Trip Report of ECCD Cross Visit in Indonesia
Sikka (23 – 27 August 2013)
I. BACKGROUND OF THE VISIT
Baucau ECCD project has been running for two years with various activities supported by WVTL and external partners. In order to
be effectively implemented, field visit is a compulsory but also capacity building for volunteers and external partners that actively
participated in this project such as government and the church. The form of capacity building that is going to be conducted is cross
visit to few sites in Indonesia that had been implemented ECCD project that proven succeeded and as a learning process. The aim
is that those who will participate in the cross visit may learn to make improvements needed including comprehensive approach to
maintain Baucau ECCD project.
The cross visit team is going to visit ECCD program facilitated by PLAN Indonesia in Sikka town, Nusa Tenggara Timur. This place
attracts attention because since beginning its ECCD project has been tightly controlled by Catholic Church in the village level. The
church actively involved in mentoring the caregivers and monitoring the ECCD learning process. Also parents, community leaders
and the village level government are supportive proven by few of the ECCD projects supported by PLAN have been acknowledged
and legalized by district education department. In terms of project implementation, there are center –based support as well as
home-based support by providing parallels classes for parents on parenting therefore they are able to create child friendly
environment for children outside the ECCD center.
For smoothing the visit of WVTL BAUCAU ECCD to the sites supported by PLAN Indonesia, the WVTL team will be accompanied
by an event organizer (EO) in order to achieve expected output. Yayasan AIR will be the EO since it has experience in ECCD
program and supposed to coordinate with PLAN Indonesia regarding this visit. For the field visit in Sikka, an event organizer will be
hired to make sure everything is ready prior to the arrival of the team.
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II. ROLES OF EVENT ORGANIZER
To establish close communication and coordination with PLAN Indonesia regarding prospective village/sites to be visited including
brief profile of the ECCD of each district that will be visited
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Ensuring that the visit will be based on the schedule including meeting schedule in the district and village
To arrange and organize logistic needs during the visit in Sikka both the meeting in the village and district level
III. ACTIVITES REPORT
Date
Time
Activities
8:00
Arrived in Maumere
Venue/
Location
Result
Check in the hotel, arrange the rental car and journal package, confirm
the dinner venue and coordinate with PLAN's staff
23-Aug-13
Sylvia Hotel
16:30
18:30 –
20:30
Picked up the WVTL
team at the Frans Seda
airport
Dinner meeting with
PLAN Sikka staff
The WVTL team arrived at 5:15 pm then heading to hotel
Jakarta
Restaurant
There were 18 people in the entry meeting. The WVTL team from
Baucau district are ECCD Specialist (1), Director of education ministry
(1), ECCD Coordinator (1), ECCD Facilitator (1), Head of Village (1),
Chatolic church leader (2), ECCD volunteer(1). There were 9 people
of PLAN Sikka staff included ECCD Senior Officer (4), Project
Coordinator (1), WASHs coordinator (1), ECCD M & E Specialist
(1), ECCD Specialist (1) and Manager (1).
General Observation
The Sylvia hotel is quite far from
the dining place so need to rent
car full day so that can drive the
team for dinner
Some of the PLAN Internationah
staff attended the entry meeting
didn't worked directly for ECCD
project
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The meeting started with introduction (EO), security briefing (project
coordinator), and PLAN ECCD project scheme (ECCD Specialist).
Then continued with discussion where WVTL team posted questions
to be responded by the PLAN staff.
Points of discussion covered child safeguarding policy that should be
signed by the visitors prior to the field visit. The ECCD centers that
initiated by the community as the result of 10 sessions of parenting
class for parents and various support from the 'paroki' in the village
level.
24-Aug-13
09:45 –
10:15
10:15 –
13:30
The meeting took almost 2 hours. WVTL team got preliminary
information on the ECCD project and encouraged to visit the ECCD
centres as being scheduled so EO emphasize on being punctual on the
first day of site visit at the end of meeting.
There were 3 cars convoy to Watutena sub-village. The team leave
Maumere on 7.15 am and arrived in the sub-village on 9.45 am. The
ECCD activity held in the small building of 1 storage room and 1 open
terrace. There were 8 children out of 18 enrolled children. Who
were playing freely in 2 corners prepared by ECCD tutor. This is the
last activity of daily schedule prior to send children home.
