 Pertama saya ucapkan terimakasih untuk Tuhan dan semua keluarga GMB. Bang Azwar Hasan dan para board member, selaku mentor.
Dahulu ketika mengikuti Youth Leaders Forum di Cibubur saya berencana untuk pulang lebih awal ke Bandung karena ada pekerjaan. Saat itu itu para board memberi saya dua pilihan. Pulang ke Bandung, maka saya akan kehilangan hak sebagai member GMB, atau tetap mengikuti kegiatan hingga selesai. Dua-duanya sulit. Akhirnya, daripada nanggung basah, saya memutuskan untuk sekalian basah semuanya. Saya mengikuti YLF sampai selesai. Jika memang dikeluarkan dari pekerjaan maka itu adalah resiko. Bla.. bla.. bla.. Berkat keputusan itu, saya bisa seperti sekarang. Satu hal yang tidak bisa saya pungkiri. Apa sih sumbangsihnya GMB? Karena GMB saya termotivasi menyelesaikan novelku. Dan itu luar biasa. Insya allah akan ada tiga buku juga kedepannya yang siap terbit. Kemudian apa lagi? Di umur yang ke 25 tahun, mulai 27 April 2016 alhamdulilah saya dinyatakan menduduki posisi Cluster Sales Manager di sebuah perusahaan telekomunikasi terbesar di Indonesia. Yang ditanyakan ketika wawancara adalah :
Ketika itu saya menjelaskan GMB. Pewawancara mengatakan luar biasa dan kemudian mengatakan, untuk apa kamu hidup bila kamu belum berarti dan bermakna untuk orang lain. Atau kalau di dalam Islam disebut hablum minannas. Hubungan sesama manusia. Dan kamu tahu? Pewawancara tak bertanya macam-macam. Hanya menanyakan hal itu saja. Alhamdulillah itu mengantarkan ku pada posisi ini. Bla.. bla.. bla.. (Dasar penulis, ngomongnya panjang amat sih) Untuk kalian di luar sana. Saatnya kamu bergabung dengan Gerakan Mari Berbagi. Pendaftaran dibuka hingga 31 Mei 2016. Ini kesempatan langka. Kesempatan pasti akan datang berkali- kali, tapi moment yang serupa hanya terjadi satu kali. Believe me, kamu akan menemukan sesuatu yang tak terlihat secara kasat mata. Yakinkinlah, kamu akan menjadi pribadi yang luar biasa. Saya tunggu dirimu untuk bergabung. If you have a question, call me. InsyaAllah I will help you. Fauzan Raudlatul Hayat Alumni Youth Adventure & Youth Leaders Forum 2015
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So she is Riri, my host family's dog. First time i met her, I was shocked because Riri was blind and deaf so she could just sleeping whole day and just got up for eating. Honestly play or contact with dog its not new for me. But I was never having a pet with this kinda condition. So at the first day my host family directly give the meaning of real love that has really sincerity and full of happiness with her.
The photo that showed me with Riri was one day before she was going to hospital because she got sick and she was already old. In addtional, she was already 18-19 years so she was easily got sick. At that time I thought it would be a normal disease like flu or fever. But i was wrong. She got really serious sick and the doctor said she just had one week and just several day to be alive. She came back on Wednesday but she was so weak and need some tools to keep alive. My host family was really sad. So do I. They were falling tears because yeah they had much memories with Riri. I could not falling my tears because I didnt want to make the condition more sad. I stil remembered the time at 11 p.m Riri had to go somewhere that could make her release her sick and happier too. It made me and my host family were really shocked and more sad because it was too fast. Particularly even I just knew Riri 2 weeks but she was really important to me. Because i could play with her even just touching her and make calling her name. This activity was really making me could release my stress and tired during my internship program. I could not sleep at that night then i decided to write some message to my bookmark that I already made it before going to Japan. This bookmark was consisting of all of Fujiwara family and of course with Riri too :) I wrote message to all of my family and my family also wrote a message in back of this bookmark. But i just wanted to share some of my message to Riri.. "Time flies so fast Riri. I am wondering you could see me and hear my voice as your family too. I hope you get the best place in heaven. In this last message I dont want to say to you "Good bye Riri" but "See you in another chance Riri. Love from Ivan." __ Today lesson : "Take every single moment with someone that you love." Ivan Hartanto Alumni Youth Adventure & Youth Leaders Forum 2015 Participant of GMB Homestay Program 2016  Who am I? Why did God create me? What is this life for? I was a boy when some questions bothering my mind, bring me to a long way that I must go through, not easy but I have to survive and win. Million peoples are born and die everyday. They live their life by their own way. I want to make something before I die. What should I do?Many problems need to be solved in Indonesia.Corruption, poverty, economic inequality, and so on.This is my opportunity to make something. So I choose my way to make a better future for Indonesia. I entered a business school ofDiponegoro University in Semarang and studied hard to learn how to grow economy also strengthen a country. My nationalism grew stronger as the time passed. I like to learn Indonesian history and knew that in the past Indonesia has some enemies. How cruel they were. Our peoples be tormented and killed in our own land. They fought in an inequal war.I lived my whole life with a hatred of foreigners, specially they who come from the country that used to be Indonesia’s enemy. I couldn’t trust them, nor befriend with them. Brisbane, the first city outside Indonesia I visited that located in the state of Queensland, Australia. The city with a beautiful natural condition; clean