Stories

Thanks to the active involvement in ASEF ClassNet Online Collaborations, 2 schools were brought together to collaborate. In November 2010, Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (SAS) in Putrajaya, Malaysia invited 15 students and 3 teachers of Sekolah Islam Fitrah Al-Fikri (SIF AL-Fikri) to our school for a 5-day homestay program.

And as a counter visit, 9 students and 3 teachers of the ASPNet UNESCO Club of SAS made a visit to Depok, Indonesia from 11 to 15 March 2011. The 5-day visit cum homestay program was made possible with the kind hospitality of SIF Al-Fikri’s teachers, host parents and students. We had a most beneficial time there as activities were planned out with care from day 1 to day 5. We were received with such warm welcome even though it was almost midnight on the 11 March 2011. Students from both schools were very excited and happy to meet each other again.

On 12 March, we went to the famous legendary volcano, Tangkuban Perahu in Bandung and also visited the Angklong Village, Saung Udjo where we had a hands-on experience of playing the Angklong. We were also taken to the Institute of Technology Bandung where the students did some interviewing to obtain information about the institute. The next day was spent in Jakarta. We had the most memorable time exploring Kota Tua on bicycle. It was quite a challenging task cycling on the busy streets of Kota Tua. On 14 March, we were very happy to spend a whole day in school getting to know new friends and given a chance to attend classes together with the host brothers.

Teachers were also given a chance to teach in 2 classes. On the last day, we shared some traditional performances in the school hall. All good things must come to an end and we left SIF AL-Fikri with tears in our eyes. The experience all of us had from this homestay program enriched our lives tremendously. Even though there are a lot of similarities in our cultures but we found out that there are also many cultural diversities that we need to accept and understand. We are very grateful to SIF AL-Fikri especially to Ms Cicin Khaerani for making this homestay program a great success.