IofC Indonesia team hosted Willem Jansen from IofC Netherland from 6th August to 2nd September 2022. Mr. Jansen visited 7 cities to reach out friends of IofC as well as to experience and mentor the Trustbuilding Program in Indonesia. He visited Jakarta, Bogor, Yogyakarta, Magelang, Bandung, Kuningan, and Makassar South Sulawesi.
In Jakarta, we meet with Inaya Wahid, the daughter of the 4h Indonesian President Mr. Wahid. Inaya is our friend who met IoFC in India and then joined the 22nd Asia Pacific Youth Conference in Cambodia. She hosted us with a cup of tea and snacks in the afternoon. During this visit, we also learned about the late Mr. Wahid and his vision for Indonesia, peace and humanity. One of his popular quotes is “there is no peace without justice.”
The next day, Mr. Jansen and Miftahul Huda had a visit to the An Najah Islamic Boarding School and Jagat Arsy School. We were hosted by our friend Abdullah Al Wazin for early morning breakfast and followed by a seminar attended by 600 students. Mr. Jansen mentioned that this visit was also about healing the historical wounds as the Dutch have a dark history as part of the colonialization in Indonesia. He then shared with us that Dutch people live in the past while Indonesian live at present. In most of the occasion, Mr Jensen ask the apology from what happened in the past with colonialization.
I felt there is not much memory of the Dutch colonialization and young people do not talk about it, anymore.
Visit Annajah Islamic Boarding School, Bogor
August, the month of celebration of the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, is a special month for the Indonesian people. This month is a moment for the Indonesian people to reflect on the meaning of independence for each and every one of us Indonesian. Each individual and generation of the Indonesian nation has its own meaning for independence.
The process of contemplating the meaning of independence is inseparable from seeing and reviewing what happened in the past. We have fought and struggled for the independence of the Indonesian nation. Through the process of reflection and reinterpretation, a new hope will emerge and this can help us create a better future together.
Indonesia, in the process of achieving its independence, of course, could not just forget the role of the Dutch in it. Interaction, conflict, and bitterness during the process of independence were unavoidable. Therefore, the urgency to look at the past with open eyes and hearts is important in shaping the character and soul of Indonesian, a nation that is open and honest in seeing itself.
Departing from that awareness, Initiatives of Change Indonesia (IofC Indonesia) facilitated a fellowship visit from the director of Initiatives of Change Netherlands (IofC Netherlands), Dr. Willem Jansen to the Annajah Islamic Boarding School, Rumpin Bogor. This visit is here to fulfill the urgency of open and honest reflection between individuals, between the Indonesians and the Dutch, in looking at the past. Pesantren, which is one of the oldest Islamic educational institutions in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim majority in the world, is a strategic partner in the ongoing reconciliation process between the Indonesians and the Dutch.
The dialogue process that took place during this fellowship visit is the beginning of building interactions in the context of reconciliation between individuals, Indonesian, and the Netherlands. This visit to the Annajah Islamic Boarding School was so special because the discussions also involved students, teachers, MTs leaders, and Annajah High School. During the discussion, young students, with their naivety and innocence, had the opportunity to interact with representatives from IofC Indonesia and the Netherlands on this very sensitive and urgent issue. On the other hand, the representative of the Dutch IofC, Dr. Willem Jansen got a special impression and learned a lot about pesantren, especially the role of pesantren in caring for Islam and Indonesia’s modern education.
Finally, the urgency of the continuation of such dialogue becomes very important. This is because in this dialogue involves important actors in maintaining the diversity and harmony of the country; Muslims, students, and the younger generation. Not only that, these actors also play an important role in representing the face of Indonesian Islam as s rahmatan lil 'alamin.
