During the month of October, ETA Allison Cwikla from Temanggung, Central Java, officially began her first community engagement project. This project encompasses an effort to develop English skills and an interest in cross-cultural understanding with the young girls living and studying at the Pondok in Podomulyo, Allison’s homestay village. These young girls have provided Allison with endless smiles since her arrival in August, so she wanted to provide the girls with structured activities, in addition to their spontaneous playdates, in return. Once a week, Allison spends a morning providing the girls with an English lesson, and at least once a month, she hosts a cross-cultural activity.

In the spirit of Halloween, Allison held a pumpkin painting party for the Pondok girls while sharing her love of jumping in leaf piles. Throughout October, Allison and Pondok girls completed multiple English lessons about family and food. The new vocabulary was practiced while making and sharing a typical American family dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread, and a side salad. Allison and her nineteen new ‘little sisters’ look forward to the lessons and events this project will contain throughout the following seven months.

Allison Cwikla is currently teaching at SMAN 1 Temanggung, Central Java