This is my first blog for IDRP 1&2. I am currently in Yogyakarta, Indonesia with ACICIS about to commence the two weeks of intensive Indonesian language lessons with Sanata Dharma University.
My placement happens to be in Jakarta, so I will be departing Yogyakarta following the intensive language lessons. I have been placed at Plan International Indonesia, an international organisation that primarily works towards advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. The key areas of work are:
- Youth economic empowerment
- Child and youth participation
- Disaster risk management
- Sexual and reproductive health
- Early childhood care and development
- Water, sanitation, and hygiene.
I’m hoping to be put on a project regarding sexual and reproductive health, as it’s a topic I have no experience in and I would love to be pushed outside my realm of knowledge. However, given the current circumstances in Jakarta with the flooding, I also think disaster and risk management would be filled with projects that I would be able to assist with.
Location wise, I am based in Central Jakarta, which will make accommodation and hopefully walking to work easy. I am sad that I will have spent two weeks in Yogyakarta, learning the language and doing the development course with a great group of people only to move to another state. However, the change of scenery and learning about a new place is exciting and will motivate me to become fully involved in the work and the culture. My hope for this placement is that I will come to understand what kind of impact such a large international organisation has on smaller communities. I hope to learn, in depth, about the short-term projects and the long-term projects and what outcomes they expect from these on a larger scale.
Globally, Plan International works across 71 different countries, working contextually to achieve similar outcomes for women and children, since 1937. However, they have only been based in Indonesia, since 1969.
Something I am a little concerned about, and hope to manage and overcome in this placement, is the challenge of being independent and taking full initiative. I like the comfort of being told what to do and doing that well, therefore I struggle with autonomy with the concern that I may be stepping out of place or doing something incorrect without being asked to do so. With this in mind, I will communicate this with my mentor and discuss how they would like me to undertake work in their organisation. This will create clear objectives for me to work towards, and expectations for my superiors in order to create a functional and achieving working relationship.
I do believe, at some point, I will be challenged by my western values. As an International Practitioner, and during my studies with International Development, one of the main precursors to the study is that we must not impede our own western values upon different cultures. We are trained to create sustainable solutions that do not devalue another’s beliefs and way of life. This is relevant in Adam Cohen’s reading “Many Forms of Culture” (2009), when he considers his work on religions and cultures he reviewed that “theorizing and empirical work on socioeconomic and social class differences also document cultural differences in values, norms, and practices, as well as artefacts (such as music) that cultural groups create and that affect their worldviews” (Cohen, 2009). This is something I must always be actively aware of “when investigating social class and socioeconomic status, many investigators also probe subjective social class, or individuals’ estimation of their own social class” (Cohen, 2009).
Bibliography:
Plan International 2020, Yayasan Plan International Indonesia, Viewed 12th January 2020, https://plan-international.org/indonesia
Plan International 2020, Plan International The Charity for Girls Equality, Viewed 12th January 2020, https://www.plan.org.au/
Cohen, A 2009, “Many Forms of Culture”, American Psychologist Association, Vol. 64, No. 3, Pp. 194-204
Alexandra Hall 