IB Asia Pacific Newsletter

January - March 2006

Projects - Kate Fuller from Indonesia

I have just returned from another incredibly productive and motivating two weeks in Aceh. It was reassuring to see many changes evident since my last visit over 2 months ago; homes, buildings and schools have been constructed, there are new restaurants and coffee shops, business appears to be better for some and the city was full of people preparing for anniversary commemoration ceremonies. However, you don’t have to look far to see tents still erected, schools in barely operable states, debris and destruction littering affected areas and the sadness on people’s faces. One year on from the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Indonesian province of Aceh, killing thousands and leaving many homeless, critics argue the pace of reconstruction has been too slow. Aid organizations; however say an enormous amount has been achieved. Both are correct. The provincial capital, Banda Aceh, has been transformed. And it is thanks to the outpouring of aid that has come in so many forms from all over the world.

Two days before I returned to Jakarta I met with an amazing man, Pak Samsudin. He lost all of his extended family and home in the tsunami. He is the Principal of SMUN2 Banda Aceh. He described his experiences to me and how in the time following the tsunami, the ‘air sudah mati’ (the air was dead). His strength, resilience and acceptance of this fate was both inspiring and humbling. We spoke of his wish to help the teachers with their professional development through a partnership with another school and improving the level of English within the school. As I left the school he clasped my hand-grateful for our chance to chat. He told me “we have many dreams for this school-please help to make some of them come true.”

This was one of those chance meetings that have an enormous impact and I have been reflecting on his words since particularly on another message he shared with me: ‘The truly good people are those who give good to others’.

I sincerely hope to be able to find a partner school for them as soon as possible.

Peter Kenny (former Head of Projects) and I, (accompanied by Melanie Hui from the World Bank Singapore who assisted and reported on the event), ran our first teacher training workshop in Aceh. Over three days at the University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, two volunteer teachers: Mida and Juni, from Sekolah Global Jaya, Jakarta devoted their time, expertise, knowledge and most importantly, their enthusiasm to run a successful workshop on Early Childhood Development. Designed to support professional development of teachers from our various partner schools and Sampoerna Emergency Tent schools, 27 teachers from Aceh Besar, Sigli and Kota Banda Aceh attended the three day workshop. This is the first of many workshops that we hope to run, workshops which will enable teachers to become trainers and most importantly will strive to improve the access, quality and development of education for the children of Aceh.

Activities ranged from ice-breakers, ‘getting to know you’ games and silent group work, to outdoor tasks, poems, dances and recaps. The workshop was interactive, inclusive and motivating - all of the elements which will hopefully be transferred and reflected into creating child friendly learning spaces. Mida and Juni skillfully focused on language, assessment and communication and empowered the teachers to feel confident, assertive and aware of their resources and surroundings. Their instruction was clear, enjoyable, humorous and inspirational. The success was evident in the final day when teachers expressed their sadness that the workshop was ending, thus reinforcing the urgent need for running more workshops of this kind in the coming year. It is indeed true that teachers never know where their influence ends.

During this trip we were fortunate to have Helen Morschel and her husband Andrew from Sekolah Ciputra (Junior and Secondary School Heads Respectively) in Surabaya attend some of the training as well as choose two partner schools to support. Their visit was incredibly purposeful and enhanced because of their command of the language and extensive knowledge of Indonesia.  Both Helen and Andrew expressed that the visit really helped to gauge the true impact of the program as well as to see the situation firsthand. They went back to their partner schools the following day and met with both principals – establishing a confirmed action plan and the pathway hopefully, to a long term relationship. Helen has also informed me that the school has developed a powerpoint presentation for parents, teachers and students and have inserted part of the IB DVD to give viewers a better understanding of the program. And this all in a matter of days!

I also had the opportunity to meet with Murray Scoble from Sekolah Pelita Harapan who had arranged to be in Aceh at the same time as us. Murray was accompanied by Ibu Minardi and Maharani, one of the Year 10 students. They had made the trip up to visit and cement relations with their partner school SMAN1 Peukan Bada. A few weeks earlier, Murray, with the help of teachers and students had arranged for 3 boxes of books, sports equipment and computers to be delivered to SMAN1. It was fantastic to see the impact of this program on both schools and communities and the benefit for everyone involved. Many of the students from SPH have also been working on the project as part of their CAS coursework.

Following on from the training I spent several days making visits to partner schools, presenting first aid certificates to teachers involved, delivering uniforms that Scotch College had arranged to have made for their partner schools SMU1 and MIN Lhok Nga and meeting up with the exchange students we had sent to Australia. The final few days were spent accompanying Sally Letcher, my friend and former colleague from the school I previously taught at. Sally is the head of LOTE and the Director of Indonesian at St John’s Grammar, a co-educational secondary school in Adelaide, South Australia.

Once again it was so inspiring to actually witness a partner school match in the making. Seeing the relationships initiated and the joy the teachers, students, Sally and the Principal experienced was incredibly emotive and heartwarming. I can’t stress enough the value of making the trip to Aceh for anyone that is interested if it is at all possible. As Sally stated it really is ‘a life changing experience’.

I offer my sincere thanks and gratitude to Sally, Murray, Helen and Andrew for making the trip to Aceh and supporting the program, to Mida and Juni for their time and skill in running this  workshop, to Melanie for her assistance, reporting skills and enthusiasm and to everyone else who has been involved in whatever capacity in this program. Of course there are so many people I owe thanks to-all the incredible colleagues I have in Indonesia and Aceh that consistently support and assist me, inspiring teachers and adorable students. Working with such wonderful people makes my job easy and a pleasure and fulfilling knowing that we are helping to make a difference, even if a small one, in people’s lives.

With best wishes for a Happy, Safe and Successful New Year.

Kate Fuller

IB Projects Officer - Indonesia Coordinator

Email: projects@ibo.org