Travel warning shadows student exchange

Prapti Widinugraheni, Contributor, Perth, Australia

The hope of creating lifelong friends across cultural and racial divides is diminishing for young Australians as politics and security come between them and Indonesia.

For the second consecutive year, Australian youths were taken out of the equation in the annual Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP), because of their government's warning against travel to Indonesia following the 2002 Bali bombing.

A former Australian participant considered this a great loss, as the experience of living with Indonesian host families and interacting intensively with fellow participants for two months was the greatest experience he gained from the program.

"The bond I created with my Indonesian counterparts was really strong... I think it sucks, it really sucks that Australians can't go," said Liam Prince, 23, over the weekend.

Liam, who speaks flawless Bahasa Indonesia, was one of 18 young Australians who participated in the 2001-2002 program, living for two months at the home of a South Lampung family. He still stays in touch with his Indonesian friends.

Founded in 1981, the exchange program each year involves 18 Australians and 18 Indonesians between the ages of 20 and 25.

In Australia, the exchange program is organized and funded by the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In Indonesia, it is organized by the Ministry of National Education in Jakarta.

The AII budget for youth and educational programs, which includes the exchange program, dropped significantly after the October 12, 2002 Bali bombings.

In 2000-2001, youth and educational programs received 46.27 percent of the AII budget and in 2001-2002, 43.9 percent. But in 2002-2003, priorities shifted and the budget allocated to youth and educational programs fell to a mere 22.7 percent. Meanwhile, newly introduced interreligious programs that made up 4.1 percent of the 2001-2002 budget jumped to 16.9 percent in 2002-2003.

Maurice Sawyer, the exchange program's local coordinator, said as long as the travel warning was in place, Australians would most likely refrain from participating in the program.

"There's not much we can do about it. We just have to hope it gets lifted," he said in Indonesian.

According to the AII, the exchange program was designed to enable Indonesian and Australian youths to appreciate each others' cultures and lifestyles.

Under the program, Australian participants are paired off with Indonesians upon their arrival here, and each pair lives with a host family, spending one month in a rural setting and one month in an urban setting.

During their stay in a rural area, the participants are involved in community work and social activities; while in the city, they gain work experience -- preferably in their chosen fields of study or expertise.

For the rest of the time, participants spend time interacting with each other.

"I'd meet the others every day because houses and villages were all quite close to each other," said Liam, explaining how ties among group members became very close.

In turn, Indonesian participants fly to Australia for a similar two-month experience with Australian host families.

But this year, like last year, Indonesian participants are doing it on their own, thanks to the Australian government's travel warnings.

Thea, 23, a participant from East Java, said her month-long stay in Palembang, the Indonesian province chosen to host this year's program, was uneventful with no Australian counterpart to share in the fun.

"Well, you know, we just lived in the village," she said in an offhand manner when asked about her rural experience.

Thea was speaking over the weekend at a barbecue lunch hosted by the Westralian Indonesian Language Teachers' Association in Perth. It was her third barbecue in the three weeks she had been in Perth.

"It's a good way to escape the heat indoors," she said.

Perth was chosen as the urban Australian venue for this year's program and Geraldton, a town 450 km to the north of Perth was the rural venue.

Maurice said the 18 participants came from 16 provinces, giving the group a good ethnic mix.

Apart from experiencing an Australian way of life, the participants were also expected to be ambassadors for Indonesia -- meaning they were expected to conduct cultural performances for of Australian audiences.

Thus, every Monday since their arrival, the Indonesian group has been visiting schools and various institutions to perform traditional dances. The highest in demand, said Thea, were the Acehnese ensemble dances.

"We had intensive dancing lessons during the briefing period in Indonesia, so we're all pretty good dancers now," she said. For the rest of the week, the participants worked at institutions in the field of their choice.

Maurice said he had managed to get all the participants their first choices.

"It wasn't always easy getting work placements. Sometimes, I'd have to call 30 times asking for a placement before they'd finally give me one -- just to get rid of me!" he said.

Ridwan, 23, from Central Kalimantan, worked at the agriculture ministry and had a chance to attend a seminar during his stint.

"The minister of agriculture was so laid back. In Indonesia, a minister would be treated like royalty, but here he's just like everyone else," he said.

None of the participants became homesick. In fact, Thea said, the group seemed to be seeing too much of each other, and it didn't help that they kept running into Indonesian students on the streets.

"There's not enough interaction with Australians," she lamented.

They said they had good times with their host families, who were generally attentive and happy to include them in family activities, especially on weekends.

Maurice said most of the host families were very protective of the participants, especially female participants wearing the jilbab, or Muslim head scarf.

"The only times the hosts have ever called me were when they got worried that their guests weren't home on time, or when their guests stayed out late without permission," he said.

Yuyun, 24, from Bengkulu, said her hosts drove her to work almost every day, even though public transport was easily available.

"I don't know why. They're just really nice people," said Yuyun, who wears a jilbab and works here as a kindergarten teacher.

When they return to Indonesia, the participants will be going back to their daily grind. For most of them, this would be the task of finishing university.

Wawan, 25, a participant from Central Sulawesi who studies English at Tadulako University's School of Teaching and Education, said he wouldn't miss a chance to return to Australia in the future.

"It would be nice if I could get a post-graduate scholarship one day," he said.