(An English-Indonesian Bilingual Article. The English version is right below the Indonesian text)
Minggu pagi itu, sekitar 20 siswa kelas 7 Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri (MTsN) Wonorejo, Pasuruan, bergerombol di penggalan jalanan kampung. Mereka baru saja melakukan kegiatan outing di satu lapangan tak jauh dari jalan itu. Mereka sekarang berdiri di depan rumah Miss Sarah Ballard, guru bahasa Inggris mereka, untuk menyapanya.
Tahu sejumlah siswa berseragam training-pack biru itu bergerombol di depan rumah, Sarah membuka pintu dari dalam rumah dan melambaikan tangan pada mereka.
“Good morning, Miss Sarah!” sapa anak-anak itu serempak.
“Hi, kids. Good morning. How are you?” Sarah menghampiri mereka.
“We’re fine, Miss,” jawab anak-anak itu serempak, satu persatu menyalami Sarah, cium tangan. Sarah menyambut cium tangan mereka dengan riang sembari bicara pada mereka dengan bahasa campuran Inggris-Indonesia.
Saya dan putri saya, Kompasianer Nadia Seassi Roesdiono,memotret keriuhan anak-anak itu.
“Have a nice Sunday, kids!” ujar Sarah manakala anak-anak itu menjauh.
“Bye, Miss Sarah!” anak-anak itu melambaikan tangan.
[caption id="attachment_324380" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="Sarah di antara murid-murid MTsN Wonorejo (Sarah among the students of MTsN Wonorejo). Foto : Eddy Roesdiono"]
Sarah Ballard, 25 tahun, adalah salah satu dari sekitar 50 relawan Peace Corps, Amerika Serikat,yang tersebar di Jawa Timur dan Jawa Barat. Kebetulan Sarah ditugaskan mengajar di Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri Wonorejo, Pasuruan, Jawa Timur. Sarah yang berasal dari negara bagian Texas, Amerika Serikat, mulai mengajar di sekolah itu tanggal 4 Juni 2014 dan baru akan balik ke negaranya 23 bulan kemudian.
“Kami relawan Peace Corps ID-7 tiba di Indonesia tanggal 18 Maret 2014,” kata Sarah. Yang dimaksud dengan ID-7 adalah ‘angkatan ke-7’. “Sebelum mulai mengajar kami harus menjalani kursus intensif bahasa Indonesia dan training mengajar bahasa Inggris selama kurang lebih tiga bulan di Batu, Malang. Di Batu, kami tinggal bersama penduduk di mana kami bisa memperdalam bahasa Indonesia dan belajar budaya dan tatakrama Indonesia;tidak menggunakan tangan kiri ketika memberikan atau menerima sesuatu, belajar memahami sebutan untuk nama orang ‘bu, pak, mas, mbak’, dan sebagainya,” kata Sarah sebagaimana diwawancara Kompasianer Nadia Seassi Roesdiono.
Di MTsN Wonorejo, Sarah mengajar kelas 7, 8 dan 9, bersama dengan 3 guru bahasa Inggris lokal. Sarah mendapatkan jatah mengajar 16 jam seminggu.“Murid-murid saya baik semuanya baik, antusias belajar dan pintar-pintar, meski mula-mula mereka malu-malu. Sebagian dari mereka ada yang ikut program les tambahan dengan saya di sore hari”
[caption id="attachment_324381" align="aligncenter" width="403" caption="Siswa-siswa suka banget pada Sarah (Students love her). Foto : DaffaLova"]
Kompasianer Nadia Seassi Roesdiono juga sempat mewawancara M. Faiq Dinalwafi, siswa kelas 8 MTsN Wonorejo. “Miss Sarah itu ramah, baik, sabar dan ngajarnya enak. Contoh-contoh kalimat bahasa Inggris yang diberikan juga mudah dipahami. Saya suka diajar oleh Miss Sarah,” tutur Faiq, yang rumahnya persis di depan tempat tinggal Sarah.