Visited Yogyakarta
The next visit was to Yogyakarta. Dr. Willem went to Yogya from 12-16 August 2022. Ferry as the team of Trust Building hosted Willem. Willem visited several places. First was at Gajah Mada University in ICRS (Indonesian Consortium Religious Study), and met Mr. Zain (Zainal Abidin) as the director of ICRS. This is the first face-face meeting for both of them. Before, they met at an online conference. Mr Zain was so happy to welcome Willem. In the meeting, they discussed how religion takes a role in life and politics in Indonesia. Mr. Zain also shared about the revival of local religion or indigenous religion, the government already accommodate and acknowledge these religions. Then Mr. Zain talked about the book he wrote with his friend about Shariah and Human Rights. How the Syariah of Islam is actually in line with the idea of human rights.
The next day, Willem visited Mendut temple and met a monk and they had small talk. They talked about the Buddha’s role in the world through meditation. Then the temple itself tells us that Buddha and Hinduism were the oldest religion in Indonesia and that the people could live in peace and harmony.
Then they visited IofC Senior name Dr. Habib Chirzin and had lunch together. Habib shared that the power of Quiet Time (QT) was very powerful. One time, Mr. Habib went to Europe and he did not have money to rent a hotel, then he did QT and remembered that he had one friend in that country. He emailed his friend, he received a response that the friend was ready to provide the accommodation and the meal for Habib and his wife.
Visit Linggardjati Museum
On the date of our Independence Day, 17th August 2022, the team and Willem visited one of the historical museums for Indonesia and the Dutch, museum Linggarjati. This museum was the ground for The Linggardjati Agreement. The Linggardjati Agreement (Linggarjati in modern Indonesian spelling) was a political accord concluded on 15 November 1946 by the Dutch administration and the unilaterally declared the Republic of nesia in the village of Linggarjati, Kuningan Regency, near Cirebon. Here, the Dutch recognised the republic as de facto authority in Java, Madura, and Sumatra.
In this building, there is a gallery of photos on the wall that capture the moments of that time. After we finished looking at the galleries, we did reflection and share.
“This agreement happened because of the friendship of Sutan Sjahrir as the Prime Minister for Indonesia and Willem Schermerhorn, as the Prime Minester for the Dutch. The friendship and the dialogue were the best models for us to face the conflict, negotiate, and reconcile each other from the Linggarjati agreement”, Willem Jansen.
“I did not know before about this until I visited this museum, it’s a great thing happened that time for Indonesia and the Dutch and it’s a good practice/learning for us now”, Joshua/USA
“It must be very hard, so many difficulties here and there in Indonesia, Jakarta and Yogyakarta were not safe enough to hold the agreement, we just declared our independence one year ago, 1945, yet it’s never easy to be independent because before we were colonialized by the Dutch. The strong leadership of Soekarno and Hatta, along with Sutan Sjahrir, enables the Linggardjati Agreement. This was a great success for Indonesian, although we could only reclaim Java, Madura, and Sumatra Island. I really thank all delegates from Indonesia and the Netherlands because they can sit and dialogue in the midst of war. And I am so proud of Sutan Sjahrir to be the appointed leader in this agreement, he is a real Indonesian and has very big heart for all. I will continue the spirit of Linggarjdati to the current conflict and difficulties in my context. Thank you so much for the lesson. I am so proud to be an Indonesian”, Hayati
International Diversity Camp
On the 19th-21st of August 2022, IofC Indonesia collaborated with Peace Generation and Young Interfaith Peace Camp (in West Java) for "International Diversity Camp". This event is more about affirming the idea of celebrating diversity among the human race. We are Different, but We are One. The first day, it talked about "Me", the next day elaborated more about "You", and the last day was about "Us".
Our team contributed the sessions on Healing Historical Wound and Honest Conversation by Willem Jansen from The Netherlands; Nenden, as her expertise delivered Quiet Time and Gender; Huda helped on delivering the session on Breaking Prejudice, and Hayati helped as a committee and Facilitator in the Family Group.
The participants were coming from 3 nations: the United State of America, The Netherlands, and of course Indonesia. There were 14 Christians and 16 of them attended this event. In the 3 days of the sessions, participants got to know and dig deeper about themselves and others. The important part of this session was about healing the wound from within and without, between male and female, between Christians and muslims for the history of the world. Finally, it is also about healing between nations, The Netherlands and Indonesia.
