Introduction to Ishaq
My full name is Muhammad Ishaq. My parents gave this name from name of two prophets, Prophet Muhammad and the son of Prophet Abraham. It can be said that my parents wanted their son to be a good person. I am the seventh of my family. My father’s name is H. Abdul Shamad and my mother’s name is Hj. Mardani. Both of them are still a life. I have seven brothers and one sister (the youngest in my family). My parents did not stop having baby unless they got a girl. All of them got married and have children. My parents got 25 grandchildren right now. It’s a big family. All the family members meet in my parent’s house in Pinrang every June at the school holidays. I have a wife and four children, three boys and one daughter.
I am 37 years in age and was born in a disctrict, called Pinrang, one of a district in South Sulawesi. Pinrang is only about 200 kilometers from Macassar. It takes 4 hours, more or less, traveling from Macassar to Pinrang by car. Pinrang is also the city where I was educated. I passed elementary school, junior high school and senior high school there. Furthermore, when I was in junior high school, I took an english course in a Boarding House, called Pesantren DDI in the afternoon with a native speaker from Australia who was an English teacher volunteer. His name was Robert Kingham. His method of teaching made me so motivated to study English. From that time, my dream of going to Australia, where my English teacher comes from started.
At the age of 19, I went to University. I chose Moslem University of Indonesia in Macassar. I studied Islamic in the Islamic Studies Faculty. Actually, I didn’t enjoy Islamic studies very much. I was just interested in studying English. So, I took an English course again with another English native speaker from Canada who was a volunteer in Faculty of Letters. His name is Christopher. He then changed his name when he converted to Islam become Abd. Karim. Finally, as an unmotivated student, I spent more than 5 years at university before graduating in 2004. I become an assistance lecturer of English at my campus for 2 years. Then I achieved to be a lecturer at my university in 1996. In order to fulfill a higher quality of education, then I continued my study at Postgraduate level in the same university and finished it in 1999.
In 2001, my dream comes true. I got an opportunity to be one of the fourteen participants from different region in Indonesia who attended a course on STDs, HIV, AIDS and Community Participation for about six months; three months at IALF Jakarta for Pre-Departure Training and three months in the Faculty of Medicine UNSW in Sydney, Australia. This program rose by IALF Jakarta and funded by AusAID. The course was very interesting course because improved my English as well as my knowledge and awareness of STDs, HIV, AIDS and community participation. Then I became a volunteer of HIV and AIDS campaign while I am still a lecturer at Moslem University of Indonesia. I have been involed in lots of activities in collaboration with NGO’s in Macassar from 2001 to 2007.
In early of September 2007, I become the program manager of LAPIS innovative program of Reproductive Health, HIV and AIDS Prevention through Madrasah Tsanawiyah in Macassar as part of the LAPIS innovative program. Three months later, it was a miracle. I had no idea, when I attended of LAPIS workshop in Jakarta I would meet Mr. Robert Kingham, who was my English teacher when I was a kid and who I admired very much. I have not met him since then and I hadn’t heard anything about him for more than 20 years. To my surprise, he is the Director of LAPIS. I told him that my English still need more improvement, then he informed me about LAPIS ELTIS program. I thought my desire of studying English rise again. I filled in the form, tried to meet all the requirements, and I am here now for about twelve weeks of ICELT studying to become a Master Trainer.