Class observation of
Watutena ECCD center
managed by community
Discussion with ECCD
committee, caregivers,
community and parenting
club members who
running the ECCD
program
Watutena
ECCD
center
It was scheduled earlier to have a separate meeting with the parenting
club in the afternoon however since the males (fathers) are having
'pati ea' ceremonial on harvesting in the afternoon so the dicussion
with big audience held before lunch.
There were 26 people registered in the attendance list (6 PLAN staff,
9 WVTL team, 11 community member) and 5 females cook. The
WVTL team learned many information including process taken prior
to the ECCD establishment. Actually the ECCD project socialization
and its activities was continously done within community level either
home visit or spreading invitation through weekly church gathering or
collaborate with POSYANDU activity. The impact of parenting
activity was household leaders realized the importance of ECCD
project and initiate meeting among church, sub-village leaders, parents
and PLAN staff to run ECCD centres.
All WVTL team involved in the
discussion except church
representatives that attentively
listened and observed where as
the ECCD voluntary kept silent
Too many visitors for observing
small group of children especially
when the activity held in the open
area
Almost all the parenting members
joined the meeting but due to
some parents could not express
their thoughts freely in Bahasa
Indonesia then the questions tend
to be responded by the
coordinator of the ECCD
project. However in general, the
discussion became a source of
learning for the WVTL team on
the process of setting of ECCD
project within the community
level.
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Parents contribute to pay incentive for ECCD facilitator as well as
sending children to the centre, PLAN international supported indoors
and outdoors playing equipments and regular support with the
availability of ECCD Senior Officer who stay in the village, PNPM
Mandiri support the building, village level made a policy so that all
young children should attend pre sechool and the church involved in
encouraging parents to attend the parenting class. So far there have
been 2 groups of parenting class established in Watutena sub-village.
Watutena sub-village is part of Hikong village. The ECCD project in
village level is well supported by paroki whose leader is Germanish.
There are around 5 ECCD centres including kindergarden that
established in this village that supported by the paroki. Even the
'German Romo' himself paif off school fee of few youth that willing to
study in the university with a written agreement that they will
completed the study and comeback to Hikong for develop the village.
This type of strong leadership within the Chatolic Church that support
early education become an advantage in promoting ECCD concepts.
Brief non formal
discussion with the
'pastor pembantu'
13:45 14:00
25-Aug-13
Sunday service and city
sight seeing
Hikong
Paroki
The church provide the ECCD centres and facilities but few of the
centres are empty since parents rarely send their children to the
centres. The leader of the paroki is very attentive in supporting the
education but parents and community that can guarantee the
sustainability of the ECCD project.
The WVTL team attended morning church from 8 to 10.30 am. Then
visited the "Kristus Raja" statue in the city then headed to sea world
beach for lunch by the beach till 2 pm.
Although the short conversation
only heard by the WVTL church
representatives, it was
enlightening that parents'
awareness raising is the key
success of ECCD projects
therefore parenting session is
very crucial
It was planned to visit a statue
that around 30 minutes drive
away climbing a hill called 'patung
Bunda Maria in Nilo' however
some team members wanted to
take a long rest on Sunday so
ended up having lunch by the sea
and went back to hotel at 2 pm.
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There were 3 cars convoy to Watutena sub-village. The team leave
Maumere on 7.45 am and arrived in the sub-village on 9.30 am. The
ECCD activity held in the permanent building with 2 rooms. There
were 6 children age 3-4 and around 15 children age 5-6 with 2
teachers and 1 principal managing the daily activities.
09.30 11.00
Class observation of
Wolofeo ECCD centre
26-Aug-13
Wolofeo
Kindergarden
11.00 13.00
Discuss with ECCD
committee, caregivers,
church leader, parents,
village leader and primary
school principal
1st grade
classroom
The classroom were setting based on the BCCT approach (Beyond
Centres and Circles Time) with various corners/areas that suit
children's development. Children were playing freely as we arrived,
then they were playing the outdoors playing equipment, then finally
the upper age children had math activities where as the lower age
children had fine motor skill activity prior to send children home.
There are good habit created among the playing and learning activity
which is having star of the class of the day and tidy up the indoor
playing equipment together with the teacher and classmates.
Today's visit should be a good
example for ECCD volunteer as
well as other stakeholder to
observed how children were
active playing and learning, the
learning and playing equipment
multiply to suit children's number
and the calssroom setting that
enable children to explore many
things on their own where as
teachers role as facilitators in
helping children learn while
playing
The center had been established prior to PLAN International
intervention. However, it was stagnant with no children attended the
centre because no tutor wanted to teach voluntarily. So PLAN
International arrived and made an agreement that it will provide the
building and the facilities if there is ECCD activities. This agreement
encouraged the principal, community leaders, church leaders and
parents to gather and find solutions to activate the ECCD activities.