air, free fresh water to drink, trees in every side, birds fly around, and jolly fish in city pond. I came there for leadership homestay program. GMB opened this program every year for its member. On 2016, it was opened to Australia, Japan, and Netherland.In the first time I applied, I just thought that’s fine. Australianever colonize Indonesia. They are in good economic condition. There might be something I can learn. I lived with a very lovely family, Boyd and Mathilde.They taught me many things of Australian life and culture. I learned how Australian respect each others, how they care and protect their children seriously, and how they manage their time well. I loved to be with them. They treated me like their son. They brought me to many family events.It was a happiness for me to meet their family members. One day, they brought me to Mathilde’s father. His name is Arie. He can speakbahasa well. He told me a little things about Soekarno, 10th November War in Surabaya, alsoIndonesia and East timor. I like him. He remebered me to Indonesia in Australia. But wait, how could he speak bahasa and know many things of Indonesian history? The fact really surprised me. He was a Dutch police, might be soldier. The army who fought Indonesian during 1945-1948. They did an aggression that killed many Indonesians twice, 21st July to 5th August on 1947 and 19th to 20th December on 1948. They tried to abort Indonesian independence. What is this? I lived with Dutch family. I used to hate them. They were the peoples who took a lot of Indonesia’s natural resources for their own benefit. They forced Indonesians to work for them without enough food and proper life on 1806’s. I didn’t understand why there is still Indonesian who want to learn Dutch language and befriend with them. Don’t they understand the history? Are they fool enough to befriend with peoples who killed their family? Why did GMB place me there? I should be their enemy, they understood the history well. But sometimes, the fact is not the same with thought. They cared me lovely. They drove me to railway station every morning so I can go to internship place easier. They took me to camping site for easter with them. They never forget my meals. They introduced me to their big family and friends happily and they always loved to listen my day story in everynight. That was the first time I felt be loved by foreigners. What should I do? Shall I hate them? No, I can’t! I love them, just like I love my mum and dad. Where is my nationalism? This feeling made me rethink about what nationalism is. My love to Boyd and Mathilde brought me to a better perception of nationalism. Nationalism doesn’t mean you love your country excessively and put down the other country.It just make you become foolish person, prisoned in sick heart, don’t be able to learn and understand. True nationalism is when you make a better future for your country. It would be useless if someone says that he love his country, hate its enemies in the past, but doesn’t do anything to make a better future for it. Do a hatred make a better future for a country? No! Not at all. Nothing will you get from revenge, even you win the war. You will just put your country in a trouble.It’s not nationalism. What should I do with Indonesian history? It is the past, I better let it be a lesson. Nothing is good with a war. It was a mistake. Never do it again. I saw Mathilde’s tears when we talked about war and peace in Dave Andrew’s place. Dutch is also a human that has heart and love. Every person in this world has love. It is the most beautiful and powerful thing in the world. Boyd and Mathilde cured me from a strong hatred; not with medicine, but love. I don’t want to hate foreigners anymore. Indonesia is in a peace now. If there’s peoples want to break the peace, they must be the true evil. Thanks God for uniting me to them, they make me understand more what You create me for. I want to learn more to make a better future for Indonesia. Someday, it will be my duty to protect the peoples. Yes, I will protect them! Not with gun and army, but peace and better life. Airlangga Wiragalih Participant of GMB Homestay Program 2016  Easter is the moment to celebrate and commemorate the central event of the Christian faith: the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his death by crucifixion. In Australia, Easter is enjoyed as a four-day holiday weekend to celebrate Easter starting on Good Friday and ending on Easter Monday. The four-day Easter holiday is an opportunity for Australians to get together with family and friends. As a member of Gerakan Mari Berbagi who had an opportunity to join home stay program in Australia and stayed with Australian Family, I had to join all of the activities of my host family, even Easter celebration. Almost every year, my host family does camping activity to get together with their big family and their community as a part of moments for celebrating Easter. When I asked my host family how many people who would join camping activity, my host family answered around 30 people. At the time, celebrating Easter and joining camping with my hostfamily was one of the biggest fears for me. It was not easy becausea lot of ‘Christian’ people would join the camping activity and I started got a lot of worries. I was worried I would get discrimination; I was worried I would be an alien; I was worried I would be aloneevery time at the camping site. I realized I came from a different religion and culture from all of them. How could I mingle with them and enjoy the camping activity? It was easy for me to find the reasons that I could not join the camping activity as easyas saying that I have another agenda and let me stay at