Below is the video produced on the tour:
Wednesday, 8 August 2007
Thursday, 15 March 2007
Pamela Boardman, teacher at the Ysgol Friars High School in Wales
The time in Banda Aceh was an incredible experience. I had not fully understood the extent of the work carried out by Education International. The highlight of the trip was the visits to some of the completed Primary schools. All of the children were excited and pleased to see us and proudly showed us their classrooms and their work. We went to the official opening of one of the schools. We were treated like VIP’s and watched with delight the welcome ceremonies performed by the children in their traditional costumes.
The party was made up of people of different ages from 17 to over 60, and 8 different nationalities. By the end of the week we had seen so much that we felt as if we had known each other for years. Everybody agreed that the week has been an amazing and life changing experience. The work done by Education International in Banda Aceh was impressive and largely because of 2 inspirational men Mr Jerome Fernandez and Mr Aloysius Matthews.
Since we have come home I have shown the photographs and talked about the trip with all of my pupils. We are arranging for the 2 students to give presentations in assemblies to each of the different year groups, and to the school council. They have also been invited to give a presentation at the annual conference of the NUT. We are going to establish a link with the secondary school that we visited, and some emails have already been sent. Also we are arranging for publicity in the local newspapers.
On another day we visited one of the secondary schools, all of the pupils turned out to welcome us, hundreds of them. We attended a trauma counselling session, and then listened while 2 of the students told their stories of the tsunami. They were very brave to stand up in front of so many people and tell such emotional stories. At the end of this session all of the students in our party stood up and told the pupils in the class how they felt about Banda Aceh. They were greeted with cheers and applause, and then the pupils all clamoured around us and wanted to have their picture taken with us. This was a very emotional experience to see these pupils who had gone through a terrible time showing such courage and joy in life.
On the first day in Banda Aceh we visited the beach where the tsunami had first struck the land. I stood looking out sea and tried to imagine a 30metre wave coming towards me. Behind was a view of destruction, an area of swamp which used to be houses, yet in front of me I was looking at a beautiful sunset over the mountains and sea. This summed up the whole trip, a mixture of sadness, tragedy, beauty, friendship and hope for the future.
The party was made up of people of different ages from 17 to over 60, and 8 different nationalities. By the end of the week we had seen so much that we felt as if we had known each other for years. Everybody agreed that the week has been an amazing and life changing experience. The work done by Education International in Banda Aceh was impressive and largely because of 2 inspirational men Mr Jerome Fernandez and Mr Aloysius Matthews.
Since we have come home I have shown the photographs and talked about the trip with all of my pupils. We are arranging for the 2 students to give presentations in assemblies to each of the different year groups, and to the school council. They have also been invited to give a presentation at the annual conference of the NUT. We are going to establish a link with the secondary school that we visited, and some emails have already been sent. Also we are arranging for publicity in the local newspapers.
Sunday, 4 March 2007
HEY EVERYONE !!! :D Emily's finally added to the blog !!
Hey, hope everyone got home safely !!! miss you all !! My appologies for taking so long to put something on the blog, but it has all sunk in now and therefore I am hoping that this might be a little better than something I would have done a week ago when jet lag had the better of me!
Trip home : 15 hour flight as well as the other three flights, I would do it all again if they asked me because I will never ever experience something as amazing and emotional as this again, missing indonesia so much and I wish that I could have another chance to see you lot and all those childrens faces which were so full of enthusiasum and hope again! I'm fully recovered now from my egg eating moment, can't believe i missed the last day!! I HATE EGGS!! LOL !
The thing I gained from the most from participating in this tour is my understanding, instead of sitting at home oblivious to what is happening outside my frount door, I have seen, I have witnessed the wonders and shocks of Indonesia. I have heard the stories that the children, teachers and pupils my age have to tell me about the tsunami and their experiences. I am amazed by the sheer hope and dedication that the students have to learning, it makes me realise how well off I am and how I should be so grateful for my family, friends and education.
Highlight of my trip, wouuld have to be visiting the schools, how can children be so happy? Its so confusing how they are so cheerfull welcoming and warm hearted even though they have lost everything, just makes you think no matter what stands in your way take a leaf from their book, you can always rise above it. I will never forget them running about the playground with the football seeing their little faces light up was touching and wonderful to see.
I will quote the poem from the first briefing in the EI's office which in my opinion really sums up the tour:
Trip home : 15 hour flight as well as the other three flights, I would do it all again if they asked me because I will never ever experience something as amazing and emotional as this again, missing indonesia so much and I wish that I could have another chance to see you lot and all those childrens faces which were so full of enthusiasum and hope again! I'm fully recovered now from my egg eating moment, can't believe i missed the last day!! I HATE EGGS!! LOL !
