English Camp 2007
September 11 – 18, 2007
Sapu Lidi Resort, Lembang, West Java

Sponsored by US Department of State and administered by US Embassy and CCE Indonesia, the English Camp 2007 started with the selection process by determining seven regions at all over Indonesia, there are Aceh (Nanggroe Aceh Darusslam), Medan (North Sumatra), Banten, Solo (West Java), Surabaya (East Java), Kendari (South Sulawesi), and Jayapura (Papua). Based on the recommendation from US Consulate General in Surabaya, US Embassy Medan office in Medan and CCE Indonesia's consultants in Aceh, Banten, Kendari, and Papua there were selected the best three schools from each region, and then CCE Indonesia made requirements for the participants.  Each school recommended ten best students (five boys and five girls) and two best teachers (one male and one female) and filled the application form, sent it via post or faxed it to CCE Indonesia's office. Thus, CCE Indonesia received 252 applications.

When all the candidates met the requirements, then the next process was to interview them by phone. The interview was held in English, it was to know how they could express and tell about themselves in English. Besides, they should be active in school organization and more or less know about their cultures. The best two students from each school and three teachers from three regions would be selected. Finally, there were selected the best 42 students and three teachers, the teachers were coming from Aceh, Medan, and Kendari.  

All 45 participants were actively involved in all the activities since the first day until the last day. September 11 was the first day; it was welcoming and introduction of this program to the participants. September 12 was the second day; the activities were outdoor.

They were outbound activities; the participants had a chance to try the challenging games. These outdoor activities encourage them to build a strong teamwork, made them mix with each other and trained their leadership skill. They also visited one of the historical places in Bandung, Tangkuban Perahu Mountain. Many of them had never visited it so they were enthusiastic to get information and know about it from the tour guide there. They took some pictures and bought some souvenirs. Unfortunately they did not have much time to go down to see the crater which is believed can cure some skin diseases. Since the third day (September 13) until day seventh (September 17), the main activities were learning English in a classroom. There were three classrooms: Conversation class, Grammar class, and Reading class.

Conversation class was taught by the native speaker from US, Lorraine Warren and assisted by Istasadhya a staff from CCE Indonesia. In US, Lorraine Warren is actively engaged with the education and children activities. Meanwhile, in Grammar class was taught by another native speaker from US, Lea Troeh and assisted by Theresia Andriani a staff from CCE Indonesia. Lea Troeh joined the Youth Group Leader Plan cultural, social, and art activities for Latino, Somali, Afghani, and Bosnian youth and VOICES FOR CHILDREN (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Reading class was taught by an English lecturer from Banten, Naf’an Tarihoran and a teacher from Jakarta, Anita Candra. Outside the classroom activities, every morning before the class begun there was an ice breaking activity.

The purpose was as the warming up for them to start the lesson. The activities were such as a medium physically training and teamwork activities. Meanwhile, every afternoon after the class and break, they did a group reflection of the day. This reflection was to evaluate what they have done during the day.  In the evening as the closing activity, on September 13 and 14, they prepared the cultural performances. The cultural performances were one of the best activities that waited because every participant from was eager to know other culture performance. It was held on September 15 and 16. Person in charge for the outside classroom activities was one of the CCE Indonesia's staff, Adsina Fibra. Since this is a Ramadhan month, the Moslem participants also had a chance to do early breakfast, break the fast, and do tarawih pray togehter.

The learning process included both education and entertainment as well. Since the main purpose of this activity is to train the English skill of the Senior High School students it comprehended speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. During the English Camp all the participants were submitted to use English as their daily conversation everywhere. In the beginning it was quite hard since most of us were not accustomed to English speaking as daily use, nevertheless all the committees, English instructor, and teachers always paid attention and reminded them to speak in English only. Then, after a few days almost all of the participants had already spoken English not only in the classroom but also at the restaurant, their rooms, and other places in the resort. The learning process was also entertaining for them, because English instructors gave various ways to make them understand and practice English, for example, through giving some games, quizzes, songs, and puzzles. They all got interacted with the lesson in a very entertaining way, they did not feel pushed or indolent to follow and practice the English lesson. Quotes: “I feel that learning English is very fun, “said Angga, one of the participant from MAN 2, Banten. “Besides, we also learn about togetherness and unity since we come from various regions in Indonesia.”
On September 13, the English Camp was honored by the coming of representative from RELO (Regional English Language Office), Kun Herini, and a coordinator and participant from ELF (English Language Fellow), Jeff Kealing and Alexander Anania. Two days after that, the representative from the US Embassy, Michael Anderson, also visited the camp.  

This event is an unforgettable moment for all of them. Despite it is only a week program, they felt much benefits and closeness to each other. They could practice their English directly with the native speakers whereas in their schools it is hard to have such a good opportunity and their chance to have friendship to students from overseas is a worthwhile. Thus, when they got back home and school they bring deeper skill of English and new experiences that can be shared with their parents, family, friends, and teachers. For the follow on of this program, the participants plan to make a mailing list (milis) so they still can contact, share information to each other and practice their English through electronic mail (e-mail).