3/13/08

Indonesian cultural exchange at Marysville school

by Beckye Randall

Sociology students in Pathways of Choice, a small learning community at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, were recently given a rare opportunity to find out about life halfway around the world first-hand.

M-PHS teacher Ryan Hauck hosted four educators from Indonesia on behalf of the World Affairs Council’s International Visitor Program. Hauck, the 2007 recipient of the council’s World Educator Award, hoped the interaction between his students and the visitors would prove insightful.

Educational challenges in Indonesia are quite different from those faced in the United States. One of the teachers, Butet Manurung, has no classroom but instead travels throughout the jungle teaching children in villages as she goes. She carries all her worldly possessions, including a blackboard, books for students, and a sleeping mat in a single backpack.

Manurung was named Time Asia’s Conservation Hero of 2004 for her educational work with the indigenous peoples of the Sumatran jungles. Her “school” covers 150,000 acres, and is a 6-day walk from one end to the other.

Ms. Fauziah el Muhammady, principal of a girl’s academy in West Sumatra, told Hauck’s teen students that girls in her school “have no boyfriends.” The students stay in one classroom all day while the teachers rotate in and out according to the curriculum.

In religious schools, the curriculum is divided between scholarly pursuits during the day and religious and cultural studies in the evening, according to Rizqon Khamami, an executive at an Islamic boarding school in East Java. Teachers are expected to instill their ancient culture’s social values in their residential students.

Hauck asked the visitors if they could relate one experience that had surprised them during their trip to America. “Yes,” said Ms. Hanun Asrohah, director of the Islamic Education Laboratory. “At the airport, strangers smiled and said ‘Hello. How are you today?’ That is very different from my country.”

Asrohah related that, based on news reports and information from the internet, they had expected a much different welcome. “We thought Muslims were treated badly here,” she said, “but that is not true. Americans are friendly and very nice.”

Marysville students had some questions for the visitors as well. They asked about the problems of teen pregnancy and drug abuse, and learned that drug use is a growing problem in Indonesia’s urban areas. Teen pregnancy is less prevalent because of its severe social and cultural repercussions. Abortion is forbidden, and the family of an unwed mother faces stern societal judgment.

“High-ranking government and military officials have lost their jobs because a daughter became pregnant,” said Asrohah. “If they could not take care of their families, how could they be expected to take care of the country?”

Students were curious about the custom of arranged marriages, and the visitors explained that many areas still practice the tradition although it has become less common.

Ms. Asrohah told about a traditional gathering at an arranged marriage ceremony. If the intended bride decides she doesn’t want to marry the man, she can decline. But a wedding will still happen that day.

“All the unmarried women there will be asked to consider marrying the man, and then the wedding happens. That is how my aunt married her husband,” she said. 

They students also asked about the educational opportunities for girls in Indonesia, and about the differences in American materialism compared to the island lifestyle.

And of course, they wanted to know about American pop culture and its impact around the world.

“We watch American television, MTV, HBO,” said Khamami to the amusement of the Marysville students, “and we love Beyoncé.”

The visitors listed their favorite American movies: “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Forrest Gump,” “Dances with Wolves” and “Indiana Jones.”

The Indonesian educators also talked about their government structure, art and sports.

Indonesia is a country of more than 17,000 islands located between Australia and Asia in the Indian Ocean. Its diversity of landscape and geography has created a diverse population as well. While most of Indonesian’s inhabitants are Muslim, its history displays evidence of more than three centuries of Dutch colonialism.

Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of thousands of distinct ethnic and linguistic groups with more than 700 individual languages. Nevertheless, the country has adopted a national language (Bahasa), a democratic government, and a motto that translates to “Many, yet one.”

Following the classroom visit, the Indonesian delegation met with school district leaders, members of the Tulalip Tribes and City of Marysville officials.

Marysville was the last U.S. destination for the contingent of educators. The day of their visit to M-PHS, February 28, was the 19th day of their American trip, with earlier stops in Washington, D.C., Buffalo, Orlando, Little Rock and Austin. The group was scheduled to embark on the 22-hour flight back home March 1.