Pak Mahmud, kepala sekolah MTsN Wonorejo berpendapat serupa. “Kehadiran Sarah memompa motivasi siswa dalam belajar bahasa Inggris dan meningkatkan kemampuan berbahasa Inggris para guru. Sarah juga cepat beradaptasi dengan lingkungan sekolah”
Di kecamatan Wonorejo (18 kilometer dari Pasuruan), Sarah tinggal di kediaman Bu Tutik, di sebuah gang sempit tak jauh dari sekolah, dan menjalani hidup seperti orang Indonesia, menyantap makanan Indonesia dan bergaul seperti orang Indonesia. Sebagai relawan, Sarah tak menerima bayaran apapun dari sekolah atau dari pemerintah Indonesia. Ia hanya menerima sejumlah uang yang cukup untuk membayar sewa rumah dan biaya makan. Ia makan makanan yang sama yang dimakan anggota keluarga di mana ia tinggal.
“Orang-orang di sekitar rumah tinggal saya semuanya baik, ramah, sopan, sangat mendukung dan sangat membantu. Kebetulan saya datang ke Wonorejo pas bulan puasa. Saya ikut sahur, ikut puasa sehari penuh. Itu tantangan yang sulit. Tapi saya ingin turut merasakan dan mengalami nikmatnya buka puasa setelah seharian menahan lapar. Saya ikut puasa hampir sebulan penuh. Luar biasa asyiknya! Dengan cara ini saya menghormati puasa orang di sekitar saya, dan mereka menghargai puasa saya”
Ikut terlibat dalam kegiatan komunitas juga merupakan hal yang menyenangkan bagi Sarah. “Saya senang diminta jadi tim penerima tamu acara sunatan dan menikmati nuansa pesta sunatan di masyarakat sekitar; pengalaman yang sangat berharga”. Ini sejalan dengan Point 4, Core Expectations Peace Corps atas para relawan, yakni : Recognize that your successful and sustainable work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture (harap dipahami bahwa keberhasilan dan kelanggengan kerja Anda bersandar pada rasa percaya orang lokal dan rasa percaya diri yang Anda bangun dengan cara hidup seperti orang lokal dengan cara meleburnya Anda dengan komunitas dan budaya setempat).
Sarah dengan guru-guru MTsN Wonorejo (Sarah with MTsN Wonorejo's teachers). Foto : Ruli Yulianti
Bagi Sarah, sebagai individu yang dibesarkan dalam budaya berbeda, hidup dan bekerja sukarela di negeri lain menyediakan tantangan dan pengalaman tersendiri, terutama dalam hal adaptasi dengan lingkungan sosial, dan budaya. “Pertama kali makan dengan keluarga di Indonesia, saya makan nasi pakai garpu. Ibu pemilik rumah yang saya tinggali di Batu bilang, ‘Mbak Sarah, makan nasi tidak pakai garpu, tapi pakai sendok’,” Sarah mengenang hari-hari pertamanya di Batu. Hawa panas di Wonorejo juga menjadi tantangan tersendiri. “Tapi saya sudah biasa sekarang, sudah jadi orang Indonesia,” kata Sarah dalam bahasa Indonesia yang baik.
Sarah menyatakan, sebagaimana yang diharapkan oleh Peace Corps, seorang relawan harus bisa menjawab segala macam tantangan lokal. Dan itulah yang justru membuat relawan-relawan menikmati hidup dan kerja mereka dengan orang lokal. “Melalui keseharian hidup dengan orang lokal kita menimba pengalaman dan belajar untuk saling menghargai,” ujar Sarah.
Sarah menyebutkan, tidak mudah untuk menjadi relawan Peace Corps. Sebelum diterima menjadi relawan, ia harus mengajukan lamaran dan mengisi berbagai macam formulir, menulis esai, dan menjalani wawancara. Latar belakang sebagai guru menjadi nilai tambah. Di negerinya, Sarah pernah bekerja sebagai supervisor pada sebuah toko pakaian dan mengajar bahasa Inggris. Alasan Sarah tertarik untuk menjadi relawan Peace Corps adalah untuk meluaskan wawasan, memelajari budaya komunitas lain, mencari pengalaman, belajar beradaptasi dan menaklukkan berbagai tantangan.
“Peace Corps yang pilihkan Indonesia buat saya. Dan saya benar-benar beruntung ditempatkan di Indonesia, negeri indah permai, negeri bakso enak, negeri dengan tetangga yang murah senyum dan kemana-mana disapa dan menyapa dengan kata ‘monggo’” ujar Sarah sembari tersenyum lebar.
