Cast Away (Part I): The Beginning

Hi Folks!

As you all know, I'm a college student. And as a college student, I do everything that i have to do in order to get me out of college (by means of graduation of course). For Universitas Islam Indonesia student, it happens that there is this activity called KKN (Kuliah Kerja Nyata) in which student are obliged to take if they want to graduate.

The definiton of KKN itself, varies. If you asked The Old Dudes in the university ,which is the organizer of the whole program, they would say that KKN is a program in which UII Student would have to serve their community. Since in KKN student are being diseminated in villages or any remote areas, this definition is somehow...sad but true. However, the people in the village would see it differently. They would see KKN as a big help (in anyway they see what "help" is) or they would see it as something annoying. As for the UII Student, I believe that they still cannot exactly make a proper definition of what KKN is. Is KKN an obstacle or a challenge? is it something worth your 1 months or is it a waste of time? is it something fun or stupid? Confussion is normal since they're not there yet (at least I'm not there yet). Like it or not, this is something we have to do.

Now why the hell am I writing all this? It all started this morning. Today is the day when everything starts. We are not sent to the village yet, but some meetings were arranged so that we kinda get the idea of what's ahead of us. To make it simple, the village where I'm going to conduct the KKN is in Samigaluh, Kulonprogo, a mountainous area, 2 hours drive with motorcycle from jogja, people work as logger (based on the reports), lots of financial debt, thank God there's water and electricity, and the whole nine yards. That is my condition. KKN are divided in a lot of units (mine is 8), some enjoys better condition than me, and so unfortunate for those who will experienced worst condition. The whole point is that I will experienced something different for the next (averagely) 45 days. Meeting new friends, new society, in a new environment. It would be such a waste to let it all dissapeared when this program is over. I'm thinking that I would write down everything that I experienced everyday, writing down about everything that I see and my opinions for that particular moments. Will my KKN be fun? don't really especting that...but If KKN should be taken seriously and fun at the same time, then writing is the best way to do it.

I'll try to write this story everyday. Due to the lack of internet connection in the place where I'm heading, I will not be able to update the article everyday. I'll write it down in papers first (I hope that writing in papers is not considered as a sin by the local behaviour), and give updates as soon as I get my hands on internet connection. Depending on my mood,I'll write it down in English or Bahasa Indonesia. I will not write it in Hyrogliph because I don't have the font. The stamina of my eyes and fingers would also be a consideration on how much article that I'll post later on.

Will it be usefull? I believe so.

It would be a kind of Journal for me. It will help me track recording my activities there. FYI, KKN students are obliged to make reports in the end, this story will help me remember lots of things. I see some movie where the story reolving around someone's note, so if shit happens to me, this note could be turned into a movie :lol: .And to imagine if I manage to write one article everyday, it would be a 45 new articles on my blog^^

As for those who hasn't take the KKN, this story would serve as an image of what you will experienced. There is Regular and Extension type of KKN. I'm taking the Regular one. Lots of people see that this is the worst type that you can drag yourself into (damn, what am I thinking). It's faster than the extension type, but it is so much farther and you have to stay there for about 30 days. So the things that i write might be the worst case scenario which is perfect for the future preparation (I mean, if everything is perfect, how prepared it is that you need to be?) I really hope that my story be useful to such people.

For those comrades of mine, who is also taking the KKN now, you could compare my story and yours. Let's see who has better program (and luck). If it turns out that you are more lucky than me, feel free to pity me and laugh. But if it's the other way around, go laugh at yourself...KKN should be done in a fun way anyway^^

for the others...well, let's just see this as a story of mine:D


2 comments:

@Ma2t0 said...

Don't worry Gung!
KKN will be so much fun I bet
Working and getting in touch with local society is interesting. I have experienced it several time through work camp. You will get a lot of advantages if you really do it well.

agung prasetyo said...

yeah, seeing a whole new stuffs an excitement for me:D and I'm still enjoying the whole process up until now..
My biggest concern is about the distance between jogja and the village. Such distance will create a problem technically...but a problems are always something good to write isn't it?