The thing I gained from the most from participating in this tour is my understanding, instead of sitting at home oblivious to what is happening outside my frount door, I have seen, I have witnessed the wonders and shocks of Indonesia. I have heard the stories that the children, teachers and pupils my age have to tell me about the tsunami and their experiences. I am amazed by the sheer hope and dedication that the students have to learning, it makes me realise how well off I am and how I should be so grateful for my family, friends and education.
Highlight of my trip, wouuld have to be visiting the schools, how can children be so happy? Its so confusing how they are so cheerfull welcoming and warm hearted even though they have lost everything, just makes you think no matter what stands in your way take a leaf from their book, you can always rise above it. I will never forget them running about the playground with the football seeing their little faces light up was touching and wonderful to see.
I will quote the poem from the first briefing in the EI's office which in my opinion really sums up the tour:
"The more you care about others,
The more confidently you act.
There is nothing you cannot do,
No defeat you cannot survive,
No fear you cannot overcome,
When you are concentrated,
heart and soul on helping others!"
Hopefully in the near future we shall all meet up again, and this time I won't eat any egg !! oopsy!!!
Hope everyone is ok and taking care!!! xxx
p.s thank you to everyone for being so welcoming and ACE, you made the trip 10 million times better than it already was xxxx
p.p.s thank you Phuoc and Juliane for sending me some little things when I was ill on the last day the fruit and drink really helped :D xxxxxx
loves xxx Emily xxx
Tuesday, 27 February 2007
Journey back home! Phuoc Huynh, Australia
The Australians left Banda Aceh on Sunday, so on Saturday we just did a bit of shopping and relaxing. I think we really needed it because the last few days were so jammed packed, we needed a day to collect our thoughts. I also needed to rest a bit because I was extremely tired from staying up until 4am the night before playing card games with my fellow students. But it was so worth it! I introduced the game 'Bloody Mary' to them and hope that they will bring it back to their home town and share it with their friends.
We left the airport at Banda Aceh at 1230pm on Sunday and arrived at Medan about an hour later. The trip from Medan to Jakarta was the worse! Throughout the trip we experience really bad turbulence, so bad that it shook the whole plane and I flew up, off my seat. During that moment, there were people screaming for their lives. What was a bit odd was that they made an announcement that we should fasten our seat belts because we were going to go through some turbulence, AFTER the plane shook. That must of been really reassuring for the passengers because some might think, during the turbulence, that there could be some engine failure or so. I saw that people were embracing the emergency position and holding each others hands because they thought it was going to be all over.
Eventually we arrived at Jakarta, where we had to stay there for another 4hours for our flight out to Sydney. Once we got the the international check-in, we waited in the line for over an hour and waited some more when we had to go through immigration. The flight home was ok, I slept almost right through it. We then landed in Sydney airport at 745am.
Now that I'm actually home I can reflect on my experiences when I'm telling my friends about my trip to Banda Aceh. The first thing they ask me is 'How was your trip?'. I respond by 'Where do I start?' This tour has been amazing! The whole trip has been very confronting and heart-warming. There was so much to see and do. Although I've met so many people their stories remains the same. When asked 'What do you remember most about the tour?', this is a very hard question as I don't have one single answer for it.
The basketball game against Methodist High School was one experience that I'd never forget. We were so unprepared for it because the game was scheduled on the day before and we didn't get a chance to get around to it. Eventually we got a team of 6 and had 2 10min rounds with a 3min break in between. At first we were really tired but once we started playing we were having loads of fun, which was what it was meant to be. Boy, did we get slaughtered?! I thought we would have the height advantage from Rob and Daniel, but we needed more than that! The score was 38 to 13.
Another great thing that came out of this trip was meeting all of the cool students that was apart of this tour. Everyone was so friendly, it made the trip so much more easier because we had pretty much the same expectations before the tour and we all were discovering and exploring new things together. It had been such a blast! Can't believe the tour has finished so soon!
This trip had made me appreciate more things. EI's vision was to provide an 'education for all' by 2015 and I believe that they are on their way of acheiving this vision. They have constructed the most number schools than any other organisation and are yet to open up another 3 within a period of 2 weeks (I think). They have provided student scholarships for those students that have loss both parents in the tsunami, and they've also provided truama counselling for those affected.
As silly as this sounds, I even also appreciate CLEAN drinking water. The water in Banda Aceh was of a murky yellow colour. Each morning and night, I'd brush my teeth and wash my face with bottled water! I felt like such a princess
Well that's all I can write up at the moment. I'll try to keep posted
Take care! Miss you all
(A changed) Phuoc
P.S Oh yeh, it feels great to have my fast internet connection back =)
We left the airport at Banda Aceh at 1230pm on Sunday and arrived at Medan about an hour later. The trip from Medan to Jakarta was the worse! Throughout the trip we experience really bad turbulence, so bad that it shook the whole plane and I flew up, off my seat. During that moment, there were people screaming for their lives. What was a bit odd was that they made an announcement that we should fasten our seat belts because we were going to go through some turbulence, AFTER the plane shook. That must of been really reassuring for the passengers because some might think, during the turbulence, that there could be some engine failure or so. I saw that people were embracing the emergency position and holding each others hands because they thought it was going to be all over.
