BRIDGE in Bali!

In collaboration with the General Elections Commission (KPU) the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) Indonesia Office conducted a Train-the-Facilitator (TtF) workshop at the Ayodya Resort, Nusa Dua, Bali, from 2 July 2012 to 13 July 2012. Funding for this capacity building program in electoral administration was provided by AusAID, as part of the Australian Government’s continuing support for Indonesia.
Preparation for the TtF began a number of weeks prior to the commencement of the workshop, principally in Jakarta by Ade Johansyah, AEC Indonesia BRIDGE Coordinator and her assistant Katherine Ardiasih Sitompul. Facilitators Belinda Bennett (AEC) and Brian Latham (AEC) flew to Jakarta from Canberra and, together with facilitator De Haan Djidon (KPU) from West Timor joined the AEC Indonesian BRIDGE team on Tuesday 26 June for the organization to be completed.
Four facilitators (now including AEC Indonesia Office Director and BRIDGE facilitator Patrick Satie) and two of the BRIDGE Office staff flew to Bali on Saturday 30 June to prepare for the following two weeks of the workshop. There they met with the other Jakarta BRIDGE Office staff member who had arrived the day before to finalise arrangements at the Ayodya Resort.
The participants, KPU staff from all over Indonesia, gathered in Bali over that weekend, in preparation for the opening of the workshop on the evening of Sunday 1 July by Commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay, Member of the Technical Commission Implementation Division.
Commissioner Hadar, representing the RI Commission Chairman Husni Kamil Manik, delivered a speech in which he welcomed all attendees and stated that the training was an important instrument of professional development, which is expected to improve the quality and capacity of the election process for the KPU, in an individual, organizational, and strategic environment.
The workshop itself was conducted from 2 July to 6 July and from 9 July to 13 July, with a social/work weekend in between.
The aim of the TtF was to provide to selected KPU staff valuable experience in BRIDGE methodology, content, curriculum development and evaluation and also to train and identify suitably skilled KPU facilitators to conduct BRIDGE workshops in the future.
Three of the originally 20 selected participants were unable to attend at the last minute and so to even numbers for TtF purposes, an AEC Indonesia BRIDGE team member joined the participants to make the total number 18. This also provided an excellent opportunity for this officer to gain semi-accreditation status.
The workshop modelled BRIDGE facilitation by the four experienced facilitators as well as provided opportunities for all participants to present current BRIDGE curriculum material, to develop their own material and to again present similar material, this time written by other participants.
In week one, after the initial two days of introduction and modelling by the four conducting facilitators, participants began the first set of paired presentation using examples from the only translated BRIDGE modules available at that stage, customized BRIDGE already in use by the KPU. This gave these potential facilitators opportunity to become familiar with the very materials they would most likely to be working with in the future.
By the end of that week, for the second set of paired presentations, participants were able to utilise two just-recently translated BRIDGE modules, Electoral Contestants and Polling, Counting and Results. This gave them first-hand experience of ‘pure’ BRIDGE materials
The middle weekend of the workshop provided some opportunities to explore Bali. On Saturday a whole group excursion was undertaken to various places of interest on the island. This ‘tour’ also served to avail participants of the opportunity to sample the many wares that Bali offered. Sunday was spent on individual pursuits or for those wishing to (further) develop their lesson plans/FNs for the presenting pairs.
In week two the second presentations by the new pairs proved to be, in all cases, an improvement on already impressive first presentations. The newly created written material, much of it creative and most of it impressive, was able to be addressed or modified through negotiation and most successfully presented.
Throughout the workshop the participants were encouraged to take an effective, participatory and positive approach to all activities. Overall this was most successful, with all participants getting involved and seeking to benefit from the experience.
The participants were most supportive of the program offered, of the facilitators and of each other. Their feedback was extremely positive, indicating on the whole that their experience was, while often challenging, enjoyable and a real learning experience.
Some participant feedback included:
 
• I am very grateful to have been able to attend this training. The presence of facilitators from both Australia and Indonesia was a good combination. Complementary. We came to know the standard of BRIDGE in Australia and that which has been modified for Indonesia.

• Unbelievable! Excellent!  This will never be forgotten in this life.

• I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in this TTF.

The TtF workshop was closed on the Friday afternoon by KPU member of Public Relations Division, Data Information and Inter-Agency Relations, National Commissioner Kurnia Rizkyansyah Ferry. Commissioner Ferry reminded participants that BRIDGE training is not a “quick fix”, but rather a professional development program that is an ongoing process, is long term, and Indonesian local ownership of the curriculum and teaching methods is very important for the successful achievement of goals.
All the participants are to be congratulated on becoming semi-accredited workshop facilitators – and congratulations also De Haan Djidon, on gaining accrediting facilitator status. Seven of the 18 participants demonstrated excellent facilitator skills and have been recommended to be the first to be given opportunities to co-facilitate at BRIDGE workshops in Indonesia – and as soon as possible.