Halo semuanya! Thank you for visiting the GW UNESCO Fellows Blog! It has been 1 month and 15 days since I have arrived in Jakarta and I have to say, it is HOT! I should not be complaining about the hot weather since being raised in the Sunshine State of Florida. The timing of my arrival was at the end of Ramadan, where Muslims follow a religious tradition to fast and abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking during the holy month, which occurs in the month of May. As a country having the world’s largest Muslim community, many Indonesian residents traveled back to their families during the month of Ramadan, so the city was not too busy.
Since this was my first time in Southeast Asia, I spent most of my days exploring around Jakarta. During those days, I was able to reconnect with my good friend, Matthew Brady, who was the 2018 GW UNESCO Fellow in the UNESCO Jakarta office. With his recommendations, I ventured out in Jakarta and learned about the history and culture of this wonderful and diverse country, while sweating from the hot weather and enduring the heavy traffic congestion (Matt was not kidding!). I also enjoy the food here, which is very delicious and unique. There are various street food vendors around Jakarta. Their popular dishes consist of Nasi Goreng (traditional Indonesian fried rice), Es Podeng (traditional Indonesian dessert), and many more. As a food lover with no limits, I have tried eating duck liver to cow brains and most notably roasted crickets, yum! As an open-minded individual, who likes to visit new places and try to eat exotic food, I was able to adapt easily to a new culture and felt more confident to adjust a new lifestyle in Indonesia.
Well that is it for my post. I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience in Indonesia!
Just kidding! Why would I not highlight my experience in the UNESCO Jakarta office!
My first month working in the UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific in Jakarta has been exciting and inspirational. UNESCO Jakarta office is recognized as a cluster office covering all UNESCO mandates of Education, Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information for the implementation of related programs in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor Leste. Their commitments toward improving water and sanitation management and education for climate mitigation and adaptation has made the office well known as the Regional Bureau for Science, hence why I chose Jakarta as my top preference.
During my fellowship, I support the Director Office through assisting the Japan Funds-in-Trust (JFIT) and Malaysia Fund-in-Trust (MFIT) program. My first assignment was to work on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovation (SETI) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Scorecard for the Asia-Pacific Facility for Accelerating Science and Technology (AP-FAST) Regional Workshop. During the productive three days, representatives from the local and national government of the cluster countries came together to discuss their past, current, and on-going projects by using the SETI for SDGs Scorecard to align with specific SDGs, Targets, and SETI-related Indicators. Representatives who attended the AP-FAST Regional Workshop traveled from Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Timor Leste. During the workshop, I led my first session on presenting the guidelines on using the SETI for SDGs Scorecard. I also assisted in training the participants on placing their projects into the scorecard. I enjoyed attending the workshop, especially being surrounded by people who want to understand the SDGs and include them as part of their own agenda. I believe this experience has enhanced my professional development and build great connections with the participants through learning about their projects on how it will benefit their communities and get into the right path towards achieving the SDGs.
Although I have not been getting into projects involving my interest in Environmental and Sustainability Education, my time in the UNESCO Jakarta office has been a productive and excellent learning experience with the UNESCO staff and interns.
As of today, my tasks are supporting the Coordinators in the JFIT and MFIT program for the upcoming Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Program (MUCP) Post-Expert Synthesis Meeting in early August and the Science to Enable and Empower Asia Pacific for Sustainable Development Goals II (SEE-AP for SDGs II) in mid-September. My current responsibilities involve developing MUCP and SEE-AP for SDGs II program booklets, writing a script for an official MUCP video, and assisting the JFIT and MFIT Coordinators on revising the program agendas. There are more to share about the JFIT and MFIT programs, but I will save it for my next post. Thanks again for checking out the GW UNESCO Fellowship blog! I highly encourage you all to visit the blog periodically as I and my colleagues will have more to share on our exciting experience in the UNESCO offices throughout the summer. Sampai jumpa lagi!
Jonathan is a Master’s candidate in International Education with a focus on Environmental and Sustainability Education and Climate Change Education.