Eventually we arrived at Jakarta, where we had to stay there for another 4hours for our flight out to Sydney. Once we got the the international check-in, we waited in the line for over an hour and waited some more when we had to go through immigration. The flight home was ok, I slept almost right through it. We then landed in Sydney airport at 745am.
Now that I'm actually home I can reflect on my experiences when I'm telling my friends about my trip to Banda Aceh. The first thing they ask me is 'How was your trip?'. I respond by 'Where do I start?' This tour has been amazing! The whole trip has been very confronting and heart-warming. There was so much to see and do. Although I've met so many people their stories remains the same. When asked 'What do you remember most about the tour?', this is a very hard question as I don't have one single answer for it.
The basketball game against Methodist High School was one experience that I'd never forget. We were so unprepared for it because the game was scheduled on the day before and we didn't get a chance to get around to it. Eventually we got a team of 6 and had 2 10min rounds with a 3min break in between. At first we were really tired but once we started playing we were having loads of fun, which was what it was meant to be. Boy, did we get slaughtered?! I thought we would have the height advantage from Rob and Daniel, but we needed more than that! The score was 38 to 13.
Another great thing that came out of this trip was meeting all of the cool students that was apart of this tour. Everyone was so friendly, it made the trip so much more easier because we had pretty much the same expectations before the tour and we all were discovering and exploring new things together. It had been such a blast! Can't believe the tour has finished so soon!This trip had made me appreciate more things. EI's vision was to provide an 'education for all' by 2015 and I believe that they are on their way of acheiving this vision. They have constructed the most number schools than any other organisation and are yet to open up another 3 within a period of 2 weeks (I think). They have provided student scholarships for those students that have loss both parents in the tsunami, and they've also provided truama counselling for those affected.
As silly as this sounds, I even also appreciate CLEAN drinking water. The water in Banda Aceh was of a murky yellow colour. Each morning and night, I'd brush my teeth and wash my face with bottled water! I felt like such a princess
Well that's all I can write up at the moment. I'll try to keep posted
Take care! Miss you all
(A changed) Phuoc
P.S Oh yeh, it feels great to have my fast internet connection back =)
Sunday, 25 February 2007
First Thoughts on returning home.
Back home in rainy old Blighty, typical that when we got into Manchester airport it was cold and wet, I miss the heat already.I’d just like to start this blog by saying that I could never have expected what I experienced whilst I was in Banda Aceh. The memory that will stick with me the longest was probably the visiting of the primary schools, never could I have expected the warm greetings we received by all the children. They were all so happy to see us waving, smiling and cheering. When Natsuko gave the children at the second EI School we visited a football, it brought the whole school together the girls and the boys of all ages chasing after the football with even bigger smiles then we first arrived. I remember leaving that school getting back onto the bus my heart felt heavy and there was a lump in my throat I really wanted to stay there longer to see these children as they were running after the bus once again smiling, cheering and waving us off. I remember when we had dinner on Wednesday hosted by PGRI. We walked in and sat down not really knowing what to expect seeing the stage in front of us. We witnessed an Aceh traditional dance performed by some young boys, this dance truly was something else, recorded it all on the hand held video recorder. After this I met this young man called Erick who was 16, we got chatting and became friends really quickly, it was quite amazing how privileged he felt to have met me, he kept describing as an amazing experience which was definitely the case for me in meeting him. I learnt that at the age of 16 he studies 12 subjects, I at 17 study…4. As the conversation progressed I asked him if he played or followed any sports to which is response was “I don’t have time to play any sports or follow them I am to busy studying for school.” I then realised how much I take everything for granted back home, not bothering to go to school if im maybe just a bit ill or tired made me feel quite ashamed of myself. He also had 3 tests that morning his school starts at 7 in the morning and he was there until well after 10:30 the night before just to come and meet us. I swapped emails with Erick and his friend Aluja so I hope we can keep in contact.I also met some great people when I was out there in Indonesia, basically the whole EI team I thought we got on really well as a group nobody was left out and there was no conflict between anyone. I will remember the last night in particular with the card game “bloody Mary.” The Flight back was very smooth and I hope everyone else had a safe journey back also, hope to speak to you all soon, will add to this blog tomorrow also.But for now, goodbye
Martin Jones, UK
CANT WAIT TO SEE EVERYONES PICTURES :)
Martin Jones, UK
CANT WAIT TO SEE EVERYONES PICTURES :)
Saturday, 24 February 2007
What a week it has been!! Phuoc Huynh, Australia
In a period of 5 days, it seems like I've been here way much longer. Our days have been filled with so much to see and do.
