Graduation 2016 at the Nursing School

On August 9th, the Nursing School held its 2016 graduation ceremony. 47 students graduated. 40 from this year and 7 from last year who had to make up some of their classes. As you can imagine graduation is a formal ceremony with lots of pomp and circumstance. It technically is convened as a Nursing School Senate meeting, or council meeting. Also those participate in the ceremony and graduating dress up a lot - so much so - I sometimes have a hard time recognizing them! The ladies spend hours in the morning doing their make-up and getting their hair done, usually with extra hair added to create quite the up-do. So here is the graduation in pictures...

It starts with a traditional Dyak tribal dance performed by younger students

We all stand for the entrance of the flags and the graduates

The Senate members enter and sit at the front

Dr. Kristiyan (Nursing School director and also our hospital's Ob/Gyn) opens the graduation ceremony

Three students representing the three religions of those in our graduating class go forward to take the nursing pledge. We usually have three of the six religions recognized in Indonesia represented in each class. They include Muslim, Protestant, and Catholic. 

The rest of the class also repeats the nursing pledge. 

Then short (we hope!) speeches are given by several government officials. This the Chairman that runs the Board responsible for the four ministries including Bethesda Hospital, Bethesda Nursing School, PKMD (Village Health Program), and MedGo 

The fifth and final speech is made by the Bupati, the man responsible for our Kabupaten (county). He is an elected official who is responsible for a large area and budget. 

Awards for the top three students in the class

The valedictorian, Eunice, gave a speech

Post ceremony comes picture time! This is one with all the graduates plus teachers and staff at the Nursing School. FYI Indonesian custom has you not smile during photos like this :) 

Several teachers and staff together after the ceremony. It is a chance to get dressed in your best :) 

After the ceremony and pictures, the invited guests and government officials eat together. This is separate from the graduates and the families.

I do wish the families were more involved in the ceremony. They have worked hard to get their student through the program and many have had to sacrifice a lot to pay for it. This year I attended as an invited guest, maybe next year I will be up for attending as one of the teachers/staff, which means leaving early in the morning and returning late in the afternoon. We are a small school, so they are in charge of set-up and take-down of everything and they all get dressed and do their make-up together. First though I will need to get a kebaya (the long tops the ladies are wearing) sewn. So that is something to look forward to next year. I should also thank my teammate for the majority of these pictures and the video. As an honored guest, he was sitting farther forward than I was, so was able to get a better view.

Next up for these 47 graduates will be a nursing board exam held sometime in September. To work in a hospital or with the government they must pass this test. The test is new in the last three years so still a work in progress and quite difficult to pass. Please be praying for them as they take their test and transition to the workforce or consider further education to get their bachelor's degree in nursing.

(This is one of those blog posts with a lot of pictures and a video. If you are reading this in your email chances are you will not be able to see everything, especially the video. If you click on the link to read the post on the blog itself, it will all be accessible)

A Happy Birthday

How can it already be that time of year again - time to celebrate another birthday?! As an adult, birthdays are different but I have to say this year it was more like being a kid. I got spoiled from beginning to end and thanks to the time difference, beginning to end lasted several days :) I am so thankful for a team that knows that sometimes the days that should be the happiest can be the toughest when you are far from my family and friends back home. So they kept me busy, kept me laughing, and made me feel loved. So my birthday in pictures and videos...

It actually started the night before, when our expat Serukam team got together for dinner to celebrate our two July birthdays. 

A cake for the two team members with July Birthdays. Ignore the fact that the banner caught on fire before we could blow out the candles :) 

Then came a yummy birthday morning breakfast from my teammate. I was busy Skyping with my parents and grandparents when she brought it by. 

Then it was off to the Nursing School office for at least part of the day. Here the birthday guy or gal supplies their own treats for the office staff. This year I had my helper make cinnamon rolls with frosting. They were a hit! But first the birthday gal had to give a little speech. I talked about how much I felt like the staff was becoming part of my family and I felt honored and privileged to work with them. I also mentioned several prayer requests. Then it was time for the birthday song. I should mention that this is the end of the academic year, we are all tired and busy (you can see the graduation invitations we were all busy folding in stacks on the table), and oh the camera didn't record the first time so they did it again for me so it could be recorded :) 

This is the traditional Christian Indonesian birthday song they are singing. Translated it means this:

I wish you happy birthday, my dear sister

I wish you happy birthday, may Jesus Christ bless you

I always pray for you

That you'll always stay faithful

To serve Jesus Christ as your Father & King

And I thank Him for your life

That He guided your steps

For you my dear one

I wish you happy birthday

Then we prayed together for the things I had mentioned in my speech. 

And then we ate cinnamon rolls :) 

After lunch I headed to our nearby town (one hour away by car) of Singkawang with the Underhill Family, my other teammates. We enjoyed some shopping, dinner at KFC and then a movie in the newish theater in town. It was my first time to a movie theater in a long time! 

We got to watch Jason Bourne before it opened in the U.S. :) 

I should say the guys (and me) enjoyed this movie but their youngest kiddo and mom went to see the new Ice Age

We didn't get home till late and it took me days to respond to all the Facebook, What's App, email etc greetings. In fact I still have some emails I think I need to respond to. Plus the birthday gifts are still arriving :) All in all it was a good birthday!