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Teaching the
Children
A
Yogyakarta
Islamic boarding school has been home for an American teacher in the
past year. Away from the pompous politico speak of winning hearts and
minds, he has made friends and helped break down stereotypes,
Cameron Broadhurst says.
 It is 3 p.m., but
they have already been up since
3:30 in the morning. Now the young boys are milling around in
front of the mosque before afternoon prayers. Suddenly a stranger
appears cutting a long shadow in their midst.
“Mr. Lee! Mr. Lee!” they shout, “How are you?”
Yes, it’s an American in the madrasah. Here at the Islamic community
Pesantren Sunan Pandanaran, half an hour outside
Yogyakarta, 29-year-old Lee Becker from
Colorado is getting
set for afternoon English lessons.
In the world of expat professions, the job of teacher in a Madrasah
Aliya, or Islamic high school, has to be one of the more exceptional.
It is just the change Becker was looking for when he and his wife left
behind the humdrum of software programming in the U.S. for the great
unknown of Indonesia. That was 10 months ago. Now, Becker is close to
the end of his work in a Muslim community with more than 1,100
students and around 100 staff.
“When I got here they didn’t know what to do, they just said ‘Go to
class! Go to class!’” he laughed.
The excitement of the early days, when Becker arrived as the first
foreigner to teach at the school, has given way to a deeper ongoing
experience.
“Being a foreigner felt very removed before, but over time I’ve made
friends for life,” he said.
 After 9/11 the
U.S.
government earmarked US$50 million for Islamic boarding schools in
Indonesia in an effort to promote moderate Islam, although the
non-profit organization that Becker is with, Via, receives no
government money. Some of the staff at Sunan Pandanaran talked of
their concerns about the negative image of the schools in the U.S. But
the question of perception cuts both ways. Many of the staff admitted
their previous perceptions of the U.S. were based on Hollywood movies
and news media.
“American people are not as bad as I thought,” said English teacher
Rustiyadi. “We’ve learnt a lot about culture and social relationships
in America.”
Fellow English teacher Fany Rifqoh agreed. “I thought Americans were
cruel. I thought America was a big power who can fight everyone. But
America
is not like that.”
Personal compliments from the teachers ranged from Mr. Lee’s
punctuality to his study of Javanese culture. The students just called
him handsome.
Inspired to come to
Indonesia
by his three-year study of the indigenous martial art pencak
silat, Becker is now in the curious position of teaching it to
Indonesian kids. But other aspects of working in the school have
proved challenging. Becker said he was at first shocked by the
segregation of the sexes that is rigorously practiced (with boys and
girls separated at all times and even staff splitting in two for
assemblies).
Kids were timid in speaking English, and their hard routine sometimes
saw them fall asleep in class. At times he felt the staff expected him
to be “a miracle worker”.
 But after nearly a year here, the feel of the place has sunk in.
“I gained an appreciation of religion. They treat each other like
brothers and sisters more than classmates.”
The mood shows – sometimes his students ask him why he walks around
smiling so much.
“Every day is
something new,” he enthused. “It’s so refreshing! These kids, they
keep you feeling very young.”
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