On Thursday, we went to the baraks, the place where the tsunami victims have been living for 2 years! The victims are living in such poor conditions, but they don't seem to be complaining about it. Everyone in the village seem to be supporting one another and living as a big family. It's extremely sad to hear the stories that these people shared. There was a mother of 3 that had not enough money to buy milk for her children! I also got to witness a ceremony performed on a 1month old baby, because the mother invited me into her house, I felt as if I shouldn't be where I was but she didn't seem to mind. I think she was happy for me to be there. The mother sat down holding her child and the grandmother (I think) was performing the ceremony. The grandmother threw rice over the mother and her child, which was a symbol for prosperity, and then she dipped a bunch of leaves into a bowl of water containing flower petals. This was a way of letting the child be in touch with nature. The reason for this ceremony was to celebrate the 'first time the child touched the ground'. I just felt honoured to be able to witness what I did.
That night a few of us went to the streets to eat Durian (an exotic Asian fruit), the smell of the fruit wasn't as bad as what I'm used to and the taste of it wasn't great as well! We brought 3-4 fruits and each one of them was a different taste -bitter, soft and mushy and slightly sweet. Although I didn't like the Durians that we had, the experience of eating them on the side of the streets was one I won't forget. Basically, there would be a pile of Durian on the road and there will be tables and seat set up and the sellers would cut the fruit open for you.
On Friday morning we went to visit a high school that was next to the EI office, we were welcomed by the students with 2 traditional dance performances, which was to bring the guest happiness and show graditude. After the performances, we walked through the school and had flower petals thrown in our pathway. Gosh, I felt like royalty! We listened to 2 students stories about their tsunami experiences, it was so heart breaking. After the stories, we got to mingle with the students. I felt like as if I was a rock star or something because all the kids pulled out their mobile phones and wanted to take pictures with us!
Signing off
Phuoc
On Thursday, we went to the baraks, the place where the tsunami victims have been living for 2 years! The victims are living in such poor conditions, but they don't seem to be complaining about it. Everyone in the village seem to be supporting one another and living as a big family. It's extremely sad to hear the stories that these people shared. There was a mother of 3 that had not enough money to buy milk for her children! I also got to witness a ceremony performed on a 1month old baby, because the mother invited me into her house, I felt as if I shouldn't be where I was but she didn't seem to mind. I think she was happy for me to be there. The mother sat down holding her child and the grandmother (I think) was performing the ceremony. The grandmother threw rice over the mother and her child, which was a symbol for prosperity, and then she dipped a bunch of leaves into a bowl of water containing flower petals. This was a way of letting the child be in touch with nature. The reason for this ceremony was to celebrate the 'first time the child touched the ground'. I just felt honoured to be able to witness what I did.
That night a few of us went to the streets to eat Durian (an exotic Asian fruit), the smell of the fruit wasn't as bad as what I'm used to and the taste of it wasn't great as well! We brought 3-4 fruits and each one of them was a different taste -bitter, soft and mushy and slightly sweet. Although I didn't like the Durians that we had, the experience of eating them on the side of the streets was one I won't forget. Basically, there would be a pile of Durian on the road and there will be tables and seat set up and the sellers would cut the fruit open for you.
On Friday morning we went to visit a high school that was next to the EI office, we were welcomed by the students with 2 traditional dance performances, which was to bring the guest happiness and show graditude. After the performances, we walked through the school and had flower petals thrown in our pathway. Gosh, I felt like royalty! We listened to 2 students stories about their tsunami experiences, it was so heart breaking. After the stories, we got to mingle with the students. I felt like as if I was a rock star or something because all the kids pulled out their mobile phones and wanted to take pictures with us!
Signing off
Phuoc
Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Evelyn Zuiderwijk, netherlands
It's 12.30 pm and we saw a lot today. We went to the baraks and can look in to the houses a family lives in. It's very small and they do not have any stuf with them. Only a big tv is standing in the room. Most of the peoples lost their father, mother of someone else. It broke my heart, to see these people living like this. But they are very lovely and kind to us and invited us to make pictures and hold their childs!!! it was amazing to see that all!!!
at least we bought some school stuf for the school were we are going to in the afternoon. It was about 110 euro, thats about 100 dollar!!! thats nothing, if you saw the stuff we bought!!! WOnderfull! i hope they are glad with it!!
