Below is an article about our team initiative #Kelas Inspirasi on Jakarta Globe 15 February 2013
Great team with the same frequency.
http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/archive/finding-inspiration-among-students-and-volunteers/
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Finding Inspiration Among Students and Volunteers
Anybody can be an inspiration — it just requires an opportunity to teach others how find success and give them the confidence to strive to reach their goals. Such is the idea behind “Kelas Inspirasi” or Inspiration Class, an initiative that focuses on stimulating ideas through sharing.
Professionals with varying fields of expertise share stories relating to their careers and achievements with elementary school students around Indonesia. Volunteers tell about their work, how they got to where they are and how reaching for their dreams made it possible to lead a fulfilling life.
Although still relatively new, the initiative’s experienced founders are certain that it will become something much more than a fleeting idea.
Kelas Inspirasi was established as an offshoot of Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaches), a similar initiative that also brought together volunteers and students from many provinces, mostly remote areas. But whereas Indonesia Mengajar focused on a more conventional form of curriculum-based education with formally educated volunteers, Kelas Inspirasi is about giving regular folks the opportunity to inspire and help students.
The initiative was established in December 2011, when its founders began to recognize a growth in social and education concerns among people not necessarily involved in traditional education. People wanted to improve the lives of youngsters, but simply did not know how or could not commit to the lengthy time commitments other social initiatives, such as Indonesia Mengajar, required.
Kelas Inspirasi established itself quickly thanks to the experiences and networks of its founders. Its first class had 689 people registering to volunteer with 200 selected. Its second program had 1068 registers with 599 making the cut.
The volunteers come from a healthy variety of backgrounds. There have been helicopter pilots, cooks, researchers, comic authors, consultants, bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, government workers, engineers, geologists and designers.
Coordinator Atiek Puspa Fadhilah says that Kelas Inspirasi focuses on making it possible for working professionals to contribute, given their limited time and teaching skills, by offering a launch point to connect with children.
“The tendency nowadays is for these professionals to be [emotionally] moved [by the social conditions of Indonesian children] but they end up still being confined to their own ideas and then delaying any sort of action or waiting for others to take the first step,” Atiek suggests.
Kelas Inspirasi requires only a few days from its volunteers with a “class” that requires no conventional form of teaching.
“All we require from these professionals is to give us a day out of their week to come to our office and communicate with us through e-mails and other means,” Atiek explains, who herself works a day-to-day job as an adviser in EnDev.
When volunteers finally come to class, they are expected to do so on a workday — a requirement intended to encourage a regular commitment from volunteers, but also serves as a symbolic gesture to show the students the willingness of the volunteer to “sacrifice,” as Atiek puts it, one day out of their lives for the benefit of others.
“For the students, understanding that willingness to sacrifice is a valuable lesson,” she says.
Safira Ganis, from Indonesia Mengajar, says that the similarity between the two teaching initiatives is making people understand that the most significant contributions come in the form of time and dedication, and not through material donations and facilities.
“Our volunteers — the young teachers — come to those remote areas as role models,” Safira says, explaining the premise of Indonesia Mengajar’s yearlong program. “In Kelas Inspirasi, those professionals come to the classes as tangible visualizations of the children’s aspirations.”
Atiek, who counts the Prophet Muhammad, former President B.J. Habibie and first Indonesian Vice President Mohammad Hatta as her inspirations, explains that coordinating the program can be a challenge. The constant communication between Kelas Inspirasi and its volunteers prior to meeting the students is meant to minimize problems on the day of the class, but that’s not always enough.
“Sometimes some schools are still hesitant in opening their doors for a visit from us. Bringing along someone who is not from an education background [to lead the class] often brings out the school’s defensive side,” Atiek explains.
Still, when the schools do open their gates, the officials often find themselves surprised by both the interest their students place in listening to the volunteers and the volunteers’ enthusiasm in telling their stories.
“It surprises them [the schools’ officials] that someone who usually spends their days working in skyscrapers is willing to do this for no money at all,” Atiek says.
Like many similar initiatives, Kelas Inspirasi not only inspires its target — the students — but also the volunteers.
“The essay question form which the volunteers have to fill out when applying to take part has often made these professionals rediscover the value of their own jobs, which may have been slowly seeped away due to stress and the daily grind,” Atiek says. “Hopefully, they will feel good about themselves and start to contribute further.”
Along the way, Kelas Inspirasi has also inspired volunteers to setup sub-initiatives in their home provinces. So far, Kelas Inspirasi has spread to Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta.
“Everybody can make their own inspirational classes,” Atiek says. “It is simple. All we do is help [the schools] communicate the essence of the programs and maybe pay them a visit.”
Atiek refers to the Italian word “inspirare,” from which the word “inspire” evolved.
“It means ‘to breathe in,’ which for me means that inspiration can be inhaled from anywhere and anyone. We require only the willingness to do so. And like inspirations, we want to absorb only the good things — the little things that shape our lives from day to day.”
