The Lestari Widyastuti Scholarship

Late in 2007, after the untimely death of our good friend Lestari Widyastuti there was some talk of setting up a scholarship in her name. ACICIS has been working on this idea and we are now in the process of setting up THE LESTARI WIDYASTUTI SCHOLARSHIP.

We hope to raise money to endow the scholarship with sufficient funds so that the interest each year is enough to pay the tuition fees of an Indonesian student studying at UGM. Using only the interest and not the principal will ensure that the scholarship continues in perpetuity.

Applicants for the scholarship would be Indonesian students from a poor economic background, who had a good academic performance in their first year at UGM, and whose degree has some relevance to Indonesia-Australia relations. The student would be expected to maintain a connection to ACICIS, such as becoming a tutor to a new ACICIS student or a volunteer guide (pendamping) during orientation. The heads of relevant jurusan, such as Hubungan Internasional and Bahasa Inggris, would be invited to sit on a selection committee for the scholarship, along with the ACICIS Resident Director and a nominee from the ACICIS alumni family.

The Scholarship will be administered and managed by Direktorat Kemahasiswaan UGM. They are very enthusiastic to participate in this worthy venture, and they already oversee the selection of scholarship candidates and disbursement of funds for many scholarships at UGM. As such they have lists of potential candidates from whom recipients of the scholarship may be chosen. They maintain data on student background (mampu/kurang mampu) and the grade point averages (GPA) of possible candidates. We hope to have an article about each scholarship winner on the ACICIS website. There will be a small ceremony each year for the awarding of the scholarship, to which members of Lestari’s family will be invited. Lestari’s family have expressed their support for the scholarship idea and are overwhelmed at the feelings of warmth coming from Australia for the memory of Lestari.

It is suggested that the extent of the scholarship per student be restricted to tuition fees which are currently Rp. 3,880,000 a year. At current rates this is around AUS$485 per year. The final amount in Australian dollars will vary according to the fluctuations of the exchange rate for Indonesian Rupiah.

The Jakarta Bintangs Australian Rules Football team have already started raising money. Many people never knew that Lestari was the chief talent scout and patron of the Yogyakarta School of Footballing Excellence (a branch of the Bintangs).

Anyone wishing to donate money to the Lestari Widyastuti Scholarship (any amount welcome, no matter how small) can send the money to ACICIS at Murdoch University. We will send you a receipt for your donation. Payment can be by cheque or money order payable to “Murdoch University – ACICIS”, or by credit card. The money will then be transferred by ACICIS to Direktorat Kemahasiswaan UGM.

Yoo.....Hoo.....We reached the target.....

2 May 2008 - I am very happy to tell you that donations have now passed the $8,000 mark. This is thge amount we calculated that we needed to generate sufficient interest to pay one student's fees at UGM. The latest count today shows A$8,760 in the bank, and there are still a couple of people who are yet to send in their donations. We are now in a position to send the money off to UGM to establish the Scholarship and I will be doing this very soon.

Donations

Donations have so far been received from Prof David Hill, David Armstrong, Kirrilee Hughes, Ben Clanchy, David Cook, Clare Harvey, Luke Arnold, Matt Zurstrassen, Alice Fenwick, Craig Furmage, Steve Girschik, Syakirah Hashim, Prof David Reeve, Sally McDonald, Erin McMahon, Jakarta Bintangs, Camille Beckingham, Rebecca Duffy, Catherine Mills, Yacinta Kurniasih, Prof Adrian Vickers, Claire Tatyzo, Traci Smith, Xeron Hood, Nic Parsons, Allison Zelkowitz, Rupert Banks, Marg Tatyzo, Sunanda Creagh, Martine Robins, Ray Webber, Kiran Hutchinson, Jessica Dunn, Paul Whitefield, Simon Nichols, Clare Kerley, Claire Harding, Robert Letchford, Nina Michaelides, Susan Cattermole.

Jakarta Bintangs

The Jakarta Bintangs report that on their recent trip to Yogya in late February they provided a small contribution of Rp 3 million directly to Lestari's sisters Wida and Yanti.  They have also donated a substantial amount to the Lestari Scholarship fund, and throughout the year will raise additional funds on top of that amount.  They also expect to provide more direct support to Wida and Yanti and to the scholarship fund as necessary in future years. What a warm hearted group of people.

May God bless you all for your generosity.