Kesan-kesan tur WILTA oleh Ibu Presiden
(no not Mega!)

This scrapbook of memories of the WILTA 2001 KIPBIPA Conference Tour is dedicated to Sue Wood from Port Hedland. Sue is one heck of an enthusiastic teacher of Indonesian and a valued WILTA member. She had enough enthusiasm for the lot of us in preparing for this trip. Unfortunately, on the fourth day in Bali Sue had an extremely bad fall at the conference (thanks to the sloppy cleaning habits of the Grand Bali Beach) and had to be emergency evacuated to Perth. These memories are for Sue. . . .

29 Sept 2002

The WILTA tour group originally consisted of 19 members. Unfortunately, two of our group (Richard and Jill) had to withdraw from the tour only days before departure due to illness. So the rest of us departed late on Friday 28 Sept, the last day of term three and arrived at the Hotel Bali Warma in Sanur at about 2.00am Saturday morning. If any of us had any doubts that we should be making this trip, they were soon erased from our memories when we awoke on the morning of Saturday 29 to the smells, sights and sounds of Bali, Indonesia.

Sunday 30 September

The first weekend was spent shopping (for resources of course!) and getting in some sightseeing before the work of the konferensi began. On this Sunday we hired a bus and headed off pagi-pagi to the Pasar Seni Sukawarti where we shopped feverishly for resources and knick-knacks. It was then sharing the booty time on the bus on the way to Ubud.

Arriving in Ubud we had breakfast (yes - breakfast) at Murni's Warung by the river, relaxing and soaking in the reality of the first ever WILTA tour and making new friendships over a delightful Balinese breakfast. This was just the beginning!

Some more shopping and taking in the sights of Ubud and its markets before we jumped back on our bus and headed back to Sanur.

On the way back, we decided to mampir at Britham's house. Britham, one of our 'people on the ground in Bali' helped tremendously with coordinating buses and transporting members of our group around the place as needed. Thanks Britham! When we dropped in at the family compound in the village of Lembeng north of Sanur we found his wife and sister busy making sajen for upcoming ceremonies.

Then for some participants it was an early night in readiness for the beginning of the conference early in the morning. For others, well. . . . .

Mon 1 October - Wed 3 October

Upon entering the dinner and show at the Governor of Bali's residence on the first night of the conference one WILTA member was heard to say in a surprised tone ''O, he didn't say it was BYO!''

Unfortunately on the second day of the conference Sue Wood found out first hand about the Klinik SOS in Bali. Within 48 hours Sue was undergoing surgery in Perth for a severely broken ankle.

Thurs 4 Oct

With the KIPBIPA behind us and a pile of notes, session papers and brand new contacts and network to remind us of our three days immersed in sessions on the teaching of Indonesian to speakers of other languages we continued to forge new networks. Today saw our group welcomed at the Dinas Pendidikan Propinsi Bali for a meeting with the Kepala Sektor Sekolah Menengah, Kepala Sektor Kurikulum and the Kepala Sektor Penerangan. We were informed about the recent developments in otonomi daerah and quality improvement programs together with plans for the future of education in Bali and the rest of Indonesia.

Following this we spent some more time at Mal Ramayana. People used the time to purchase more resources, take photos for classroom use, email friends and relatives back home from the Warung Internet on the top floor and grab a bite to eat. Yes, I'll admit it, quite a large group of us had Pizza Hut for lunch!

From Mal Ramayana we were driven by Britham and Roberta's friend Nyoman to Sekolah Dyatmika in the village of Tangtu north of Sanur where we were welcomed by David Hewitt, an ex WILTA member who is now manager of the school. Sekolah Dyatmika is an independently run bilingual school and many students come from mixed culture marriages. Usually there is one Indonesian and one non-Indonesian parent. Whilst

Dyatmika provides the Indonesian National Curriculum the staff implement 'Western methodologies" in delivering this curriculum. I think we had a few green eyes in our group as we walked through the school visiting classes from SD kelas1 through to SLTP kelas 2 with an amazing view across sawah to the nearby ocean and a brand new building for SLTP nearing completion you could feel that this was a school going somewhere.

After a presentation of gifts to the school library on behalf of WILTA, our group was treated to afternoon tea before heading back to Sanur for some well deserved R&R.

Friday 5 Oct

This day was spent by individuals and small groups getting last minute things done before our flight to Surabaya the following day. In the evening we had a farewell dinner at Istana Garden in Sanur and said 'Selamat jalan'to Roberta, Julie, Amanda and Simone as they headed back to Perth.

Saturday 6 Oct

We left Ngurah Rai airport at midday and were in our guesthouse in the village of Tumpang by 5.00pm that afternoon. A busy day, we had travelled far by air and road and the slow pace of Tumpang was just what we needed!

Sunday 7 Oct - Monday 8 Oct

Today we were welcomed to the Mangun Dharma Arts Centre with an all day performance of wayang and dance. We were free to come and go as we liked during the performance and also were able to begin our mask and batik projects. The padekpokan at Mangun Dharma was certainly an interesting place to hang out and our group quickly began to explore the surrounding village area.

Tue 9 Oct

As the first rays of the sun lit the Tengger Massif a pemandangan spektakuler appeared before our eyes!

At daylight we jumped back into the mini vans and headed across to the Gunung Bromo peak for a workout walking to the crater.

On the way back to Tumpang we dropped into the PPLH (Pusat Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup) and were treated to a delicious lunch and tour of the PPLH site.

Wed 10 Oct

Kat and Karen Adi Pramono organised a jamu session. We experienced first hand the skills and wisdom of an ahli in the art of making jamu. TASTING the jamu was an interesting part of the session!

And our last evening in Tumpang and indeed the last evening of the WILTA 2001 Conference Tour was celebrated with dinner and a show of traditional dance, gamelan and song at the padepokan. Our many thanks to Ibu Karen and Pak Sole of the Mangun Dharma Arts Centre and to the people of Tumpang for their friendliness and acceptance of us as guests in their village. It was indeed an experience. One that will add richness to our classrooms as teachers recall and retell their experiences from the village of Tumpang.

Thurs 11 Oct

There was time for an early morning walk around the village before bags were packed and on the bus for the trip back to Surabaya and our flight home via Denpasar. But there was time for one more stop.

We were able to experience the beauty of Taman Safari on the way to Surabaya. I am sure the bus nearly toppled a few times as we clambered from side to side looking for the best vantage point to get a photo of all those animals. Great resources for our classrooms.

And I am still wondering if the bus driver has worked out why we were just as interested in photographing the signs in the Taman Safari as we were the animals. Several times he would stop the bus for what he considered to be the best vantage point to photograph a particular animal, only to be requested, 'Maaf Pak, tolong mundur sedikit, saya ingin memotret tanda itu!'

To all of the people who helped to make this tour a success, both in Bali and Java, we say

And a warning from Terry. Don't use ATM machines at airports when you're about to board a plane to leave the country. He never did see that card again!

All photos courtesy of Ann Murray and Karen Bailey

Thanks to these people for making this inaugural WILTA trip a really rewarding and enriching experience and of course hugely enjoyable ! I hope you all share my views. If not, please let me know so that we can make the next one even better! What was that?? Next one??

Terima kasih banyak kepada:

Amanda Stewart Ann Murray Brooke Steele

Cate Salom Doreen Graham Fiona Edwards

Julie Martin Katharina Popp Marilyn Begley

Mireille Humphries Roberta Thorn Simone Robinson

Sue Wood Terry Johnson Veronika Popp

Wendy Sekuloff

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