Dear DiscoverHover,

I’m Wiwi Rosaria, a teacher from SMA 1 Padang ( Senior High school), Indonesia. Please help us to find Sister Schools to develop our education.

Our beloved school, SMA 1 Padang is located at Jl. Sudirman No. 1 Padang, West Sumatra. It is located at the center of the city, and about 1 kilometer from Padang beach, and also close to the market. Our students are about 1100, consisting of 350 students (grade X), 450 students (grade XI), and 300 students (grade XII). They study from Monday to Friday, 07.15 a.m. to 12.20 p.m.

Our school is not large, but there are many excellent students. We have Acceleration Class, International class, and regular class. We have 20 classrooms, 4 laboratories (biology lab, physics lab, computer lab, chemistry lab); a multimedia room and a canteen for eating. Our computer laboratory has 25 computers with Pentium 4 processors, complete with Internet. Our school, established in 1950, is one of the historical buildings that must be preserved.

We have several curricular activities such as TOKI, ICOH, IMO, IBO, IPHO, Astronomy, Economics, and English Debates. Sometimes we go abroad for comparative study.

Our people are friendly. They like to get in touch with others or to share ideas. They usually discuss something in making decisions.

Our province, West Sumatra, is known as the land of the Minangkabau or Ranah Minang, and has a distinct culture which distinguishes it from the rest of the islands. We have many interesting places to be visited. There are many lands of scenic beauty with blue green lakes and mountains. Most prominent in the landscape are the horn-shaped roofs of the houses nestled in the coconut groves.

Geographically, Padang City is located along the coast of West Sumatra Indian Ocean. Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra has a 1.2 million population (2006), and is bounded in the north by the province of North Sumatra, in the west by the Indian Ocean, in the south by the provinces of Bengkulu and Jambi, and in the east by Riau province.

The land of Minangkabau is a unique place in all of Indonesia with a population of approximately 4.500.000 of which 85% are of Minangkabau ethnic origin and another 15% consisting of Javanese, Chinese, Arabic, Indians etc. My people are generally devout moslem people and practice their traditions firmly. Religion and tradition are woven into the way of life of the community. Minangkabau culture is matriarchal.

On the other hand, the tribal inhabitants of the Mentawai archipelago, a group of islands about 100 miles off the coast of west Sumatra, cling to a traditional agrarian lifestyle that is totally different from that of Minangkabau.

Padang, as the gateway of West Sumatra, has one harbour called Teluk Bayur and one airport named Bandara Internasional Minang Kabau. One form of unique transportation is “Bendi” (horse carriage). We can take this Bendi near the main market to going around some parts of the city. You will feel a quiet and relaxed tropical atmosphere around you when crossing the villages or busy seeing crowded streets in the heart of the city. One famous fruit from Padang is Bengkuang. It looks like a potato, but it’s white and according to some people this fruit has many advantages for our skin.

There are not many factories or big companies in Padang, but we have a famous cement factory called PT Semen Padang, located in Indaruang. This is the best quality cement (according to us!) Some people work as businessmen, civil servants, etc.

I do appreciate your responses to my email address, rhosharyo@yahoo.co.id

Respectfully,
Wiwi

For more information and photos, see Wiwi Rosaria’s Xanga site and the school’s web site.