Project Citizen: Kami Bangsa Indonesia
SHOWCASE In Sorong, West Papua
May 24, 2008

By Acih Sari, Program Coordinator

Administrated by the Center for Civic Education Indonesia (CCEI) cooperation with Pattimura University and funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

Following the spectacular success of teachers` training and monitoring at schools in Sorong, the success of Kami Bangsa Indonesia showcase was predictable. Supported by the head of Education Office and the head of Middle Education of Kota Sorong, the showcase was truly a big event for students and civic teachers in Kota and Kabupaten Sorong to perform their skills and creativities in presenting their project which tried to solve problems that exist in their communities.

There were eleven schools from Kota dan Kabupaten Sorong participated in this one day showcase. Each school talked about different topics which were close to the students daily lives. The three juries, two CCEI local trainers and a senior high civic teacher and the audience asked the performing teams about their project and why they choose to solve the problems.

After hearing all teams performed their portfolios, SMPN 1 Kota Sorong was chosen as the first winner. This school’s team was simply the best team in performance and their portfolio was fulfill all criteria. The second winner team, SMPN 4 Sorong, spoke about the security problems at their school, one of the reasons because it had no fence. SMPN 3 Sorong as the third winner explained about the cleanliness problem at their community. This team offered a brilliant solution which called the community cleanliness movement.

At the showcase, students from different ethnics, such as Moi (local people of Sorong), Javanese, Batak, Bugis, Buton etc worked together in making the project. They interviewed the community and religious leaders at their city and visit the governmental institutions to collect more information for their studied problems.

In summary, the success of the showcase in Sorong inspired CCEI local trainers to held the same showcase in the future. The success of the showcase also supported a lot by the Education Office of Kota Sorong. Its cooperation was much appreciated and I hope the cooperation between CCEI and the education office continued in the next CCEI programs.