Thursday 21 September 2006

A lot of the people who send me e-mails have asked me: "Ludo, can you give us further details on your lectures?", "How can you make yourself understood in Indonesia if you don’t speak their language?", "Do they pay you for the lectures?", "How do you get in contact with institutions?", "What do you talk about when you talk to children?", "Are they interested in your adventure ?", "Is it a positive thing for them to speak with a foreigner?"... There are a lot of questions on this; I will try to give an answer in this article.

The other reason for writing this article is that I am in Aceh right now, an area devastated by the tsunami occurred on December 26, 2004. I am staying at an NGO based in the little island of Sabang, north of the city of Banda Aceh, the devastated provincial capital. When I asked to the NGO director if I could help in some way, he said: "Ludovic, the best way to help us is by visiting all the schools in the island and giving a presentation on your adventure; that way, youngsters will have the chance to interact with someone from abroad. Helping us with our activities would require a commitment of several months". I perfectly understood this point of view. Since I take pleasure in sharing my adventure with other people, I visited, one after another, all the schools of the island, in order to get in contact with students of the region.

How do you organize your lectures?

I prepare some lectures from one day to another, from the moment I get in contact with someone who knows somebody in a school: "A friend of mine is making a tour of the world by hitchhiking, he has given lectures in several schools; do you wish him to give a lecture to your students?", "Why not?, tell him to come Monday at 9 am"... Organizing things that way is somewhat usual in Indonesia, quite different from the western World, where everything requires preparation and structure; but there is far less flexibility in last-minute scheduling. In North America and Australia, I used to organize most of my lectures days or weeks before. Anyway, whenever possible I try to organize my lectures beforehand. I use this PDF document; you can download it here. A very useful document, it allows me not to repeat myself all the time.

Do they pay you for the lectures?

While my lecture tours in North America and Australia were a means to finance the rest of my adventure, it is not the case in Asia. Here, I give all the lectures completely for free. It would be awkward to ask for money in schools with scare resources, schools that barely manage to give a decent education to the children.

What do you talk about in lectures?

Whenever I give a lecture, I try to adapt myself to the audience. Obviously, you cannot talk to 8-year-old students about things you talk to 70-year-old Rotarians.

My Power Point presentation (that I give mainly to adults or to students with some level of education) has 2 parts. In the first one, I talk about my adventure, some of my experiences, and give a summary of the tour of the world by hitchhiking. In the second part, I treat other subjects like world poverty, fair trade or global warming.

Below, some photos of the lecture I gave at the Singapore American School. Since students had a good level of knowledge, I gave them the entire presentation.

However, in some cases I prefer to emphasize interaction with students rather than give the classic presentation of my tour of the world. For many students, this is the first time in their life they talk to a foreigner; they are far more interested in interacting with me than in listening to a lecture about a world they don’t know. Thus, my lectures turn sometimes into English lessons (children introduce themselves in English and say a few words to the class), geography lessons (I explain them how to locate France an the continents in the world map; I compare the number of people in their class with the size of the population in their village, their country and the world to make them conscious of the immensity around them, etc...), informatics lessons (I explain them the basics of the Internet, how it works and why it is so useful... most children have never heard about it before)... I also explain them summarily my tour of the world and why I decided to embark in this adventure. Hitchhiking is barely known in Indonesia, so I explain them the concept and why I like to travel this way.

I also try to give them messages of tolerance, acceptance, fulfillment of dreams, openness and respect for the environment.

Sometimes they sing me songs...

...and I give them gifts financed by the NGOs...

When a video projector and a screen are available, I present them "slide shows" that I create on my notebook, showing them my favorite photos, taken since January 1st 2003. If there is no screen, children can see photos directly from my notebook (see photos, below).

During my trip through Indonesia, I also gave lectures at some Islamic organizations, among them the renowned "Al-Azhar" University. Questions following the lecture were quite interesting and reflected a variety of concerns on the relationship between Islam and the Western world. I had to answer to some delicate questions like: "is it true there is a growing fear of Islam in Europe?", "Why has France forbidden the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in public schools?", "If I go to France and wear the headscarf, is there a risk for me? Will people mistrust me?", "is the cohabitation between Islam and Christendom possible in Europe?", "Is it true that if I go to Europe or the United States it will be difficult for me to find a job just because of my Arab name and because I wear the headscarf?", "Why did the Pope talk against Islam recently? ¿What do you think about the Middle East situation? will you go there?"... Interesting questions that reveal a wish to understand the world changes and how Islam is viewed in other regions of the planet. Definitely, a positive conversation.

Below, photos taken with Muslim students.

How do children react?

In the vast majority of schools I went to, it was the first time children had the opportunity to interact with a foreigner. Thus, it was a big responsibility for me, because children are prone to generalize. Unfortunately, not too many foreigners are eager to go to schools and share their experiences, although it’s all the schools ask for. Children are thrilled by this new experience; they often come to shake hands with me and ask for an autograph as the presentation ends. This is not because of my tour the world but because I am different to everything they have seen so far. Below, some photos.

Children following a lecture...

A group of adorable girls...

Thumbs up...

I strongly recommend to all world travelers to prepare a presentation about their experiences or about their country or region, and share it with organizations, especially schools. Believe me, it is an enriching experience not only for children but also for you; teachers will deeply thank you... they know it can be a starting point in getting children interested in new subjects.

How do you make yourself understood?

I think my Indonesian improved quite a bit after three months. However, I don’t feel able to give a lecture in that language. In general, I try to find an Indonesian who speaks English more or less fluently to serve as an interpreter.

Below, photos with teachers who helped me with translations...

Good bye.

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