The teachers shared stories at Halal Bi-halal with Sanggar Fortune

In 2013, FORU officially opened another Sanggar Fortune Nursery School (PAUD). Now, FORU’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) manages three Nursery Schools, namely Sanggar Fortune 1 in Pondok Pinang, Sanggar Fortune 2 in Ragunan, and the other one in Lenteng Agung that was just inaugurated in July 16.  In order to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the whole administrators and teachers from all Sanggar Fortune were invited and met each other for the first time in the ritual of Halal Bi-halal in Agus Salim room, Gedung Galaktika, on August 20, 2013.

Also present at the event were FORU Main Director, Indra Abidin, Director, Muljadi Sulaeman, Fortune Indonesia CEO, Aris Boedihardjo, Corporate Secretary, Indira Abidin, Corporate Legal Manager, Nurfurqan, Corporate Communications team, and Yayasan Asih as fostering institution of Sanggar Fortune.

Opening the event was Indra Abidin’s welcome speech. Indra stated that Sanggar Fortune program is a form of Fortuners’ (employees) commitment to work at their best to bring the greatest possible benefits for the community. “This is our support to develop the intelligence of the children in the neighboring community. Who knows one of them is our future president.  If it is indeed, then it will be a form of our religious service,” Indra explained.  “We hope that by means of this meeting, we can exchange experiences and improve ourselves,” Indra said. To represent the company, he also closed his speech with a thank you and an apology.

After the speech , there was an introductory session for the entire administrators and teachers of Sanggar Fortune, followed by lunch and sharing session led by Indira Abidin. They shared stories about the latest developments of each Sanggar Fortune. PAUD Fortune in Pondok Pinang, for example, is now independently managed to increase the number of students to more than 60 children!

“Previously, we had about 40 students. Since posting banners is not allowed, all we can do is to provide the best facilities and qualified management team at the most reasonable cost. Thank goodness, our efforts have yielded fruitful results. Thanks to word-of-mouth promotion, now many parents from other RW (neighborhood councils) enroll their children in droves in our nursery school,” explained Marsiati, one of the nursery school teachers of PAUD Fortune Pondok Pinang.” We are pleased to be able to continue to pass on the benefits to the community despite having separated from FORU’s foster program. Yet, we hope FORU employees can routinely visit and become teachers in our classes because, frankly, that is what we miss the most,” Marsiati said, laughing.

In this ‘sharing session’, the administrators and teachers of Sanggar Fortune also shared tips to overcome common challenges faced in managing Sanggar Fortune. Including challenges in communication between teachers and principals. Responding to the discussion, Indira Abidin shared Covey’s seven strategies of effective communication. They are to be proactive, focus on goals, put first things first, think of win- win solution, listen first before speaking, increase cooperation, and sharpen the skills in doing the six tips to make them habits.

“If you take a close look, successful people usually have good communication skills. “That’s why it is important for us all to understand the techniques of communication.  The biggest problem in communication is opinion differences. But we must remember that all things in this world can actually be seen from two different sides. So, do not blame others or feel self-righteous because the most important thing is to find the best solution for the betterment of all parties,” said Indira.

After the event, Sarwandi, the Head of PAUD Ragunan, expressed his excitement. “It is a great joy to be invited to gather with the teachers of all nursery schools in FORU foster program and also with the leaders of FORU. It is a rare opportunity to meet with them. From the sharing session at the meeting, I got lots of lessons from both the PAUD administrators and Ibu Indira. I infinitely thank FORU for showing concern for the education of the younger generation, our future leaders,” said Sarwandi who just graduated three of his students.

The Head of PAUD Lenteng Agung, Sum Purwaningsih, was equally enthusiastic. “The meeting with the teachers of all PAUD in FORU foster program is really worthwhile. We can get insights from the experiences of PAUD administrators. It will be even more interesting if we can conduct a comparison study to each PAUD,” she commented. “Currently, we are hosting a meeting with parents to discuss education at home,” she added.