All of our team gathered in Surakarta, Centra Java on December 12-14 to share lessons learned from the year. The first day started with a discussion in which we all shared stories from our work in the field, planned ahead for 2020, as well as learned a lot from the special training that was led by the Finance team.

The three days in Surakarta were both fun and beneficial for the team. The CTC team and one of our supervisory board members went around the city by Jaladara Train, enjoying the traditional culture of Surakarta. Known as one of the centers for Batik, we all visited the Danar Hadi museum of Batik in Surakarta and were amazed by the collection of 1000’s of ancient batik as well as learned a lot about many types and patterns of Batik, a big part of the traditional culture of Indonesia. To experience the art of making Batik, we all got the chance to join a Batik class. Mad, CTC’s Government Relations and Outreach Specialist said that “I found that making Batik is not easy, it is difficult to move the wax so I think we are lucky having this cultural heritage in Indonesia.”

Surakarta, as one of the historical cities in Central Java, has lots of historical sites like Pura Mangkunegaran, an old palace of Raden Mas Said, known as Pangeran Sambernyawa, that is now open to the public. In Pura Mangkunegaran we were taught the traditional dance of Surakarta, the Bondoboyo dance for men and Gambyong dance for women. The day was closed by practicing Javanese Gamelan at RumahKoe where we all played a different instrument. We are now recharged and ready to take on the year ahead. “Let’s keep together as a team and all dream together, if we continue with this passion we can really do the impossible and save the ocean together!” said Rili Djohani, CTC’s Executive Director.