Bagaimana soal makanan Indonesia? “Enak tenan,” kata Sarah yang periang ini. Semuanya enak, terutama bakso, nasi goreng, sate ayam dan rawon.
Selain belajar bahasa Indonesia, Sarah juga mulai bisa menggunakan kata-kata bahasa Jawa sehari-hari. Itulah sebabnya, selama wawancara dengan Sarah, sering terdengar kata-kata ‘kulo nuwun’, ‘monggo’, ‘matur suwun’, atau ‘aku rapopo’.
Apakah larangan-larangan bagi relawan Peace Corps? Tak banyak larangannya, kecuali menerima uang pemberian dan naik sepeda motor. “Naik sepeda motor dilarang keras, termasuk dibonceng,” kata Sarah. Sarah sendiri jalan kaki ke sekolah. Ia menambahkan bahwa relawan-relawan di daerah lain yang tinggal jauh dari sekolah hanya boleh naik sepeda atau angkot bila harus bepergian naik sarana transport.
Faiq dan Sarah di depan rumah Sarah (Faiq and Sarah, in front of Sarah's house). Foto : Eddy Roesdiono
Well, Mbak Sarah, have a nice stay and wonderful life in Wonorejo, and thanks for being here with us!
Related articles :
-Kiprah Relawan Peace Corps di Indonesia (Peace Corps Volunteers in Indonesia)
- Miss Gretchen, Guru Bahasa Inggris SMA Muhammadyah 1 Gresik
Miss Sarah Ballard, English Teacher for a Moslem Junior High School
That Sunday morning, some 20 students of Class 7, of Wonorejo’s State Moslem Junior High School were there on the neighborhood street. They had just been in an outing school event in the field not far from the street. They were standing in front of Miss Sarah Ballard’s house, their English teacher, to greet her.
Sarah opened the house door and waved to the students.
“Good morning, Miss Sarah!” the kids waved back, greeting her in unison.
“Hi, kids. Good morning. How are you?” Sarah approached them.
“We’re fine, Miss,” replied the kids, and each of them started to kiss Sarah’s hand, a gesture of respect of students to their teacher. Sarah happily talked to them in mixed English – Indonesia.
My daughter Nadia Seassi Roesdiono and I started to take pictures of them.
“Have a nice Sunday, kids!” said Sarah as the kids were leaving.
“Bye, Miss Sarah!”
Sarah Ballard, 25 years old, is one of those United States of America’s Peace Corps volunteers, stationed in East Java and West Java. Sarah teaches English at the Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri (MTsN) Wonorejo, regency of Pasuruan, East Java province. Sarah, who comes from US’s State of Texas, started teaching at the school on June 4th, 2014 and will be there till May 2016.
“We, Peace Corps Volunteers ID-7, arrived in Indonesia on March 18, 2014,” said Sarah. ID-7 means ‘the seventh group’. “Prior to teaching assignment, we were required to receive intensive Indonesian language course and training on EFL teaching for about three months in Batu, Malang. In Batu, we lived with the local people during which we had the opportunity to improve our Indonesian language and develop our understanding on Indonesian culture and good manners; you see, like not receiving from and giving something to other people with your left hand; or using the proper attribute to someone’s name such as ‘bu, pak, mas, mbak’, and so on,” said Sarah, in an interview with Kompasianer Nadia Seassi Roesdiono.
At MTsN Wonorejo, Sarah teaches grades 7, 8 and 9 with three other local English teachers. Sarah is assigned to 16-hour teaching a week.
“My students are nice, very enthusiastic and smart; they were shy at the beginning, but they are okay now,” said Sarah. “Some of them join extra-lesson I make available in late afternoon”
Kompasianer Nadia Seassi Roesdiono also talked to M. Faiq Dinalwafi, an eight-grader of MTsN Wonorejo. “Miss Sarah is friendly, nice, patient and she teaches very well too. It’s always easy to understand the English sentence examples that she gives. I enjoy her class very much,” said Faiq, who lives next door to Sarah’s.
