ADS Feature Story (2003)

Once it published in the ADS and AusAID website, I was congratulating Ilham & Queena and Taufiq, as their support, love and.... that their picture was also on the internet!!!. See at http://www.kangguru.org/aussiealumni.htm


From Miracle to Another Miracle
Nina Kurnia Dewi born in Pekalongan, Central Java,18 May 1971. Graduated from Agroindustrial Technology, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) in 1993, she was awarded an Australian Development Scholarship to pursue further study at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and completed her MBA on December 2002. Mother of two, Nina now is working as Credit Monitoring Manager at one of the state owned companies (Perum Sarana Pengembangan Usaha) in Jakarta, where she coordinates all of the credit monitoring activities, controls the credit performance and solves non-performing loan problems.
It was a kind of day dream for me when in 1999 I was thinking to continue my study. Master degree? In Australia? No. No way, that's impossible. Australia is too far. Too expensive. I was not even able to fund my postgraduate study in my hometown Jakarta.
At that time, I was just an ordinary employee in one of the state owned companies in Jakarta. I wanted to further my education but there was neither allowance nor subsidy from my office for that purpose. It was also a dream to finance the study using my own income.

The opportunity to study arose when the ADS Office in Jakarta advertised the scholarships in the media. Under the Australian Government's Aid program (AusAID), ADS gave the chance for Indonesians to continue their study in a Master or Phd Program in Australia. The advertising was published in newspapers and throughout government departments in the country. The applicants had to pass some selection steps to get the scholarship.
Without any delay, I joined the ADS selection process. By fulfilling all requirements, I was invited to take some further tests here in Jakarta. After passing the first selection (English test) and having some interviews, I was selected as one of the ADS awardees. Yes! I was successful… Oh, God…. This is a miracle.
Before starting a six-month English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course at IALF in Jakarta, I found that I was pregnant with my first son. The doctor said that I was four months pregnant. Now confusion set in. Apart from my health, I was worried by one big question: whether it was better to bring my baby to Australia or leave him in Indonesia. But, you know it wasn't easy for a new mother like me to make such a decision. In the end, my son won: I decided to postpone the scholarship. Fortunately, ADS allowed me to defer my EAP.
In May 2000, I started my English Course in IALF Jakarta. Six months was enough time to prepare myself with English skills as well as making some good friendship with ADS fellows. I had a score of 7 in IELTS and I got a place in the MBA Program at The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane Australia. For this reason, I departed on 16 January 2001 to continue my study.
My husband, Taufiq, after deciding that joining me in Australia would give him some added value to his life, resigned from his job and followed me. He came with my beloved son, Ilham who was 20 months old. Taufiq planned to have some Australian experience, including working and or studying in an Australian university.
We were struggling to survive in Brisbane in the early months in 2001. In the university life, I had to adjust to Australian culture in the class. I learnt how to be brave enough to express my opinion, to be an active person in discussions, to share some international experiences and aspirations, to be able to work in a group, to be able to appreciate differences among people in the group and even learnt how to stay patiently in the long queue to get something.
Life was a bit hard there, but it was really beautiful. I enjoyed everything in Australia. I had to finish my housework early in the morning, then drop Ilham at child-care and attend some classes or go to the library. Taufiq was busy improving his English and finding a job.
In the end of July 2002, I passed all of the courses in my first semester in UQ, Taufiq got a job as a cleaner and Ilham was an English-speaking boy who was always happy and enjoyed his Australian child-care.
The first year in Brisbane went by. Taufiq decided to continue his master's degree with his own money and was granted some exemptions from Griffith University. We sold our car in Jakarta, and Taufiq worked hard to make his master's degree come true.
I finished my second semester with improved grades in every course. Life was really beautiful in Australia. We enjoyed ourselves and did not have any big problem adapting with the Australian environment. We settled down.
Starting the second year in 2002, we decided to have a sibling for Ilham. I was pregnant and felt happy with all of my activities at the university and at home. There were problems during my my pregnancy, but Australian doctors and hospitals were very helpful. I was cared for well. On 11th September 2002, I delivered my second baby, by Caesarian operation in Royal Women Hospital, Brisbane. A beautiful miracle for me and all my family. We named her Queena Nabila, a girl that was born in Queensland where both parents were studying.
Whilst caring for Queena, I still had to attend the university to finish my last semester. Three more subjects to go. Finally, I passed all my courses and got my MBA degree in 18 December 2002. Taufiq had finished his Master of Banking and Finance at the same time. Ilham was 3.5 years old, a bilingual boy who loved to jump and sing. Queena was a 3 month-old little girl and ready for her first flight.
On 19 December 2002, we all went home to Jakarta with a bunch of our happy Australian memories. The Australian miracles were completed. Thank you Australian Development Scholarship.
Story written by Nina Kurnia Dewi, former ADS awardee.