See you soon!! and then i tell a lot more stories :)
Bye bye
Greetings Evelyn Zuiderwijk, netherlands
Hati Hati (that means " be carefull")
An experience from the journey.. Phuoc Huynh, Australia
Yesterday we went to visit 3 more schools set up at by EI. The children that we met each time are so lively, the treat you like royalty. I had a few girls kiss my hand when I was greeting them. At one of the schools (which is about 3km away from the shore), the water that reached the school was still 20m high, every house was smashed and demolished. There was no way possible of escaping this deadly force. Out of 160 students, 15 survived and out of 12 teachers, 4 survived. This story is not unique to this school, but it is repeated across Banda Aceh. However, on a positive note, housing is being rebuilt by the Islamic Relief Project. There is a new generation of students at these schools, who are the future of Aceh.
Signing off..
Phuoc
Signing off..
Phuoc
Tuesday, 20 February 2007
Arthur den Boer, The Netherlands
The trip to Aceh was very long: 15 hrs in a plane to Kuala Lumpur. We then flew to Medan where we slept over one night. And the next morning we took our last flight to Banda Aceh. When we arrived in Banda Aceh our real program started. We have our own bus. With this bus we travel around Aceh. We went to the office of EI. There we heard what they were doing and what they had achieved in the last two years. It was a shock to hear the details about all the losses and damages around Aceh. We went to ground zero and I got very emotional just seeing all the damages and I couldn’t imagine that this happened though you hear about it and watch it on TV. Today (20 Feb.) we visited 2 schools built by EI. We also met some children. In the beginning they were very shy but when we were about to leave I had to give the boys high fives. Tomorrow we gonna buy some school stuff for the kids with the 500.000 RP from EI. Thursday we gonna bring the equipment to the school.
Regards,
Arthur
Regards,
Arthur
Amanda Deelen and Evelyn Zuiderwijk, the Netherlands
Our expectations of the country were quite different compared to the reality in Aceh. We are actually a little bit shocked about what we have seen in the last two days.
We know that the people were in a very dramatic situation but they are so nice and lovely to us. The ground zero was very impressive but also the new houses that were built in a very short time, that became a home for the families.
We made a lot of pictures which say more than thousand words. You can see them on the blog.
Greetings,
Amanda and Evelyn
We know that the people were in a very dramatic situation but they are so nice and lovely to us. The ground zero was very impressive but also the new houses that were built in a very short time, that became a home for the families.
We made a lot of pictures which say more than thousand words. You can see them on the blog.
Greetings,
Amanda and Evelyn
Angela Jones, UK
So far the past two days I have enjoyed the EI tour. I’m very happy that I got the chance to go on the EI tour. I have enjoyed seeing the schools and the children.
I think that the schools are nice. It was very touching to see how happy the children were when they were given the ball to play with and the way they were so happy and pleased to see us. They were welcoming and that was nice. I also like seeing the new houses that were built. I think that they were nice too. I think that the rest of the students on the tour are very nice and friendly.
Angela
I think that the schools are nice. It was very touching to see how happy the children were when they were given the ball to play with and the way they were so happy and pleased to see us. They were welcoming and that was nice. I also like seeing the new houses that were built. I think that they were nice too. I think that the rest of the students on the tour are very nice and friendly.
Angela
Phuoc Huynh and Hue Huynh, Australia
Before the tour we had some understanding of the impact of the tsunami. The true extent of the damage caused by the tsunami has become clearer in the past two days. We now have some understanding of the complexities involved in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Banda Aceh, and the commitment to achieve improvements for the children.
It has been a warming experience to see the work that Education International has done in providing schooling for the kids that have lost so much. This brings some normality and hope to their life.
We will never forget the laughter and smiles of the children’s faces.
Phuoc Huynh and Hue Huynh, Australia
It has been a warming experience to see the work that Education International has done in providing schooling for the kids that have lost so much. This brings some normality and hope to their life.
We will never forget the laughter and smiles of the children’s faces.
Phuoc Huynh and Hue Huynh, Australia
Genta Nakano, Japan
I visited two new schools and presented a soccer ball to the students from Indonesia which has been collected by children in Kobe, Japan. Kobe experienced an earthquake 12 years ago and 6434 people perished. So children in Kobe grew up in the process of reconstruction after the earthquake. Children in Kobe really know how hard it is to recover from such a disaster. By sending the football to the children of Indonesia they wanted to cheer them up. As soon as they received the ball they started to play with it immediately. I was very pleased when they were playing with it because it is the evidence that the message from Kobe to Indonesia arrived.
Genta Nakano, Japan
Genta Nakano, Japan
Daniel Sykes, Wales
When I first arrived in Indonesia, it was very exciting and enjoyable for me to introduce myself as Dan from Wales to all the people of different ages and nationalities.
After travelling half way around the world to Indonesia, I have felt very welcome by Education International to Banda Aceh.
