Initiatives of Change (IofC) Indonesia
12th International Youth Leadership Camp “Rediscover Your Life Purpose”
What is the purpose of your life? How do you find happines? To find the answers, we need to listen to our inner voice. Young people from Initiatives of Change (IofC) Indonesia held the 12th International Youth Leadership Camp in Malang, East Java Province. The theme of the 6 days camp was ‘Rediscover Your Life Purpose.’ The participants came from Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, The Phillipines and Canada.
‘There are no strangers in the world, only friends we haven’t met.’ Some of the participants met for the first time. They learnt to share their ideas and thoughts, listened to others’ stories and to get to know each other. The opening ceremony started with the Indonesia national anthem and multifaith prayers led by participants from different religions. Iskandar, the president of IofC Indonesia delivered his speech to welcome all participants and thank the committee for their hard work and contributions. The singing team sang an IofC song, ‘Friends We Haven’t Met’. ‘One little smile can break all reservations and we are meant to be.’ This saying was meaningful for all participants telling them to enjoy the camp by giving a smile to one another.
After the opening ceremony, Miftahul Huda, one of the Asia Pacific Coordination Group (APCG) briefly introduced what IofC is and explained the camp orientation to the participants. At the end of the first day, the participants divided into family group; each group has a facilitator who led the group sharing.
On the second day we were introduced to Quiet Time by Nandor Lim, the CEO of Akasha Learning Centre in Malaysia. Quiet Time is a time for us to grow still, examine our life choice and have self discovery. Through the Quiet Time, we listen to our inner voice and thoughts.
We thought about the kind of life we want and how to live happily. After having Quiet Time, we shared our thought with each other.
During the camp there were workshops in which the participants chose from: Heart to Heart Communication, Peace Generation, Inner Journey, CoP (Circle of Peace) and Music Workshop.
Peter Heyes, a Canadian volunteer stated that Indonesian young people have a strong faith yet real actions are also needed to make the their life and their countries better.
Bai, a Phillipines participant shared about a journey to find identity. As a Moslem in a small town called Mindanao, she is a part of the minority. She is keen to engage her friends to create peace among the majority Muslims and minority Christian people in her area. “Be the Change”, an IofC song, has lyrics which say, ‘When change starts within my heart, then I can show the way the world to go.’ Bai said that she could change her community when she could change herself.
Nandor Lim shared about the 4 moral standards; absolute purity, absolute honesty, absolute unselfishness and absolute love in the morning reflection session. ‘Committing yourselves to having moral values to measure your life needs disciplines.’ There are challenges applying moral standards in our life and having the willingness and commitment to be a better person. In this session, Nonie, an Indonesian participant shared how she had family reconciliation after healing the past in which she accepted her father’s apology who had left the family after divorcing her mother.
Besides the plenary sessions, workshops, and the family group times the participants enjoyed a night market in which they could buy and sell souvenirs, T-shirts and handmade crafts.
We had an outing in the morning on the third day where we visited an Eco Green Park located in a small town called Batu. Nandor Lim facilitated games and sharing in the Year End Celebration.
On the fourth day, we had an expression night session in which they expressed themselves singing, dancing, and sharing about each workshop.
On the last day of the camp, the participants express their commitment after leaving the camp. We also continued looking at our “Circle of Live” in which we made commitments for our own lives, sharing them with the rest of the participants.
Written by. Yofrina Octika Gultom. Edited by. Peter Heyes