World Water Day 2010 - Clean Water for A Healthy World - 22 March 2010

The World Water Day 2010 and its campaign is envisaged to:

• Raise awareness about sustaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being through addressing the increasing water quality challenges in water management and
  
• Raise the profile of water quality by encouraging governments, organizations, communities, and individuals around the world to actively engage in proactively addressing water quality e.g. in pollution prevention, clean up and restoration.

Saya baru tahu kalau ternyata ada Hari Air Sedunia yang dirayakan tiap tanggal 22 Maret, sesuai dengan konferensi PBB tahun 1992, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

Saya tidak akan tahu kalau ada hari untuk memperingati keberadaan air, kalau saja saya sedang tidak membimbing murid-murid saya dalam membuat sebuah tugas yang kebetulan temanya adalah tentang air.

Ya, sekedar mengingatkan kita, apakah kita sudah menggunakan air secara bijaksana, tidak membuang-buang, mengotorinya, atau bahkan bisakah kita mendaurulangnya?

Semoga kita bisa melakukan hal-hal kecil yang mampu menambah indahnya dunia.

Life Skills

Life skills constitute a continuum of knowledge and aptitudes that are necessary for a person to function effectively and to avoid interruptions of employment experience (Brollin - 1989).

Life skills are skills that enable a person to cope with the stresses and challenges of life.

Life skills merupakan kemampuan yang diperlukan sepanjang hayat, kepemilikan kemampuan berfikir yang kompleks, kemampuan komunikasi secara efektif, kemampuan membangun kerja sama, melaksanakan peranan sebagai warga negara yang bertanggung jawab, memiliki kesiapan serta kecakapan untuk bekerja, dan memiliki karakter dan etika untuk terjun ke dunia kerja. Oleh karenanya, cakupan life skills amat luas, seperti: communication skills, decision-making skills, resource and time-management skills, and planning skills.

Dengan demikian life skills dapat dijelaskan sebagai kecakapan untuk hidup. Pengertian hidup di sini, tidak semata-mata memiliki kemampuan tertentu saja (vocational job), namun ia harus memiliki kemampuan dasar pendukungnya secara fungsional sepert: membaca, menulis, menghitung, merumuskan dan memecahkan masalah, mengelola sumber-sumber daya, bekerja dalam tim atau kelompok, lalu belajar di tempat bekerja, mempergunakan teknologi, dan lain sebagainya.(http://lasmawan.wordpress.com/)

Goodbye .... My Inspirator

Just heard from a friend, that a teacher, principal, counselor, leader, motivator, even a very good friend who we could talk to heart to heart, has gone for good because of a serious illness.
The first time I set my feet into a new school, she graciously welcomed me, "Hel..llo.... Pop...py...., I really like to call your name Pop....py.. (with a stress on the "Pop"). 
Unlike the other leader figures, she was seen as a real leader, exemplary. She was an iron-handed woman. From her I learned to be able to establish myself, be strong, and be resilient. She taught me how a teacher should act and behave (in school of course), to be an example for students, she also taught how we deal with parents so that teachers were not regarded as baby sitters ;).
She was different from other female leaders. For me ... she had a dominant masculine. The nature that matches as a leader. She was very firm, but still has compassion. One of the things she did to show that nature was... when she called me into her office because there was one thing to say about my work that must be repaired, after which she also gave a wedding gift for me (since I’d just got married at the time). It was something beyond my expectations, and so made me moved. 
The most memorable thing for me is, as a doctorate in linguistics, she knew how to use her knowledge. For example ... she will use the English language level appropriate to the Indonesian that she talked to. Immediately she will change the way she spoke when talking to an expatriate or a person who was fluent in English, at the same time. 
One of the things she had ever said during the training I had attended was that as an educator, we can also as a counselor for our students. So that our students do not need a special time that made them reluctant to come to the counselor's office. This is what I am still trying to learn. 
Many things I want to learn from her. How lucky I was, that I've ever worked with her. A person who also had helped me shape my personality. Hopefully I can take a lot of knowledge from her, to show our competence through our behavior.
Goodbye, Dr. Anula Samuel, a lot of memories that linger in my heart, good or bad, even though we only met for two years. May you rest in peace there. God bless you. 


Dr. Anula Samuel who I knew was the Executive Principal of Singapore School (SIS) Kelapa Gading, SIS-Kebun Jeruk, In-House Consultant for those schools, and someone who served in ANPS Committee as a Chairperson. 
She contributed to education for over 40 years.