"These 3 days event was my sweetest and most highlighted experience in this month, I was so happy meeting and sharing with all of the participants, I still have the feeling up to now for what we had in the camp", said one participant, from Indonesia.
Other participants shared:
Meeting Pak Willem was such a relief and opened my mind and understanding of the past and history. Pak Willem also has a great personality, he is such a comforting and the best listener in my family group He listens to all of our stories and makes sure all of us are included. The way he values our stories makes me want to value my story too. too.
He made me realize I also have a historical story that makes me special, not just a human being that full of trauma and blaming myself. Learning about my history and accepting it make me realize all that happens in my life is part of me. I can choose whether to accept it and be happy or be sad about it. I’ve been blaming myself because my past is full of trauma.
I am the type of person that is scared of my own past and doesn't want to deal with it because my past just brings a lot of traumas that I don't want to learn. Mr. Willem give me an understanding that in the past we can choose to learn and take the positive from it. Accept what happens, learn how it affects us today, and see it from a positive perspective. I realize doesn’t matter how far or how fast I run away from my past, my past is part of me that makes me who I am today.
Thanks to Pak Willem's methodology about historical retracing, I figure out how to learn about my past without being scared or feeling cursed by it.
Thank you Pak Willem I feel so lucky to meet you :) and now I am eager to embrace myself so I can keep moving today without blaming my past too much. Thank you, I am Glad to know you Pak Willem :)
Walk The Talk at Makassar
One indicator of a person’s quality in life is to measure the suitability between what is said and what is done.
7 years ago, I visited Makassar for the first time with only 5.000 cash rupiah in hand and a 1-year-old baby who couldn’t walk well. Was that a desperate condition? Difficulties had made me even have a stronger faith to live a life believing that God exists and is very faithful to His work. I do this by becoming His extension in fulfilling humanity's task to maintain peace and helping and strengthening each other. My 5.000-rupiah cash in hand did not make us afraid and it was proven that we could still eat well and be full, and sleep comfortably without any shortcomings. The hospitality of the host who once welcomed me now has transformed into one of the biggest organizations in peace in Makassar, MIPG (Mahabbah Institute for Peace and Goodness).
They have developed and consistently continue to do the work of promoting peace, especially between Muslims and Christians. Seeing this makes our lives feel more meaningful and we want to continue to live and do this work as long as possible.
The time has come, and God allowed us to meet again with the same mission and different circumstances. We can now bring a few gifts so that the mission can run more smoothly and they can focus on the impact and process of transformation and our collaborative relationship becomes closer.
The same lesson about the importance of taking a break to reflect and listen to our inner voice by doing Quiet Time, the same principle, the 4 standard values of life (honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love). Guided by this principle, we can continue to promote and maintain peace, to inspire young people that life is still worth fighting for, and that this country is too beautiful to be damaged by conflict just because we are different.
This Training for Facilitators, apart from keeping the connection, is also to increase the capacity of the MIPG team so that their work in promoting peace is up to date and they have a stronger mentality. They themselves have a lot of burdens, yet they serve people, listen, be the bridge, and process a long reconciliation, they absolutely need good energy inside.
7 years ago, and 7 years in the future, let's continue to talk about the same thing, do the same thing with the hope that things will change for the better so that our children and grandchildren can continue to enjoy the beauty of peace in themselves and the world, reconnect with past wounds, then heal them, reinterpret the life with a different point of view!
Heal yourself, heal this nation, and the world will be better!
TrustBuilding Camp will be held in October 2022 by inviting 50 young people from Makassar and its surroundings to gather, practice and learn and explore their potential, strengthen the moral values of life, increase their capacity as young people who are tough and ready to face global challenges, and ignite the spirit of peace!
Contributors:
Miftahul Huda, Head of Board Member of IofC ID
Nenden Prawira, Master Trainer Inner Development IofC Indonesia
Nurhayati Syafii, Executive Coordinator IofC ID
Alifah Djula, Administration IofC ID
Abdullah Alwazin, Senior IofC ID