The tour so far has been a wonderful and educational experience and visiting the young children at school, seeing their faces light up, will stay with me for the rest of my life.
And what EI has done to help education and schools in Banda Aceh is truly amazing!
Thank you to EI for this wonderful experience and let’s hope the rest of the week is as good as the start!
Daniel Sykes, Wales
After travelling half way around the world to Indonesia, I have felt very welcome by Education International to Banda Aceh.
The tour so far has been a wonderful and educational experience and visiting the young children at school, seeing their faces light up, will stay with me for the rest of my life.
And what EI has done to help education and schools in Banda Aceh is truly amazing!
Thank you to EI for this wonderful experience and let’s hope the rest of the week is as good as the start!
Daniel Sykes, Wales
Rob Vink
Hi everyone,
I’m Rob Vink, a student of education from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The tour started out great for me. We met Juliane at the airport in Amsterdam and she was really nice and open right from the start. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was pretty long and we didn’t get much sleep, but we didn’t mind as we were way too excited.
Aceh is really beautiful and the people are so friendly. I didn’t think the things we would see here would effect me this much.
It’s good to see that the people here make good use of the funds received from donations, but at the same time heart-breaking to see the conditions a lot of the local people live in. It’s kind of hard to describe it, you should really see for yourself. I promise you won’t regret it.
Regards;
(a changed) Rob
I’m Rob Vink, a student of education from Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The tour started out great for me. We met Juliane at the airport in Amsterdam and she was really nice and open right from the start. The flight to Kuala Lumpur was pretty long and we didn’t get much sleep, but we didn’t mind as we were way too excited.
Aceh is really beautiful and the people are so friendly. I didn’t think the things we would see here would effect me this much.
It’s good to see that the people here make good use of the funds received from donations, but at the same time heart-breaking to see the conditions a lot of the local people live in. It’s kind of hard to describe it, you should really see for yourself. I promise you won’t regret it.
Regards;
(a changed) Rob
Emily Sarah May Davies, Wales
Being able to travel half way around the world from
The country is so welcoming, the culture and way of life is fascinating as well.
Hearing the facts about the Tsunami is really shocking, the number of people killed and houses/buildings destroyed. The whole experience so far has been really educational. To see how the money that we have raised has been and will be spent is really interesting and it is interesting to see how the people of Banda Aceh have benefited from the money. One example was visiting the reconstructed schools, to see the children playing football, enjoying school made me feel happy that I raised money that was well spent. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Education International for the amazing life time experience of the tour of Banda Aceh and hope that all is well for the future.
Regards,
Emily
Diary of Student Tour - Hue Huynh from Australia
G'day,
Firstly, I would like to thank EI for giving myself and my fellow peers the opportunity to attend this student tour. I am honored to be representing my country but also being able to experience many new and exciting things along the way.
Day 1
The trip so far has been very crazy. Starting with the plane trip which was insanely crazy but also very energy draining, after waking up a billion times either to have lunch, snacks or dinner and/or from the noise of the aircraft I was exhausted from that amount of sleep.
Our first stop was to Jakata, we had to stay the night at the Jakata Airport Hotel which was nice. When we stepped off the plane, the hit of humidity got to me first, feeling sticky and sweaty was not to my liking but hey it doesn't matter now. I slept like a baby for a few hours before being woken up by the hotel wake-up call.
A few hours later, we packed our bags to go on another plane, next destination Banda Aceh. Whilst on the trip, we had lunch and snacks followed by a few billion naps haha. After this plane trip from Jakata, we met the other students' and teachers' from other countries. The weather was still very humid and HOT HOT HOT, however Australia's weather isn't that different from Banda Aceh.
We reached our hotel which we will now call home for the next week, my first room smelt pretty bad haha umm like a old mustard smell so I decided to change to another room which also had a unpleasant smell however was pretty much better than my first room. A few hours later I decided to stay in my sister's room since her room smelt better and cleaner, but also had a better view, the view from my room was.... just old building materials and garbage collecting dust which was not good for my hayfever.
We had heaps to eat but I feel that we're not doing as much exercise since we're travelling heaps by our personal bus. But the food is great, very similar to what I have at home in Australia but coming from an asian background I love spicy food, so the food here does it for me.
Day 2
Waking up about 7.oo am we got dressed and went to have breakie. The hotel toast is the bomb I tell ya, bloody awesome haha. Around 8.40am we headed off to the Media Centre BRR NAD-Nias which had a few speakers explain how their organisations work and also explained how they are rebuilding the areas which have been affected by the Tsunami in december 2004.
We also visited some of the schools which EI had recently built. One school was completed however the surrounding houses weren't completed yet, meaning that the school will not have any students until the homes are due for completion.
Note: daily blog is not completed, updates will follow very soon.
Cheers.