home. I reflected to myself at the moment, why am I here? For what I have fought for this opportunity? The reflection process was not easy because I was fighting with myself between my fear and my willingness. I tried to kill my fear. It was not easy to be part of this program so I had to use this opportunity to fight with my fear not with myself. Finally I pushed myself and I was in the car at the time. The car was going so fast and brought me to the location of the camping; in Murphys Creek, near Toowoomba, a city in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. For two hours we spent time in the car and it was the most worrying two hours of my life.Even when I arrived at the camping site, I did not open the window of the car. I was not ready to meet them. I spent the afternoon focusing on myself and erecting my tent. I met the other campers at dinner time. They prepared dinner and asked me to join them. When met them they were all very friendly and welcoming. The thing that made me surprised was almost of them know me so well; who am I, my background study, and my interest and passion. They were enthusiastic to know and e a friend to me. ___ Time ran so fast. It was the last day of the camping activity, I did not want to say goodbye with all of people in the camping site. Even though I have a different religion to them, they treated me like I was apart of theirs. With their treatment of me, they answered my worries easily;there is no religion that teaches us to hate each other, to fight each other, and to kill each other. It was only my worries.I was totally wrong about my worries! In fact, they gave me smiles, they gave me hugs, they gave me love, and there was no you and me, there was a totally US. Even though they did some religious activities at the camp, they were not disturbed by my participation, and they even prayed for me and wished me good things. God, this is a peace that I really want! There was no alien, there was no border, and there was no prejudice. There was only love and respect for each other. Are we bigger than our God to judge other people? Have we had a deep understanding aboutthe meaning of the religion itself? Have we implemented the value of our religion?You are too arrogant if you only think about heaven and hell, you only focus on yourself and forget that we are living together and connect with each other. ___ Easter is always related with eggs. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection as a new hope and new life. And for me, I will always remember my first Easter and the egg. My first Easter gives birth to the new me; me who realized that I am not bigger than my God. Muhammad Nuzul Participant of GMB Homestay Program 2016  Have an opportunity to learn more about international development project in overseas such a great experience from me. Instead of this opportunity give me a chance working experience in international and multicultural environment, I have taken this opportunity more than that. As a student who is studying with background social anthropology, I have my own perspective on international development project.
I had 5 months preparation before I go to Australia and I spent my 5 months preparation to do observation in Indonesia related to culture, society, and development. In that 5 months also, I did my research related to Indigenous people in Indonesia and how outsiders and government give an intervention to the indigenous people, we called Baduy community. Sometimes, culture could be complexes issues and not a lot of people aware about the issues. For this discourses, respect is a key point. If we are talking about culture, sometimes some people think the difference between their culture and other culture rather than similarity between each culture. If we are talking about culture, sometimes some people think their culture is the best culture and the other culture is inferior. If we are talking about culture, sometimes it could be sensitive and often could be conflict between one community and other community that come from different cultural background. But in Australia especially in Abt JTA, we are talking about culture with respectful way, we called ‘close the Gap’. Close the Gap is a new term that I heard and it is awesome term. Close the Gap is not talking about the differentiation but it is talking about equality. We realized there is an unequal condition and we have to close the inequality. There is a gap and we have to close the gap. Term of Close the Gap is not put one culture superior and another culture inferior. The term offers a solution rather than problem. Thus, with the term of Close the Gap I learn that we have to develop community not because other community is weaker than our community but it is about the gap and we have to close the gap. The big question in my mind before I go to Australia and do internship in Abt JTA is about how international development program (in this case Abt JTA) facing cultural sensitivity. Development is about making a better quality of life. But as we knew that every community have their own perspective about a better life. So, how it works? In the morning discussion with Karen Harmon, one of the staffs at Abt JTA, we discussed about the discourse between development and culture and finally we arrived at the conclusion that solution from problems in a community is in their own community. After discussion with Karen Harmon, I got the insight about the idea of ‘more cultural suitable’. ANFPP, one of Abt JTAprograms who work for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, have collaborated with Leadership Group and I think this kind of collaboration is a part of way to be more cultural suitable. Leadership