The Story of a Psychology Student from the University of Jambi in Germany

My name is Ralph Oliver Narado, one of the KSE scholarship recipients at the University of Jambi since 2022. I would like to share one of the valuable experiences I had during my studies. At the end of 2023, I participated in a programme that took me on an adventure I could never have imagined before. I took part in a Work & Study Abroad programme held in Germany during the winter for three months, from October to December 2023. This programme is a collaboration between Jambi University and the German Internship Programme organiser.

Long story short, it took a lot of effort and sacrifice to participate in this programme, including lengthy paperwork, from applying for a passport and visa to departure. Honestly, I don’t consider this a major achievement because the programme covered all paperwork costs with financial assistance from the university. I departed for Germany on 11 October from Jakarta, then flew to Abu Dhabi, and finally landed in Munich. The return journey followed the same route on 30 December. I only had the determination plus enough money to survive for one month, which was equivalent to my KSE scholarship for one month. I relied on the food supplies I brought and the cheapest whole wheat bread as my daily meals to survive for one month until I received my first salary the following month.

I and ten of my friends were placed at a company that manages a food canning and convenience food factory, which is the largest and most advanced factory in Germany, namely Buss Fertiggeritche GmbH, located in a rural area called Ottersberg, about 150 km from the nearest city, Bremen, Lower Saxony. The ten of us worked officially on a three-month contract with a salary of around €8 per day. We worked as production assistants/food production workers, or more simply as helpers to assist the shift leaders in food production.

I worked with my friend for 5 days a week for 3 months, with 8-hour working days. Each day, I had different job descriptions. Each job description was rotated based on the position needed to operate the food production machines. The factory consisted of 11 lines/rows of machines, each row producing different foods and each row staffed by four to five workers, consisting of a team leader and helpers. During the three months, I had many job descriptions that I worked on most in the factory, including controlling forklifts and carrying hundreds of kilograms of food ingredients, operating canning machines, quality control of production results, and helping if there were any machine problems. In this factory, I not only worked but was also taught various ways to solve every problem efficiently. My team leader relied on me more than my colleagues because I was always eager to learn and willing to take on challenging tasks with high risks. Some of my German colleagues also appreciated my fast work compared to other workers. However, it wasn’t all positive; I was often scolded by my team leader for failing to complete a task. But through trial and error, I was able to do everything according to instructions very well. One thing I have learned from my work is that every problem can be solved efficiently using the right techniques and tools.