International Education Week Projects 2015

A clipping of seven projects by:

Bela Citra Aqidah

Bina Antarbudaya - KL-YES - PAX

Indonesia – U.S.A. 2015/2016

International Education Week Projects

First of all I would like to thank KL-YES and PAX for the amazing opportunity they have given to

me. Since before I departed, I've been so excited to share my culture and learn new cultures in the

United States. I began my International Education Week projects far before the date of International

Education Week itself, and I am still looking forward to do some other projects regardless the contest. I

am doing projects because I love it and I enjoy it.

My name is Bela Citra Aqidah, my home country is Indonesia and I am hosted in Boynton Beach,

Florida, U.S.A. My host school is Atlantic Community High School, Delray Beach, Florida. I am a senior

here, attending seven classes with block scheduling system.

1. Batik Day Project

My first project was a simple introduction to Batik Day on October 2nd 2015. Batik is Indonesian

traditional cloth. It comes in many forms and patterns. In Indonesia, we celebrate the day of Batik as our

national cultural heritage each October 2nd by wearing our Batik together national wide. I thought it

would be very interesting if I can introduce Batik and Batik Day to my American friends, so I decided to

make this project idea a reality.

On October 2nd I wore Batik to school and I also had a sticky note on my chest. On the sticky

note I wrote, "It is National Batik Day in my country, Indonesia! #askmewhat" I wore the sticky note to

make my friends curious and ask questions, that way I can get a chance to explain to them what Batik is

and what Batik Day is. I also bring Batik for my double placement sister from Mexico and had her

wearing it that day. My host father also participated by wearing sarung to his office that day. Sarung is

Indonesian man skirt. My host father is a middle school teacher.

My Batik Day project was a success. My first period classmates were so curious, so I explained to

them when the teacher gave me a chance to do so. My second and fourth period teachers and

classmates were also curious, so I did a short presentation about Batik in those two classes. My sixth

period classmates were asking questions too, so I did a short presentation for those two classes. So did

my friends at the bus stop and lunch break. My host father told me how he ended up introducing my

culture to his students that day and he told me he was happy to be involved in my project. My double

placement sister also told me how fun that day was, a lot of her friends asked her what is she wearing

and told her how pretty it is.

Although that was just a simple project, I felt like I re-discovered my culture that day. I also

learned how to communicate better, and how simple presentations I did using nothing but words and

Batik I was wearing as the physical item means a lot to my classmates, teachers, host father, his

students, and even my double placement sister. My audience that day learned about one of Indonesian

heritage, Batik, and how Indonesians value it. In total, that day I have shared my culture to

approximately 60 people.

2. JROTC Class Presentation

My second project was a power point presentation I did on October 20th 2015. I am an Army

Junior Reserved Office Training Center cadet, and I did my presentation in that class. I had 38 audiences

which were my classmates, my instructor from the U.S. Army, and two senior cadets from that program.

I opened that presentation by setting an Indonesian map in front of the class which I brought

from my country. I told them how many islands there are, which island I came from, and where the

capital city is. Then I began my presentation using power point slides. I told them a piece of history of

my country, and then I told them about my culture. I brought some Indonesian traditional crafts and I let

them see the things I brought closely and touch the things by themselves. I also wore my traditional

cloth that day and told them the traditional purpose of the cloth.

That day, my audiences went on a journey to Indonesia through my presentation. They have

learnt Indonesian history, Indonesian culture, and Indonesian values. That day, I fell in love with my

country all over again. I have learnt the best way to share it, and the best way to appreciate it without

hating other cultures.

3. Q&A Sessions at Don Estridge High Tech Middle School

My third project was question and answer sessions I did in Don Estridge High Tech Middle

School, the school where my host father works as a teacher. My double placement sister and I did this

project together on October 22nd 2015.

We went into Spanish class for two different periods, Language Arts class for three different

periods, and World Geography class for five different periods. For each period, each class has about 20

students. Approximately our audience that day was about 100 students in different times!

Due to the age of our audiences that day, we decided not to do a slide show presentation

because we were afraid it would be boring for them. We chose to present our country in a more

interactive way that day, question and answer session. During the session we introduced ourselves to

the audience and gave a little information about our country, and then we let our audience ask

questions. We managed to answer all of the questions well. The teachers thanked us and told us how

amazing the session went. We have provided them many information they couldn’t find in the text

books. Many of the students recorded a video of us because they were so excited to have us. They asked

many questions to us, from the interesting ones to the funny ones. We enjoyed all of the sessions we

had that day.

Our audience that day have learnt about our language, our culture, our geographical conditions,

our values, our thoughts, our views, our religions, our traditions, and even our experiences, also many

other things about our home countries. The discussions we had in each session covers so many

knowledge and topic, because we let our audiences ask things that they truly curious about. We

ourselves have learnt how to respect each other that day. Interactive sessions truly taught us how to

communicate and deliver information in a better way.

4. We The People Presentation Project

My fourth project was a presentation I did in one of the club I join at my school here. We The

People is a club consisting students who want to make differences in the society here. On October 28th

2015 we had our weekly club meeting after school, and I did a 10 minutes presentation in our club

meeting.

I began the presentation by setting a map, just like what I did in my JROTC class. Instead of

talking about my culture, I talked about an issue that was going on in my country at that moment. I told

them how it started, where it happened, and how could we help. At the end of my presentation, we

planned a project to help with the issue.

