Australian Consulate - General In Bali Hosted An Iftar Event With Bridge Program Schools In Bali

DENPASAR - The Australian Consulate-General in Bali hosted an iftar event with SMA Muhammadiyah 1 Denpasar
and MI Karakter Mutiara Bunda Denpasar on Wednesday, 12 April 2023. These two schools are part of the Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing Engagement (BRIDGE) School Partnerships Program in Bali. 

The Consulate-General held the event to celebrate the month of Ramadhan, and to strengthen positive relationships with schools that are part of the BRIDGE program in Bali.

The BRIDGE School Partnerships Program was launched in 2008 and is a flagship program of the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) and the Asia Education Foundation (AEF) and supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). To date, the BRIDGE program has collaborated with 200 Australian-Indonesian schools and involved more than 800 Australian and Indonesian teachers.

The BRIDGE program is an innovative education program that establishes school partnership: between Australian and Indonesian school communities. The program builds educators' professional knowledge, capabilities and skills, and students collaborate on projects, practise language skills and develop lifelong friendships with their partner school.

In her remarks at the iftar event, the Australian Consul-General in Bali, Anthea Griffin, said, "The holy month of Ramadhan is a time for people from all over the world to come together in a spirit of unity and friendship. Australia is a nation proud of our diverse heritage, a nation that brings together people from across the world, a nation that shares common ground with so many of the world's peoples, This is in line with the aims of the BRIDGE program, which in Bahasa Indonesia can be translated to 'program jembatan'. I hope that the BRIDGE program will become a 'jembatan' that brings Indonesia and Australia
even closer together and strengthens our already deep ties".

Muhammadiyah 1 Denpasar High School joined the BRIDGE program in 2009 and has partnered with Southern Christian College in Tasmania. MI Karakter Bunda Mandiri joined the program in 2021, in partnership with Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School in Queensland, Victoria. This year also marks 70 years since the first cohort of Colombo Plan Indonesia scholarship recipients arrived in Australia. Today, Australia has more than 200, 000 alumni in Indonesia, including senior government and business leaders.

To celebrate this milestone year, the Australian Embassy and Consulates-General will be hosting a variety of events to celebrate the achievements of our existing alumni, and to promote the Australian Global Alumni program to a new generation of scholars. (Team)