A school of kids who like seeing the Bulle or white man!HAHA, nice caption. Yes, the white man always did draw attention.
Group Study Exchange
From Hugo Pike,currently leading the GSE team in
Indonesia[District 3400].
Report NO:1
"So far we have had a tremendous first week here. Initially hosted by theRC of Surabaya and then the RC of Surabaya Selatan (South). Week one has included visits to the East Java Police HQ and the locally producednational newspaper the Java Post and Java TV. Sandy Padgett was then givenfurther opportunities to visit the Womens Police Dapartment, ride along on a routine patrol, and met the top CID team that had won this year's award for the most arrests. This together with a tour around the red light district and a night market where a decapitation had taken place during the past week have also been included. SP then featured in the Java Post with articles on each of three days. It will be someone else's turn to take centre stage this week. We have also visited a school for the deaf which may well lead to a request for matching grant - but today we go to an orphanage and I have already been asked to consider a matching grant request there too!"
Report No:2
Dear All,
Some thoughts after the first 10 days of our GSE vocational and cultural exchange to Indonesia:
Sandy: Just a few thoughts from the first two weeks. It is impossible to put this in a concise format, so I will use words to describe some of my initial thoughts on what I have seen and experienced rather than narrative as this will come later. I have felt overwhelmed, the heat and atmosphere and persistent differences will not let you rest. You sit at the end of the day with thoughts and images running through your mind impossible to control shifts in emotions. There is a significant and sometimes disturbing difference between rich and poor and equality of opportunity is not common. The country appears to be in a state of flux with a growing economy keen to become open to outside investment but aware that a cultural change in terms of corruption and bribery is needed to improve confidence. The lack of social care has created a country of innovators, everyone is industrious and the city teams with life and opportunities. The lack of IT infrastructure within the police service produces staff who work well to maintain relationships and excel as a team and are proud about their achievements. There is much to learn and take back, and hopefully the opportunity now and in the future to influence policy here and at home.
Sarah: What a fantastic start to GSE! We've done so much in one week already – from visits to local TV, newspaper offices, an advertising company, super mall manager, and orphanage and schools. My host families have been incredibly kind, caring and attentive and I have made some super contacts to follow up back in the UK. Too much to tell you just in one email, but I am keeping a detailed diary to make sure the memories stay alive. Thank you for such a amazing experience and opportunity.
Katy: It has been an incredible first ten days. I feel part of a vocationally and diverse and enthusiastic team, bonded by the ever present British humour. We have experienced a high media profile and enjoyed an often packed schedule of vocational visits. However, to date, the most valuable times have been spent with my host families. Eating local food, waking early, and taking a nap, bathing many times a day and praying with them. Every family has been kind and welcoming giving me a unique insight into life in Java.
Daniel: The first week has been incredible and one with great and evocative experiences, these include experiences of:
- Poverty and Wealth– driving in the cities soon shows you the poverty and wealth that people endure. ¼ is unemployed and many are below the 2$/day poverty line. There are open sewers; rubbish mountains, beggars and many homeless, there are also shanty towns. Alongside this there are also many people who are very rich, with 10% of the population being $ millionaires.
- Health and Social Care – the systems here have similarities to America and other insurance based systems across the world. This means that there is little if no intervention by the government in social matters with the family providing the main supporting roles. The result being that the families live closer together, but when this occurs alongside some quite strong views about appropriate behaviour (divorce or having children outside marriage) and views about disadvantage and disability that are not as inclusive as those in the UK people can suffer isolation and 'shame'. More to come on this…,
- Tolerance – My experiences to date have shown me that the books I read to prepare are outdated for instance the females are not restricted in what they can wear apart from in mosques. Perhaps the reasons behind this are the ways in which people from different backgrounds live very closely and peacefully with each other.
- Other – I would like to say more about GSE hosts, food, traffic, Climate and Street Life but I will save this for a later dispatch.
Hugo:
The Team
My first thoughts are to do with the team. Hard to think back to last October when we made the selections and the fortnightly meetings from early November to plan and prepare for our visit. However, the way in which all four members have formed into a really effective and supportive team is the outcome.
Rotary
The reception from all the Rotary Clubs so far has been wonderful. Individual host families have opened up their homes and allowed us to share their everyday lives without reservation – 'Total Immersion' in their culture. This has included a sometimes bewildering range of foods, cuisines ranging from traditional Indonesian, to Japanese, to Chinese, to regional specialities, and even the rare Steak house (sic).
So far we have been asked to consider two projects with a view to matching grant in each of the Districts and there may yet be more arising from the three weeks yet to run.
Batu
During the current week we were taken to a hill resort about 100 km south of Surabaya to be guests of honour at a Conference for the East Java Construction Industry (held every 5 yrs). Imagine a conference with some 300 delegates and a host of VIP participants including the Governor of East Java (one of 27 districts in Indonesia) preceded by three Javanese dancers in traditional costume and accompanied by a 17 strong choir of men and women that entertained us at intervals between the formal speeches! Could change the future of our own meetings back in the UK
Hugo
Report No:3
Message from Dan Lyus (on behalf of the team):1. A view of Indonesia in 2007
Our experience has reminded me (in a good way) of looking at an ants nest , this is because:
a) This country is full of people 280 million in total and 90% on Java, making Java one of the most densely populated piece of land
anywhere in the world i think.
b) The people are so industrious - think of any type of vocation and it is being conducted here by people. There are few automatic processes,
buying anything in a shop normally involves one person to charge you and one person to take your money, sometimes there is even a person
to pack your purchase as well. I could go on to talk about the newspaper sellers that walk between the 6 lanes of traffic or the markets that
start at 10pm and run till dawn, but lets just say i have great respect for how people will fill any job to earn a living.
c) There is not conflict in living this close to each other in fact there is great tolerance and kindness (superficially at least - it is difficult for
me to truley).
d) Another action that fits the ant analogy is the fact that workers seem to carry so much more than would seem possible
(women can carry 25kgs on their head (that is the weight of my suitcase for this 5 week exchange!) and people stack so much onto their cars and bikes - i have seen two people on a motorbike carrying three push bikes,
e) To stretch this comparison further, like ants, they really can eat a lot - food is everywhere and available non-stop- but despite the size of the meals that people eat and the fact that rice is served with all 3 meals
i have only seen 3-4 people who look worringly overweight (considering that that there seem to be 3-4 people per sq meter this is crazy)
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