The Iftar Dinner, held at the office of the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) in Jakarta on July 16, succeeded to fortify the bonds between the two countries’ Fulbright alumni and grantees.

“The dinner was a great opportunity for (American) alumni still in Indonesia to connect with one another, which opens the door for collaborations and useful information sharing,” said Gordon LaForge, an alumnus of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Program.

Gordon was among dozens of American and Indonesian Fulbright alumni and grantees who attended the event.

Another Fulbright Alumni in the dinner, Dr. Nuning Purwaningrum Hallett, the Executive Director of Yayasan Diaspora Indonesia Global, suggested that AMINEF hold more events to connect Fulbright alumni.

“I would suggest having a one-day annual Fulbright alumni forum consisting sessions on inspiring talk, social networking and group discussion based on expertise or field of study,” she said.

AMINEF also organized a similar dinner in Yogyakarta on July 6 for Indonesian grantees set to depart for U.S. to start their study in 2015 fall term, as well as Indonesian Fulbright alumni and American grantees.

Arifah Mardiningrum, a current Fulbright grantee from Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta (UMY), expects AMINEF to hold other events such as a seminar, workshop, or voluntary programs for public.

Arifah, who gets a Master’s degree admission at Indiana University of Pennsylvannia, stated that such events would be good to strengthen alumni network in the region.

Reflecting on the success of the two dinners, AMINEF is now more committed to hold future activities to engage its Fulbright alumni.