6 Weeks at Interfidei: Complete

Aside from Sarah and Suraiya, whom I live with, the staff at Dian Interfidei have been secondary in spending the most amount of time with me. And I am so greatful to them for it. They've been amazing mentors and friends as I've gotten my feet wet in the inter-faith culture in Yogyakarta. 

And for those who don't know the Dian Interfidei staff, you should. They're some of the nicest and most welcoming people I've ever worked with. Also, every single one of them has a smile that is insanely infectious. 

So a huge thank you to Dian Interfidei staff and I wish you the best of luck with all of your future work! (And thank you for reading my blog!)

Everyone gathered together for one last picture. I'm going to miss them all!

Safety and Setbacks

Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Actually, that's what happens more often than not, but sometimes it's significant enough to the point it's worth mentioning. Like today.

First, I got to go to the hospital. I'm fancy, I have an official plastic hospital patient card and everything. I apparently ate something that made me sick (insert some more stuff here that got lost between me being distracted by my headache and the language barrier) but I'm essentially okay. I walked out of the doctor with four prescriptions, and have been sleeping soundly since 3PM, so I'm anticipating being up to speed again tomorrow. Although I'm not allowed to eat spicy foods or drink coffee, which has sort of been my life since I got to Yogyakarta.

The second significant thing to happen today was Suraiya and I's work presentations being cancelled. We were scheduled to travel to the local Shia community and give presentations this afternoon and then hold a discussion forum with the community. There were even Shia Muslims in from other provinces. The community here is in the minority, and they're struggling with intolerance from both Muslim and non-Muslim communities. However, because of the community being controversial and the recent rise of intolerant attacks in Yogyakarta, the discussion/presentation was strictly secret. Only Dian Interfidei and the local Shia group was to have information about the (closed) gathering. Despite our precaution, this morning the media showed up at the community, which meant somehow the greater public knew about the event. So we had to cancel for safety and security reason both on our side and for the Shia community.

So a few setbacks, but nothing that's going to drastically affect the scheme of things. Thankfully I'm in (somewhat) good health and I'm safe, so I guess at the end of the unproductive work day, that's what really counts.

Interfidei Article about our previous Presentations

In case you have a burning desire to learn more about how Suraiya and I's presentations and discussion two weeks ago went, Wening mentioned that she published the article/summary Suraiya and I wrote about it on Dian Interfidei's webpage. So here's a link :

Human Rights and Religious Democracy Topics Spark Conversation at Dian Interfidei

My Presentation in Pictures

The internet was down this morning at the office so I typed up a professional article about how the presentation and discussion went yesterday, however, I don't really feel the need to copy and paste it all here. Instead, I present to you, how my Thursday went at Dian Interfidei, in pictures...

 The camera was following me around from the start of my day. This is a shot during the "English class" for employees Suraiya and I held in the morning.

A picture while I was presenting. 

Suraiya and I leading discussion and responding to questions after the presentations.  

A candid photo someone in the office got of me after the event explaining my internship and time at Interfidei with some other international students who showed up for our presentation.

The presentations seemed to go really well and the discussion afterword lasted for over an hour! I know I certainly enjoyed the event and I really hope that everyone who attended did too.

Pluralism, Peril, and Purpose

A few days ago I was at an event where I introduced myself to an expat here in Yogyakarta. He immediately took interest as to why a young American student was here working in Yogyakarta and inquired into my field of work. It was going well until I explained that Dian Interfidei is an interfaith non-governmental organization. His reaction was less than pleasant.

The other interns and myself responded to his verbal attack, trying to explain that interfaith work is neither useless nor proselytizing. However, it made me realize just how little the international community knows about the religious situation in Indonesia.

Dian Interfidei has given me an opportunity to dive into this field in a way that would never be possible on my own. The religious culture here is definitely something you need to be a part of to truly understand, but being able to work alongside an organization that actively engages it everyday has allowed me to gain a unique perspective where I can personally glimpse some of the culture despite my foreign status. By no means would I consider myself an expert, or even well versed, but I've been able to experience an interesting time in Yogyakarta that makes me a hundred percent certain that interfaith work is not only useful, but necessary. 

