School
Matters
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Update December 2004
A brief note on the amazing growth of the AdoptA School project.
BACKGROUND: When the bombs exploded in Bali on October 12th, 2002 it changed many lives forever. From the comfort of my home in Perth, Western Australia, I watched the news coverage with shock. I was at a loss to understand the senseless misery inflicted on a people who had always been so kind and generous to foreigners, particularly Australians. My “heart response” was one of compassion and my “head response” was a determination to give something back to the gentle people of Bali. Five days after the bombing, I read an article in the newspaper about three expatriate West Australians. They were running businesses in Bali and many of their employees were now suffering directly, due to the fact that many breadwinners had been killed. David Wedd and Moira Mitchell started matching Balinese widows to westerners who wished to sponsor a family. They called their project AdoptaVictim. In November 2002, my own family was lucky enough to be allocated a widow and her two teenage children. Through my contact with our Bali family, I became aware of the difficulty some families were experiencing in paying school fees and meeting the costs associated with education. I could see an opportunity for our schools in WA to assist these children and broaden the cultural understanding between our two countries. After discussions with David Wedd, he offered to approach the five schools in Baturiti district, which were close to his business. He found that the Headmasters were very keen to have any assistance we could provide. AdoptASchool was born in November 2002. Initially I matched the first school with Mt Hawthorn Junior Primary School and have been steadily matching other schools ever since. David later directed me to Rotarian, Freddy Subiyanto. Mr Subiyanto, unfortunately, recently deceased, located several schools and then put me in touch with High School Deputy Headmaster and President of Jimbaran Rotary Club, Wayan Tur Adnyana. Wayan has become my main contact in Bali. His Rotary contacts have been very supportive in furthering the AdoptASchool project. AdoptASchool is a cross-cultural initiative which links schools in W.A. with schools in Bali. It was established to encourage friendship and cultural understanding between teachers and students in W.A. and Bali. It operates as a “sister school project”. As project coordinator, I pair up schools in W.A. and Bali and these schools exchange letters, drawings and projects depicting life in their schools, communities and countries. Some educational resources have been sent to Bali and some schools are fundraising to assist in projects, which the respective Balinese Headmasters have earmarked as a priority. As of today, there are 70 schools in the AdoptASchool project. This project is driven by the virtues in us all – compassion, trust, integrity, respect, friendliness, generosity and purposefulness. It relies on the commitment of individuals to improving cultural understanding and strengthening the aspects of our humanity, which bind us in unity. It promotes respectful interaction between adults and children from vastly different backgrounds.
By participating in this project, I aim to personalise the contacts we have with our Indonesian neighbours. I believe this will lead to harmony and peaceful co-existence for all of us living in this geographical region. Susan Cromb Updated, 31-7-04
The swan was chosen because it is significant for both W.A. and Balinese education. The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is an emblem for W.A. and is on the state flag. The white swan is a symbol for education in Bali and implies a freeing of children’s minds so they can “fly high” with the benefit of a strong education. The black and white symbolises the balance between “virtuous” and “non-virtuous” actions and calls on us to use the virtues within to promote a safer and more peaceful world. Friendliness and understanding of cultural differences will lead to unity.
COMMITMENT ON JOINING ADOPTA SCHOOL: 1. The school coordinator should be committed to educating children for a peaceful world in the future.2. Each school will have a teacher who is responsible for facilitating and guiding the project at school level.3. The school coordinator should be open minded when dealing with their “sister school” and should be mindful of imposing their own cultural bias on others.4. The school coordinator will give true and accurate information to their “sister school”.5. Each WA school should commit to at least one exchange of correspondence per term (4 x per year) and be aware that the same may not be forth coming from the Balinese school.6. School communities will respect the rules and procedures in place in each school system.7. AdoptA School will not be deemed to be primarily a fundraising project, but fundraising will focus on promoting cultural understanding. 8. The Principals at each school will be informed of decisions affecting the school.
MAJOR SITESHomepage with access to classroom resources. Lesson plans, useful websites and PD. The latter explains an excellent set of 6 big books, “Snapshots of Asia” which has a Teachers’ Guide and many other resources. ● www.curriculum.edu.au/accessasia/indonesia/index.htm Excellent teachers' section with classroom resources, units of work, worksheets, curriculum guide and website resources. It is aimed at Upper Primary but could be modified to use with Year 4’s and in some areas for younger students. Children’s section “Go Indonesia” has online activities and is suitable for younger children. ● www.curriculum.edu.au/accessasia/asiaglance/index.htm Numerous links.