The budget supposed to be snack
only but the community prepared
lunch on their own budget.
So there was agreement in the village level in terms of dividing roles of
each stakeholder. Parents contribute to pay incentive for ECCD
facilitator as well as sending children to the centre, PLAN international
provide building and both indoors and outdoors playing equipments
and regular support with the availability of ECCD Senior Officer who
stay in the village, village level and school principal made a policy so
that all young children should attend pre sechool and the church
(Paroki through its foundation) involved in providing salary for the
kindergarten principal, and the village leader provide incentives for the
tutor as well from village budget.
The school principal and the
kindergarten principal having a
strong collaboration that
contribute to the success of the
ECCD project implementation
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There were 5 people attended the meeting included Head of GOPTKI,
representative from PKK and Biro Pemberdayaan Perempuan and
Keluarga Berencana, Camat of Kengai and a representative of Flores
'budayawan'.
15:00 –
17:15
Meeting with stakeholders
Jakarta
Restaurant
The discussion focussing on how different sector working on ECCD
project. The activity that led by PKK and GOPTKI is conducted
through POSYANDU which is an institution in the village level that
initiated and maintained by the community with the head of village is
the leader.
There is best practice in the Kengai sub district which is planned to be
a child friendly sub district. PLAN had initiated 3 ECCD project in 3
villages out of 9 villages of Kengai sub district so that 'camat' would
plan to replicate the project to the rest of the villages in order to fulfill
the child friendly sub district mission.
The stakeholder that didn't
come was representative of
Education department (2 person)
and HIMPAUDI Maumere (1
person)
Although a bit dissapointing
because the representative from
Education Department didn't join
the meeting, the WVTL team
heard quite lots of information on
how the local culture reinforce
the importance of child rights and
their education and village level
commitment in maintaining the
ECCD project by establishing
collaboration with the local
village government and INGOs.
Those information could be
adjusted in Baucau whenever
possible.
It was planned earlier that the exit meeting with PLAN International
held seperately in PLAN's office however, since most of the PLAN's
manager and staff who attended entry meeting joined the stakeholder
meeting so the meeting closure was considered as the exit meeting.
17:1517:30
19:00 20:15
Exit meeting
Team evaluation
Jakarta
Restaurant
Sylvia Hotel
3 people (representative of Maumere government, representative of
WVTL team and representative of PLAN International) in turn
declared briefly their experiences and impressions during or around
the cross visit with optimism that each party both Timor Leste and
Indonesia would maintaining the relationship and each sector will work
hard to make improvement for better future of coming generations.
The evaluation meeting looked at 3 points included the positive
impression/comments/lessons learned of each visit, things to be
improved and the follow up actions as the results of the discussion
attached in sheet 2 of this file.
PLAN International in Maumere
as well as the VWI in Maumere
was quite busy so the intention of
visiting these offices at the end of
the cross visit didn't exercised.
The EO tried to lead the
discussion to reach consensus on
time frame of the action points
but it was too late for dinner
time and the team was too tired
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to think.
27-Aug
6:45
Checked out and heading
to airport
Frans Seda
airport
Accompanied WVTL team to the airport in the morning and took
another flight back home in the afternoon
Mission completed
IV. LESSONS LEARNED
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The WVTL team had consisted of complete parties including representatives from government, church, INGO and community
members. This complete team should be able to make an impact in the field if there is a follow up action to be monitored
continuously. Since usually the enthusiasm while observing will fade away as the team gone back home and facing difficulties and
resistance in the field.
The absence of Education department of Maumere quite a disappointment however by observing the activity in the field enable
the team to look at the grass root level process of establishing ECCD project which is usually reinforcing administratively by
Education Department later on as the ECCD activities gradually developed.
There was flaw in coordination level between the EO (Karla) and Plan International staff (Hesty) regarding face to face
discussion prior to WVTL team arrival to do a final check list of the visit activities that resulted on changing on agenda, missing
stakeholder, uncertainty of remarkable places for sightseeing on Sunday, 25th August 2013 and alternative choices of meeting
venue and meals.
The key factors of ECCD project is not only on community and government ownership but also the willingness of
caregivers/voluntary/tutor to exercise and being open minded to any changes happen on the parenting and education field so
that attract children to stay longer in the class or missed the class while on holiday. Therefore improving their capacity
regularly is crucial.
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