Probably unbeknownst to everyone at home, in an eerily correlating time frame to my presence in Yogyakarta there has been a sharp rise in acts of religious intolerance. 

The first attack occurred on May 30th. I sum up the event with a quote from the AsiaNews.it article: "[It took place] when Catholics held their weekly meeting to pray the Rosary and practice their Sunday hymns. Local witnesses report that, suddenly, a group of Islamic fundamentalists raided the private house owned by a local Catholic leader, throwing stones and rocks. The assailants brutally beat him and then fled in haste."

On June 1st, the anniversary of the Pancasila, another group attacked a Pentecostal church in Yogyakarta. (You can read more about it here.) The Pancasila are the five principles which are the official philosophical foundation of Indonesia and they include "just and civilized humanity" and "social justice for all people of Indonesia". Apparently, the groups thought that stoning a church was the appropriate way to celebrate the anniversary of those principles.

Finally, this past Sunday cleric Ja’far Umar Thalib gave a message at a local mosque where "he repeatedly called on Muslims to wage jihad against so-called infidels and [religious] pluralism. He said pluralism had the potential to cause conflict as it taught that all religions were equally right and that was not the case" (source). 

However, on a bright note, yesterday Dian Interfidei hosted Benedict Rogers who presented his report "Indonesia: Pluralism in Peril, The Rise of Religious Intolerance across the Archipelago". His presentation could not have come at a better time and he even commented on Ja'far Umar Thalib's preaching, reminding the crowd that pluralism does not teach that all religions are equally right. Pluralism is realizing that everyone deserves the freedom to believe that their religion is right, but also the freedom to express the fears they have of other religions, but in a context where other religions can do the same and promote understanding of each other and peace. (Sorry Ben, I was paraphrasing from memory.) In other words, we all just need a little more interfaith dialogue. 

Welcome to Dian Interfidei's purpose. And to the purpose that I am so blessed to be able to experience and take part in during my brief but significant window into Indonesian life.

Bambang Muryanto from The Jakarta Post attended the presentation at Dian Interfidei and reports his observations which you can read in his article Study blames govt for rising religious intolerance.

Coming Soon to Dian Interfidei....

A Day at Dian Interfidei

Sorry I've been a little more relaxed this trip about posting. There's been so much going on here- but most of it is just daily routine. So, I figured I'd write a little bit about what my weeks look like and about my work!

I work Monday through Friday at Dian Interfidei. Suraiya and I intern there, and can usually be found in a small meeting room on the second floor. The office is a converted house with a very open floor plan that really compliments the relaxed atmosphere of the office. We're working on a variety of projects, the current of which include developing two presentations that we'll be giving to Dian Interfidei and the surrounding community. They invite partners and friends of the office to come and listen to our presentation and then we're expected to facilitate a discussion. My first presentation is next Thursday and then I have another one toward the end of the month. Additionally, I teach English to the staff on Monday and Thursday mornings and spend the rest of my time usually on research and document translation.

This morning was a little different. It started a little chaotic but we eventually managed to sit down for the first English lesson. But it wasn't long before we were interrupted by visitors! Two women from Holland who had been interning outside of Yogyakarta for the past few weeks. They're training to be nurses and mental health care specialists and decided to spend time this summer working on sanitation issues for women in the remote farming village.

The staff and interns of Interfidei with our visitors.

From left to right is: Reta and Wening (both Interfidei employees), Ava, Suraiya (the other AUA intern), Ava, Elga (the director of Interfidei), and myself. The Avas are from Holland.

We spent the morning swapping stories and chatting in Interfidei's front room. It's always interesting to meet other foreigners who are staying in Java and hearing about their experiences. Unfortunately everyone we meet always seems to be leaving in a day or two, but it's nice to share a mutual understanding of our unique experiences, even if just briefly.

But it's back to work! Thursdays are particularly peaceful because we don't have to rush home from the office to get to our bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) classes like we do on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. But they're useful, because now saya bisa bicara bahasa Indonesia sedikit! (Translation: "...because now I can speak a little Indonesian!")