To learn more about Kelas Inspirasi or to sign up as volunteer, visit http://kelasinspirasi.org/
Great team with the same frequency.
http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/archive/finding-inspiration-among-students-and-volunteers/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finding Inspiration Among Students and Volunteers
Anybody can be an inspiration — it just requires an opportunity to teach others how find success and give them the confidence to strive to reach their goals. Such is the idea behind “Kelas Inspirasi” or Inspiration Class, an initiative that focuses on stimulating ideas through sharing.
Professionals with varying fields of expertise share stories relating to their careers and achievements with elementary school students around Indonesia. Volunteers tell about their work, how they got to where they are and how reaching for their dreams made it possible to lead a fulfilling life.
Although still relatively new, the initiative’s experienced founders are certain that it will become something much more than a fleeting idea.
Kelas Inspirasi was established as an offshoot of Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesia Teaches), a similar initiative that also brought together volunteers and students from many provinces, mostly remote areas. But whereas Indonesia Mengajar focused on a more conventional form of curriculum-based education with formally educated volunteers, Kelas Inspirasi is about giving regular folks the opportunity to inspire and help students.
The initiative was established in December 2011, when its founders began to recognize a growth in social and education concerns among people not necessarily involved in traditional education. People wanted to improve the lives of youngsters, but simply did not know how or could not commit to the lengthy time commitments other social initiatives, such as Indonesia Mengajar, required.
Kelas Inspirasi established itself quickly thanks to the experiences and networks of its founders. Its first class had 689 people registering to volunteer with 200 selected. Its second program had 1068 registers with 599 making the cut.
The volunteers come from a healthy variety of backgrounds. There have been helicopter pilots, cooks, researchers, comic authors, consultants, bankers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, government workers, engineers, geologists and designers.
Coordinator Atiek Puspa Fadhilah says that Kelas Inspirasi focuses on making it possible for working professionals to contribute, given their limited time and teaching skills, by offering a launch point to connect with children.
“The tendency nowadays is for these professionals to be [emotionally] moved [by the social conditions of Indonesian children] but they end up still being confined to their own ideas and then delaying any sort of action or waiting for others to take the first step,” Atiek suggests.
Kelas Inspirasi requires only a few days from its volunteers with a “class” that requires no conventional form of teaching.
“All we require from these professionals is to give us a day out of their week to come to our office and communicate with us through e-mails and other means,” Atiek explains, who herself works a day-to-day job as an adviser in EnDev.
When volunteers finally come to class, they are expected to do so on a workday — a requirement intended to encourage a regular commitment from volunteers, but also serves as a symbolic gesture to show the students the willingness of the volunteer to “sacrifice,” as Atiek puts it, one day out of their lives for the benefit of others.
“For the students, understanding that willingness to sacrifice is a valuable lesson,” she says.
Safira Ganis, from Indonesia Mengajar, says that the similarity between the two teaching initiatives is making people understand that the most significant contributions come in the form of time and dedication, and not through material donations and facilities.
“Our volunteers — the young teachers — come to those remote areas as role models,” Safira says, explaining the premise of Indonesia Mengajar’s yearlong program. “In Kelas Inspirasi, those professionals come to the classes as tangible visualizations of the children’s aspirations.”
Atiek, who counts the Prophet Muhammad, former President B.J. Habibie and first Indonesian Vice President Mohammad Hatta as her inspirations, explains that coordinating the program can be a challenge. The constant communication between Kelas Inspirasi and its volunteers prior to meeting the students is meant to minimize problems on the day of the class, but that’s not always enough.
“Sometimes some schools are still hesitant in opening their doors for a visit from us. Bringing along someone who is not from an education background [to lead the class] often brings out the school’s defensive side,” Atiek explains.
Still, when the schools do open their gates, the officials often find themselves surprised by both the interest their students place in listening to the volunteers and the volunteers’ enthusiasm in telling their stories.
“It surprises them [the schools’ officials] that someone who usually spends their days working in skyscrapers is willing to do this for no money at all,” Atiek says.
Like many similar initiatives, Kelas Inspirasi not only inspires its target — the students — but also the volunteers.
“The essay question form which the volunteers have to fill out when applying to take part has often made these professionals rediscover the value of their own jobs, which may have been slowly seeped away due to stress and the daily grind,” Atiek says. “Hopefully, they will feel good about themselves and start to contribute further.”
Along the way, Kelas Inspirasi has also inspired volunteers to setup sub-initiatives in their home provinces. So far, Kelas Inspirasi has spread to Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta.
“Everybody can make their own inspirational classes,” Atiek says. “It is simple. All we do is help [the schools] communicate the essence of the programs and maybe pay them a visit.”
Atiek refers to the Italian word “inspirare,” from which the word “inspire” evolved.
“It means ‘to breathe in,’ which for me means that inspiration can be inhaled from anywhere and anyone. We require only the willingness to do so. And like inspirations, we want to absorb only the good things — the little things that shape our lives from day to day.”
To learn more about Kelas Inspirasi or to sign up as volunteer, visit http://kelasinspirasi.org/
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