Pak Mahmud, MTsN Wonorejo’s principal has his words, “Sarah has lifted both the students and teachers’ motivation toward learning and teaching English at the school. She has also amazingly adapted well to the school and community life”
In the district of Wonorejo (18 kilometers from Pasuruan, the regency capital), Sarah lives with Mrs Tutik, in a house in a quite densely populated village not far from the school. She lives the life like Indonesian, eats Indonesian food and get along with the local people like Indonesians; she has been perfectly indonesianized. As a volunteer, Sarah receives no cash from either the school nor Indonesian government. She only receives a small amount of money from Peace Corps that she spends for house-room rent, transport and meals; the same meals that her Indonesian family serves.
“People in the neighborhood are so kind, friendly, polite, respectful, supportive and helpful. I started my days in Wonorejo in the Moslem fasting month. I wanted to know how it feels to be fasting. I woke up very early in the morning to eat the sahur meal with my Indonesian family, did not eat or drink anything the whole day-light. It was hard but you see it’s a great experience. You can imagine how good it feels to eat and drink at the fast-breaking time. I did my fasting almost a month full, and it was just great! I respect their fasting. They respect my fasting”
Being involved in the local community activities leaves Sarah with another excitement. “I was just happy when asked to be one of guest greeters in a circumcising celebration party and really enjoyed the atmosphere of such cultural get together; truly a precious experience,” said Sarah. This goes well with point 4 of Peace Corps Core Expectations on volunteers which reads “Recognize that your successful and sustainable work is based on the local trust and confidence you build by living in, and respectfully integrating yourself into, your host community and culture.
To Sarah, who grows up in different background of culture, living and taking volunteer work in a community with different culture from hers gives a certain level of challenge especially in terms of adaptation to her new social and cultural environment. “When I first had my meal with my Indonesian family, I used a fork for taking the food into my mouth. The lady I lived with in Batu, said, “We don’t use forks for eating rice. We use spoons!” Sarah recalled her first days in Indonesia. The hot air of Wonorejo was also a challenge for Sarah during her first days. “But I am used to it now. It isn’t a big deal. I am now Indonesian,” said Sarah in perfect Indonesian language.
Sarah explained that Peace Corps requires that each of the volunteers should be adaptable to the local community andchallenge and in fact this what makes the volunteer enjoy their life and volunteer work with the local community. “By living together with the local community it is possible for us to learn how to respect, help and support each other,” said Sarah.
Sarah revealed it is not easy to be qualified as Peace Corps volunteers. A Peace Corps volunteer candidate has to apply for the volunteering work and fill out a lot of forms, do a lot of paper work, write an essay and come for related interviews. As for teaching volunteer, teaching background is necessary. Back home, Sarah was once a supervisor for a cloth shop and an EFL teacher.When asked why she was interested in the volunteer teaching work with Peace Corps, Sarah had clear things in her mind : she wishes to broaden her mind, learn culture of other communities, get meaningful life experience that teaches her how to adapt to new things and ideas and respond to challenges. “Peace Corps chose Indonesia for me and I feel incredibly lucky to be in Indonesia, a country of beauty and delicious bakso, of smiling neighbors and of ‘monggo’” said Sarah, smiling.
Is eating and Indonesia food a problem? Not at all. “Enak tenan (food is great),” said Sarah, who is a cheerful person. To Sarah, everything is delicious; especially bakso (meatball, tofu and noodle in salty soup), fried rice, chicken satay and rawon (beef in black aromatic soup).
Apart from Indonesian language, Sarah has also picked up some daily Javanese words. When you talk to Sarah, you will hear her say, kulo nuwun (excuse me), monggo (hi, hello, please), matur suwun (thank you), or aku rapopo (I am fine, I am all right, it’s all right).
What are Peace Corps volunteers not allowed to? Not many, except for receiving money in return to work and riding a motor cycle. “Driving or riding a motorbike is strictly forbidden,” said Sarah. She added that other Peace Corpsvolunteers living far from the school get the options of cycling or riding on public transport to get to work or to any other places.
Does Sarah miss her family in Texas? “Oh yes, I do. I call my family once a week. My sister Jess and my brother Ben are on Facebook. We communicate through Facebook. So they know what I am doing, I know what they are doing,” Sarah answered.
Well, Mbak Sarah, have a nice stay and wonderful life in Wonorejo, and thanks for being here with us!