group is a group of leaders from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. This kind of collaboration raises voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander who get intervention from the program. Thus, leadership group would be able to give intervention to the program about their own perspective because we are working for their community. ANFPP realized that the solution from the problem is in their own community. Thus, it is more cultural suitable because the program hear the voice of the community that they are working with. Indonesia is very diverse country. We have a lot of cultures and many cultures connected each other. But sadly, culture is not serious discourse in Indonesia. Often, the government give top down policy. Government has model and all of region with different culture background has to follow the model of government. They almost never heard the voices of local people. One of the policy that governement of Indonesia has is BantuanLangsungTunai(Cash transfer). The program only gives money to all of community without assistance from government. Government think that money can solve the problem. Besides that, every community has their own problem and the solution is in their community not with money. Sometime also in Indonesia, there is an area with minim of access to education but the government only builds the school without teacher. See, government of Indonesia still think culture is not really important. With the awareness that Indonesia is very diverse country and the knowledge that I got from this internship, all of the development policy should consider the cultural sensitivity in the near future. It is my work, as an Indonesian Future Leader. Muhammad Nuzul Participant of GMB Homestay Program 2016  I remember well how Matt, our country’s representative, kept reminding us to submit the article about what we have learned during the homestay program in Australia. I did not do it earlier not because I was lazy, but because I did not capture the AHA moment, yet. I am writing it now, the last day of it. I got enlightened yesterday, 1st April 2016, which maybe an April fools. I even still do not believe it. Hahaha. Yesterday was the last session. Days before, Matt was doubtful whether it was necessary to have this discussion. But we insisted to join the discussion, even probably it was not new issue in Indonesia: talk between Islam and Christian. I was skeptic that the discussion will be just like another boring, typical one. At first, I fell asleep for a couple minutes, got carried away by their lullaby-alike voice. Well, just like their voice, their characters could be known from their first warm, peaceful impression by the way they deliver the matters, the way they are sincerely share the experience. Meet Dave and Nora, two persons with very different background, different religion: Islam and Christian, religions that are well known to often have conflicts. But instead of doing what the stream goes, they become a partner, collaborate, learn, understand each other religions, and spread the real value of religion: peace. Nora and Dave shared their experience in a humble way, without telling that “I am the guru, I am right, and you must listen.” They listen; learn about each other’s religions. They focus on the good, not the bad. They look for the similarities, not the differences. Because they know, if they see otherwise, it will be likely never-ending conflicts. Learning other religions do not mean that we automatically lose our faith. It is more than that. It is about understanding and finally respecting. You will be in love even more with yours. Reflecting what they were sharing, I realized well that I believe in God, but I chose to not to be religious one, or even know Islam more because I have never known anybody who shows the real Islam I am seeking, the peace itself. All of them are only showing that they are the ultimate right, while others are always wrong. Telling that they will go to heaven while other go to hell because they are kafir. Everything that should be a very personal thing becomes a must, they force us to wear hijab, to pray 5 times a day, that, this. But see, in reality their acts are only about the horrible things: corruption, gossiping, judging, you name it. It seems that people count someone as religious ones from their ceremonial or ritual, not the actual deeds. The only thing I witness is hatred, hatred, and hatred. Even the ulamas that are trusted by many people without any critical thinking. What could I summarize? The hatred will spread and the world will be filled only with hatred. Indeed, it is so sad and ironic. The true value seems so utopian. I ended up at a state that I do not want to know about Islam more, do not want to be religious. I have never had a role model that truly delivering the core value. But because of Dave and Nora, for the first time something happened to me. Hearing and experiencing such beautiful and touching stories, I burst into tears uncontrollably. Even my body trembled.I did not why, but for sure, deep inside me was shaken. This is what I have been searching! This is the dream I always have been dreaming: peace!I know, unconsciously I really want to experience, to prove by my own that religion is about peace, love, and harmony.And for the first time, I want to know about my religion. This is kind of funny, but I found the real Islam in a non-Islam country. One thing imprinted in my mind: God is BIGGER than our religions, then why fight each other? I imagine how if the world is filled with people like them? Definitely, it will be such a beautiful place to live. J Destania Ika Putri Participant of GMB Homestay Program 2016 |