MINOR SITES· www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/indonesia.html Several maps and many links. Lesson plans on rice. · www.barrackht-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/bali.htm Comprehensive site set up by a NSW public school. · www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mx.html The world factbook ● www.expat.or.id/info/games.html Details of 10 Indonesian children's games, suitable for all ages ● http://www.geocities.com/kesumawijaya/ 7 folk tales of which The Jealous Moon is the best. ● http://www.chandicraft.com/stone/statueclassic.htm ● http://www.kiteman.co.uk/Indonesiankites.htm#anchor1607131 ● http://bhc.com/Bali_kite_festival/ The best site I’ve found yet on Balinese kites. ● http://www.anymask.com/royintatmas.html ● http://www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/indonesi/puppets/wayang.htm A short but clear description of Balinese shadow puppets. 10. WA school coordinators are asked to keep AdoptASchool coordinator, Susan Cromb updated on contacts with Balinese schools. (email cromb@tpg.com.au or ph. 9409 2876 (H) )
FUNDRAISING: Whilst the AdoptASchool project should not be seen solely as an avenue for fundraising, there is no doubt that many schools in Bali would benefit from some extra revenue to upgrade facilities and resources. It should be recognised however, that AdoptASchool priority should always be to increase cultural understanding rather than fundraising per se. I have resisted the perceived need to set up an AdoptASchool bank account for transfer of funds. I feel that a significant amount of money would be lost in administration costs. I would prefer that WA schools set up a “Virtues Trust”. By this I mean that any cash which is sent to Bali should go personally with a trusted member of the school community. Each school should decide on how they will account for the safe arrival of funds. An example would be a receipt of $ exchanged for Rp, a photograph of the money being handed over to the Headmaster and a report (or receipts) from the Headmaster to demonstrate how the funds were spent. WA school coordinators need to be mindful of cultural differences when considering these accountability processes. Future visitors to the school can photograph improvements to report back to W.A. school communities. It is always better to fundraise for a specific purpose and this should be discussed with the Headmaster of the Bali school. Another point for consideration is the lack of funds available to Balinese teachers to assist with communication e.g. postage and email cost. WA schools may wish to consider a small initial donation to facilitate this.
WAYS TO MAXIMISE PARTICIPATION IN ADOPTA SCHOOL PROJECT:
1. Involve the whole school community. 2. Address the P & C and keep them informed of contact with your “sister school”. 3. Plan to do four different projects each year, e.g. Term 1 - Penpals/e-pals Term 2 - “ “ + project eg “My school - A Day in the Life.” Term 3 - “ “ “Free dress” day as a fundraiser (gold coin donation). Term 4 - “ “ “Love in a lunchbox”. Ask each family in your school community to place useful items (eg stationary, toys, face washer, soap etc) in a plastic lunchbox and arrange for someone in your community who is visiting Bali to deliver them. 4. Invite visitors to Bali to act as couriers for delivering school resources and fund raising. 5. Establish penpals at an individual and a school level. 6. Celebrate “Harmony Week” in March. 7. Publicise your project through the local newspaper and newsletter. 8. Plan communications which will encourage Balinese students to practise their English. English is the passport to a brighter future for many students. 9. Invite members of the community who are Balinese to visit school. 10. Make contact with the Cultural Awareness Officer at the Indonesian Consulate in Perth. 11. Teachers, students and members of the school community are encouraged to visit their “sister school” to personalise the AdoptASchool experience. When this occurs, there is a noticeable increase in the commitment to the project. 12. Use initiative, perseverance, commitment and creativity in furthering AdoptASchool project. 13. Consider using “Virtues Project-Educator’s Guide” as a reference. Susan Cromb Updated, 31-7-04 October 2003 Update It has been a year since the
tragedy of the Bali bombings and a year since the AdoptA School
project began. After the extensive publicity generated by the bombings, it
became apparent to me that widows of the bomb victims now had the
added burden of paying for education for their children from the
meagre financial resources available to them. It emphasised how
fortunate we (and our children) are to be able to access quality
education and facilities. I determined to start a “sister”
school project between WA and Bali schools for the benefit of the
children of Bali. At that time my family started sponsoring a family through the AdoptA Victim project which David Wedd and Moira Mitchell started, based in Pacung. Through their efforts locally the AdoptA School project began. They sourced 5 local schools and I matched them to WA schools. A co-ordinator at each school was established and the contact began. From these beginnings, there are now 21 schools involved. Involvement
in this project has enabled our children to widen their experience
and contact with multicultural children and has provide them with an
opportunity to practise the virtues, which are innate to us all.
Their compassion, generosity and kindness shine through when they
are given the opportunity. They have raised funds to improve the
physical structure of their “sister” school, to pay school fees
and to support the purchase of books and sports equipment. They have
written letters, sent cards and drawings and “spoken” to their
friends in Bali via a chatroom. I wish to extend my thanks to Freddy Subiyanto and Wayan Tur
Adnyana from Rotary for their assistance in finding Bali schools.
Both are excellent ambassadors for their country as witnessed when
they conducted Perth school visits this year. I would also like to
thank Sri Aryani at Balicamp for her dedication in getting the
chatroom sessions underway. The success of the project is
testimony to the inherent goodwill of teachers within the West
Australian Education system who have embraced the concept and worked
for the benefit of children in WA and in Bali. There is always room for more school sponsors so please feel free to contact Susan Cromb at cromb@tpg.com.au |
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Our Mountain Hide-Away ~~~
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