Firstly, I would like to thank EI for giving myself and my fellow peers the opportunity to attend this student tour. I am honored to be representing my country but also being able to experience many new and exciting things along the way.
Day 1
The trip so far has been very crazy. Starting with the plane trip which was insanely crazy but also very energy draining, after waking up a billion times either to have lunch, snacks or dinner and/or from the noise of the aircraft I was exhausted from that amount of sleep.
Our first stop was to Jakata, we had to stay the night at the Jakata Airport Hotel which was nice. When we stepped off the plane, the hit of humidity got to me first, feeling sticky and sweaty was not to my liking but hey it doesn't matter now. I slept like a baby for a few hours before being woken up by the hotel wake-up call.
A few hours later, we packed our bags to go on another plane, next destination Banda Aceh. Whilst on the trip, we had lunch and snacks followed by a few billion naps haha. After this plane trip from Jakata, we met the other students' and teachers' from other countries. The weather was still very humid and HOT HOT HOT, however Australia's weather isn't that different from Banda Aceh.
We reached our hotel which we will now call home for the next week, my first room smelt pretty bad haha umm like a old mustard smell so I decided to change to another room which also had a unpleasant smell however was pretty much better than my first room. A few hours later I decided to stay in my sister's room since her room smelt better and cleaner, but also had a better view, the view from my room was.... just old building materials and garbage collecting dust which was not good for my hayfever.
We had heaps to eat but I feel that we're not doing as much exercise since we're travelling heaps by our personal bus. But the food is great, very similar to what I have at home in Australia but coming from an asian background I love spicy food, so the food here does it for me.
Day 2
Waking up about 7.oo am we got dressed and went to have breakie. The hotel toast is the bomb I tell ya, bloody awesome haha. Around 8.40am we headed off to the Media Centre BRR NAD-Nias which had a few speakers explain how their organisations work and also explained how they are rebuilding the areas which have been affected by the Tsunami in december 2004.
We also visited some of the schools which EI had recently built. One school was completed however the surrounding houses weren't completed yet, meaning that the school will not have any students until the homes are due for completion.
Note: daily blog is not completed, updates will follow very soon.
Cheers.
The journey so far... Phuoc Huynh, Australia
G'Day Everyone! =)
I'd also like to thank Education International for organising this trip for us. We can tell that there has been so much work to get this tour prepared for us.
Hmmm.. Where should I start? We (the Australians) arrived safely in Banda Aceh about a day after we left Sydney; it was a 7hour flight from Sydney to Jakarta, we stayed overnight at the Jakarta airport and got up at 4am to catch the 6am flight over to Banda Aceh. However, on the way there we had to stop over at Medan to pick up the rest of the participants of the tour. Finally, we arrived at Aceh, my first impression of Aceh reminded me of Vietnam; the people, the houses, the roads and even the smell!
In the afternoon of the first day, we went to go visit the Floating-land ship in Ulee. Basically, it was a huge, electricity-generating boat that was washed 4km from the shore by the tsunami. To see the boat in the middle of a village truely showed the power behind the tsunami. After that, we went to visit the Tsunami village; the place there the tsunami hit, it's just truely amazing to be where I was, and at the same time just a little saddening. To witness all the boats scattered everywhere, muddy swamps all over the place and the houses that remains damaged.
Today we went to visit 2 of the schools that EI have set up. The kids that we got to met, at first were shy, but soon enough they warmed up to us. The japanese students brought a soccer ball over for the kids as a gift and they were thrilled to kick the ball around. Although there was a language barrier between us students and the children of Indonesia, the smile on their faces showed that they were happy. It a rewarding experience to witness the lives of the kids, knowing that they will now have a happier life, with an education. This education is only made possible through the donations that the EI organisation has received from teachers and students from around the world.
Well I'm signing off now.
Take care,
Phuoc
I'd also like to thank Education International for organising this trip for us. We can tell that there has been so much work to get this tour prepared for us.
Hmmm.. Where should I start? We (the Australians) arrived safely in Banda Aceh about a day after we left Sydney; it was a 7hour flight from Sydney to Jakarta, we stayed overnight at the Jakarta airport and got up at 4am to catch the 6am flight over to Banda Aceh. However, on the way there we had to stop over at Medan to pick up the rest of the participants of the tour. Finally, we arrived at Aceh, my first impression of Aceh reminded me of Vietnam; the people, the houses, the roads and even the smell!
In the afternoon of the first day, we went to go visit the Floating-land ship in Ulee. Basically, it was a huge, electricity-generating boat that was washed 4km from the shore by the tsunami. To see the boat in the middle of a village truely showed the power behind the tsunami. After that, we went to visit the Tsunami village; the place there the tsunami hit, it's just truely amazing to be where I was, and at the same time just a little saddening. To witness all the boats scattered everywhere, muddy swamps all over the place and the houses that remains damaged.
