“Halal Bihalal” Initiatives of Change (IofC)

After the long break holiday for Ied Fithri for Muslims friends, they finally returned to their homes where they lived or worked. Following the holy month (Ramadhan), Syawal is the time when people gather to greet each other, seeking the self-purification in all of us by asking for forgiveness from each other, to be grateful and to celebrate life. This is called Halal Bihalal.

IofC held the Halal Bihalal on 7th July at Generasi Cerdas Indonesia (GCI) office, the training educational company which belongs to the president of IofC Indonesia, sister Irna Yugaswatie.

The specialty of Halal Bihalal was that each person brought special snacks or food from their hometown to share during the gathering. As Indonesia has a lot of different tribes, cultures, and foods, this was a time to share the uniqueness of towns throughout Indonesia. The return of a gof a team who had just been to the Malaysia/AKASHA Learning Companionship and India Internship program left a different taste of this Halal Bihalal gathering.

Started at 10 am by Quiet Time and sharing. One of the sharings was:

I want to express my appreciation to Irna and the team for working hard for this amazing activation of IofC through many programs and activities that have been run well, and the spreading of news/info through social media for upcoming programs in IofC Indonesia. Thank you so much.

I read a book which talks about a Professor from Japan. He is 104 years old. He is very healthy and has lived a long life. He mentioned in the book that we should live like a kid, having no pressure and demands. Follow the flow. - Umam

Most participants shared that they miss meeting the IofC family, to have quiet times together, sharing and listening to each other’s story and hearing about the inspiration they got from their holiday.

After our break time at 1 pm, we continued the activity of making the family tree by the team who came from AKASHA. It was a lively activity for participants. Those who experienced this activity for the first time were so enthusiastic to continue researching and asking anything they are curious about. One of the trainers explained, “To understand about ourselves we need to understand the history of our ancestors; what had happened to them, what condition they had, etc. Our upbringing did not leave us only material/money, but they leave us with emotions, wounds, customs, traditions as well as learning and beliefs”.

One participant presented his family tree and then the rest gave feedback. Everyone enjoyed their discovering and the questions and answers went on until we ran out of time. We had to stop this session because we needed to stay with the timetable.

The last agenda was a presentation by an Intern who had been with IofC India. She shared A-Z about her 5 months in Asia Plateau, India. She expressed that she found her true self in India with her interactions with different interns from many countries. One of her stories of change was through Facebook where she confronted her old friend who used to abuse her when she was a kid. It was a new finding and it took courage to do such a thing in her life. She was not sure what would happen when she confronted her, but unbelievably it went smoothly with this old friend. The old friend asked forgiveness from her and this helped her to feel peaceful inside without fear

anymore. She thanked IofC Indonesia and IofC India for this opportunity that gave her this real change in herself. She has now committed herself to be involved more in IofC Indonesia.

Reported by Nur Hayati Syafii