Australia-Indonesia Youth to Live in Riau Communities

Australian and Indonesian participants of the Australia-Indonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP) will commence this week the Indonesian component of their exchange program, which provides an opportunity to live and work in communities in Pekanbaru and Rokan Hulu in Riau province.

Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires to Indonesia, Paul Robilliard, warmly welcomed the participants to Indonesia and was confident their experience would provide them with increased cultural understanding and lifelong friendships.

“This exciting and successful exchange program will continue to help develop longstanding and enduring relationships between Australia and Indonesia,” he added.

During their time in Riau province, the participants will be invited to live with host families in the village of Rambah Hilir Tengah and work with them to develop and implement a community development project. They plan to also organise interactive cultural performances and English teaching and sporting activities with local schoolchildren.

Indonesian participants have just concluded the Australian part of the program which involved a two-month home stay and work placement program in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

One of the Indonesian AIYEP participants, Nur Fitriani, spent much of her time in Australia at Adelaide’s La Fevre Peninsula Primary School learning about the Australian education system and how teachers interact with their students.

“Australian education appeared to be a rewarding and active learning process where students felt recognised not only for their academic achievements, but also their extracurricular achievements. It was such a valuable learning experience and I look forward to putting some of what I learnt to practice in the future”, Fitriani said.

AIYEP is an annual program promoting people-to-people links between Australians and Indonesians and is managed by the Australia-Indonesia Institute and the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sport.

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