Today we went to visit 2 of the schools that EI have set up. The kids that we got to met, at first were shy, but soon enough they warmed up to us. The japanese students brought a soccer ball over for the kids as a gift and they were thrilled to kick the ball around. Although there was a language barrier between us students and the children of Indonesia, the smile on their faces showed that they were happy. It a rewarding experience to witness the lives of the kids, knowing that they will now have a happier life, with an education. This education is only made possible through the donations that the EI organisation has received from teachers and students from around the world.
Well I'm signing off now.
Take care,
Phuoc
Monday, 19 February 2007
The tour until now - Rob Vink, The Netherlands
Hi everyone,
I'm sorry that I'm gonna have to keep this message a short one cause this is the 3rd time I'm rewriting it. Internet is really slow here and connections keep on getting interrupted.
First of all I want to thank EI for giving us this great opportunity. It's insane how many new impressions we have gotten in only so few days. Everything is taken care of for us, and all the people we have met are really really nice. So again thank you EI !
Ok back to the tour now then. This morning we got a briefing at the BRR(Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi) office. They explained to us how they are rebuilding the country and the many problems that arise with it. Ofcourse there is corruption but that really is not the only problem. There are many many more reasons. For example: The supporting countries fight each other for projects, or some projects are only half finished. ( a completely build house with no electricity, watersupply or drainage).
Also another thing that people tend to forget is that donating alot of money will help but that it surely takes time. At the moment they are building prefabhouses like madman. But you just can't build 125000 houses in a year. We have also made some arrangements with the people from EI Asia to supply us with some of their powerpoint presentations so we can show the people back home more about what we have learned. So don't worry your questions will be awnsered there is just not enough space on this blog ( and the internet connection here ain't helping either grrrr ;) )
We have also visited one of the schools EI build and that was really great to see. The children looked so incredibly happy with so little that they have compared to us. The people here in Indonesia are great anyways. They are pretty shy but at the same time extremely friendly. Always smiling and trying to help you its great. And the children... sigh ... so cute you just want to cuddle them for hours and take them back home. I wish we could do more for them than this. I would really like to get back here and do some volunteer work after I'm done with my school. I'm certainly gonna visit them next year.
Ok my time is up I'll try to write a few more updates this week.
Ciao!
Rob
I'm sorry that I'm gonna have to keep this message a short one cause this is the 3rd time I'm rewriting it. Internet is really slow here and connections keep on getting interrupted.
First of all I want to thank EI for giving us this great opportunity. It's insane how many new impressions we have gotten in only so few days. Everything is taken care of for us, and all the people we have met are really really nice. So again thank you EI !
Ok back to the tour now then. This morning we got a briefing at the BRR(Badan Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi) office. They explained to us how they are rebuilding the country and the many problems that arise with it. Ofcourse there is corruption but that really is not the only problem. There are many many more reasons. For example: The supporting countries fight each other for projects, or some projects are only half finished. ( a completely build house with no electricity, watersupply or drainage).
Also another thing that people tend to forget is that donating alot of money will help but that it surely takes time. At the moment they are building prefabhouses like madman. But you just can't build 125000 houses in a year. We have also made some arrangements with the people from EI Asia to supply us with some of their powerpoint presentations so we can show the people back home more about what we have learned. So don't worry your questions will be awnsered there is just not enough space on this blog ( and the internet connection here ain't helping either grrrr ;) )
We have also visited one of the schools EI build and that was really great to see. The children looked so incredibly happy with so little that they have compared to us. The people here in Indonesia are great anyways. They are pretty shy but at the same time extremely friendly. Always smiling and trying to help you its great. And the children... sigh ... so cute you just want to cuddle them for hours and take them back home. I wish we could do more for them than this. I would really like to get back here and do some volunteer work after I'm done with my school. I'm certainly gonna visit them next year.
Ok my time is up I'll try to write a few more updates this week.
Ciao!
Rob
Friday, 16 February 2007
Hello, everybody!!
Hi!!!
I am Juliane, from Education International! Education International is the global union representing teachers all over the world.
And I'll be accompanying you on this trip to Banda Aceh!
I'm sure you are all very excited about this trip. Well, so am I! Can't wait to meet ALL of you! ;)
First of all, I would like to thank you for signing up for this trip. It is a GREAT opportunity for young people like yourselves to meet and learn about the rehabilitation process of the tsunami-hit areas. Your creativity and youthful energy will bring hope and joy to the people of Aceh and I am sure the young people there will also be very happy to get to know you.
This blog is THE place for you to post your photos and impressions during and after the tour!! It will be the place where your friends and family can read about your daily adventures! ;)
See you soon!! ;))
Juliane
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