibu Aisal and a couple of the committee members from Jakarta. Ibu Aisal had one more lecture to give then she was leaving for Jakarta later that evening. I met the SMP participants and we covered the first part of the workshop. The sky got darker and darker and as I left around 5:30 it began to pour with rain. It rained the whole evening so I didn’t have a chance to go sight seeing.

The next day Pak Dufri picked me up at 7:00 and we went back to the university. I continued with the SMP group and then after the break met the SMA teachers. I worked with them until 5:20. The time seemed to go really quickly. Both groups were hardworking and active. They asked interesting questions about teaching listening and improving their students’ ability. Once again it began to rain in the afternoon, but stopped just in time for an outdoor photo session. The rain began again as we drove back to the hotel – via the Kripik Balado shop! Even though the rain continued through the night there were no floods as we drove to the airport early the next morning. I was quite surprised when I arrived at the airport to find it still closed!

It was only an hour and twenty minutes before my flight time but nothing was open! Another plane was due to take off at the same time so there were quite a few passengers waiting. Eventually the doors were opened and we all began to check in. The flight was a little late but I had a novel with me so read that while I was waiting. was a very bumpy flight to Jakarta and I was quite glad to be on the ground again. But not for long - I had to get on another flight to Surabaya. That flight only takes about an hour and soon I was in a taxi on the way to my hotel. It was almost three o’ clock when I checked in – I had left Padang at 6:30 that morning! The whole day had been spent in airports and in the air! That evening I just relaxed and made arrangements for the following day.

Roni from Tunas Hijau picked me up at the hotel just after 10 and we jumped in a taxi and drove to SMKN 5. Roni and Tunas Hijau work tirelessly to promote ‘Green’ practices and caring for the environment. They often run workshops at schools and Roni was taking me to see some of the results of their hard work. In SMKN5 I met Daijeng Ayu Rizki Permata and Rendi Sitiadi. Both have worked on projects with Tunas Hijau. Daijeng told Kang Guru she used to think caring for the environment just meant cleaning the house. Then when she was 15 she began to be involved with Tunas Hijau and their campaign against Global Warming. Now she is happy to be making a difference in Surabaya. Daijeng is studying Electrical engineering and will soon be placed in the petrochemical industry in Gresik to do some ‘on the job’ training.

Rendi, who is seventeen has been a volunteer with Tunas Hijau since he was in SMP class one. He visits the Tunas Hijau office several days a week before going to school. Rendi was a recent participant in the Asia Pacific Inter Faith Youth Camp run by Tunas Hijau in Surabaya. He was Program Manager and organized the field trips for the delegates, held a workshop and spoke at a plenary session. He told Kang Guru he is still only a teenager, but is very proud to be able to prevent damage to the environment and he has learnt to ask for help from others. One of his projects he is proud of is in 2005 he ran a workshop in West Sumbawa for students from SD and SMP schools teaching them about composting, planting medicinal plants and painting murals.

The students told Kang Guru that their school had been awarded second place in the Toyota Eco Youth competition. SMK5 covers 5 hectares and the project the students chose was the management of waste – especially leaf litter as there are many trees on the school grounds. On a walk around the school grounds the students pointed out the boxes used to collect the leaves and then we met a group of students who were sorting through the partly decomposed leaves. Plastic rubbish and stones were put to one side. Plastic rubbish is collected and then sold. The leaf litter is composted down and then sold as pupuk. The students said they enjoyed being part of the project and caring for the environment.

The next school we visited was in West Surabaya. As we drove into the small playground of SDN Kandangan 3 I was impressed by the number of plants and the absence of plastic rubbish. I met 6 young members of the Green team - Edu, Wahyu, Ilham, Diah, Intan and Caca. Since becoming involved with Tunas Hijau they now collect organic, plastic and paper rubbish to recycle and resell. They also compost organic rubbish and have a small greenhouse to grow plants. They told me that they collect organic rubbish from neighbouring houses as they don’t produce enough at school. They showed me their’ Little Greenhouse’ which was full of young plants and knew some of the medicinal uses of the plants.

The students also bring their own plate and cup to school so if they want to buy snacks or eat in school then they don’t use plastic. The food sellers outside the school do not use plastic but put the food/drink directly on the students’ plates and cups. What a great idea. The students proudly told me that this school has won a national award from the Ministry of Education for managing their own rubbish successfully. They also told me that they have not only attended Tunas Hijau workshops but they also have run workshops for other SD students. They were an inspiring bunch of young students. Well done!

Then we drove just around the corner to SMAN 11 Manukan. Roni told me that they have visited this school almost every day for 6 months. When they fist visited he school grounds were dry and dusty with no trees and no green plants. Now all students must provide a tree and beds are being built for smaller plants and bushes.

Slowly but surely Tunas Hijau is introducing the young people of Surabaya to small but efficient ways in which they can improve their environment and make a difference. Keep up the good work Roni and your fellow volunteers you are doing a great job! Look out for more info on these schools and Tunas Hijau in future KGI magazines.

The next day I went to the ELTIS office to run a Kang Guru workshop for a group of 21 trainers. They were a very happy bunch and I asked them if it was because they were having a KGI workshop or because they were due to go home at 4:00. Both they said! They had been studying in Surabaya for one week and were going home to Situbondo, Probolinggo and Bondowoso. We had a great day with the participants joining in the activities with great enthusiasm. There will be three more Kang Guru workshops with the ELTIS project before the end of the year.