Although by the time we began our project the problem was solved and we ended up not doing

that project, we are still planning on doing other projects for another issue which my country is facing.

We are also doing many other projects to help the community here. My audience that day was about 25

people, and I was so happy I did that presentation. Through the presentation on Indonesian current

issue I did that day, I have learnt how to make difference. My friends in that club have learnt further

about Indonesia that day, and they’re so excited to learn more. We took a selfie together at the end of

that meeting. The club’s president thanked me for what I did, and he told me how much he learned

from me.

5. A Journalism Trip to Palm Beach Post

My fifth project was a visit to Palm Beach Post office on November 6th 2015. Journalism is my

passion, and luckily one of my neighbor here is a journalist. I call her Mrs. Stacey. She is so nice and we

often share our passion. I have an experience as a student journalist and children ambassador in my city

in Indonesia, and Mrs. Stacey gave me an opportunity to share it at her work place.

We went to her office in the morning. Mrs. Stacey introduced me to her colleges and I had a

chance to share a little bit about my culture and my journalism experiences to them. I was so honored to

be invited to attend a morning meeting there. I was given a chance to share my thoughts there.

After that we went to the Courthouse of Palm Beach County to attend the inauguration

ceremony of Judge Dina Keever. After the ceremony, we walked across the street to a historical

museum of Palm Beach County and had a tea time. I got a chance to share my culture at the tea time. I

talked about how children ambassador works in my country, how I became a student journalist in my

province, and some issues that was going on in my country that time. We had amazing discussions on

how teenagers like me supposed to help making differences in the community, how to solve the current

issue that was going on in my country, and how Palm Beach County would be better if it is applying the

children ambassador system that my city in Indonesia has. I talked to approximately 15 people that day,

including Judge Dina Keever herself. I felt so honored to be there and share my culture, thoughts, and

experiences to amazing people.

I learned a lot that day. I learned how to make a bigger difference by small actions, how

journalism in U.S.A. works, and how to contribute in the society here. They also have learnt simple

things from me, like how I became a student journalist, how my country was facing an issue, how

children ambassador system works in my city, and of course how my culture differs from American. That

day, I felt so honored and lucky to be able to do that project and have discussions with amazing people.

6. The Squall, The School Newspaper

My sixth project still has something to do with journalism. On November 18th 2015, my school

newspaper was published. Since I was a part of school newspaper team here, I decided to use the

opportunity I have to share my culture. I wrote an article about my country and my cultural experiences

in U.S.A. My article was placed on the center page of that edition of school newspaper, the International

Education Week edition! All of teachers, students, and staffs of my school got that newspaper right the

day it was published and they read my story, and that gives me over 2,000 audiences! My story became

a trending topic of the week. When I walk in the hallway, some students or teachers would said hi to me

and asked, “Are you the foreign exchange student who wrote that story in the newspaper?” They also

asked me a few other questions that they are curious about. I was so happy to know that they really

read what I wrote and enjoyed it.

I have learnt a new way of sharing my country through another media from this project. My

audience that day, or should I say readers, have learnt about my country and my cultural experiences in

U.S.A. through my article. In that article, I explained how Indonesia and U.S.A. are really different and

yet the same. We are the people of the world, and we should always respect each other. My readers

have learnt that differences are beautiful if we value it the right way.

7. International Education Lunch Project

My seventh project was a collaboration of me, other exchange students who also attend my

school, and the student government of my school. On November 17th and November 19th 2015 we held

an event at the school cafeteria. Because our school has over 2,000 students, we have three different

lunch times. Me, exchange students from India, Tunisia, Mexico, and Yemen, also the student

government made all three lunch times of those two days super fun!

We decorated the cafeteria. We hung posters which we painted ourselves, and each poster has

information about our countries including general information, education facts, values, language

knowledge, geographical information, and cultural information. At all three lunch times, we made a

stand in which students can come and ask questions, have their face painted, or see and touch

traditional crafts and currency from our countries. Students can have their face painted using a safe face

paint with different words in our native languages like peace, love, and happiness. They could also have

their face painted with their names in our native alphabets like hindi or Arabic. Not only answering

questions on the stand, but also we walked around the cafeteria and approach tables to share some

knowledge and cultures about our country. We wore our traditional clothes and told them about it.

Students could enjoy their lunches while listening to our short presentations. They could also ask

questions and learn more about our country while enjoying their lunches. They were so amazed by how

many islands there are in Indonesia, how many traditional languages we speak, and how did we get

here. Our event was a success and I thanked student government for helping us arrange the event.

From this project I have learnt how to work together with people from different countries.

Without the teamwork we did, this project would never be a success. Our audience that day, which was

approximately 2,000 students, learned a lot about our cultures, languages, values, facts, and how to

appreciate it. We made a lot of new friends that day and I am looking forward to do another project.

By doing all of my seven projects, I have learnt to represent my country better and to appreciate

other cultures in order to build the bridge of understanding between my country and other countries.

These experiences have given me a sense of peace, made me discovered even more about my own

country, helped me understand more about America, and given me the sense of being a citizen of the

world. I am so thankful for the chance I have got so far, and I will continue doing some other projects in

some other chances.