INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS UNVIVERSITY FORUM

      From 8^th may to 27^th may in Pulau Halang in Indonesia .

Experience:

Spending 18 days in a isolated island, 18 days is a priceless lesson for me as well as for 12 delegates from 4 forums and universities. That place becomes more than just what it was to me.Off to the heart of the island. At the very end of this jungle, a cilvilization lies. Surprisingly its walkways are paved with cement, different from how i thought it would be. Every part of Pulau Halang is scenic. The tone-down colour of this place is contrasted with its vibrant tone, which makes its own charm

At the first sight ,after 2 days living together in an old women’s house ( we refered her as Ibu which means mom in Bahasa), we were supposed to be saparated into different groups and lived in other houses but there was an ermergent case coming toward us. When the old woman knew that we would saparate and leave her house, she was upset, she said to our president that she loves the mess that we made, she loves the noise. Those things brought her come back her old day when she still had her husband, her son and her daughter by her side. She lives alone there. She needs us to make her happy at least for 16 days only. Then the president of us called a meeting, we talked about it for more than 1 hour and came up with the idea that “ if we can bring new hope for one’s life, why not we maintain that” I and 12 delegates decided stay back until the and of the program. We were sharing and enjoying the defficient conditions . With rainwater as the only sourse for cleaning, drinking and surviving, making do of what we have was only one option. At the time, we would go by a day without taking bath, but we did learned how to co-exist with what was there in the first place. There was no stable electricity, it was only available from 5pm to 7am everyday. The house that we lived automatically became a heaven for those who want to learn English, Islam, or even a place just for hanging out and gathering of kids...

Exchaging culture is the most interesting and unforgetable part of my journey. As intergrating into the new society with 90% population is mulism as well as  10% is christian and merging into the new culture. We learned and tried to blend in with the local culture in order to deepen mutual understanding. We took part in a ritual practice of Muslim called “ circumcirsion”. We feel in love with the colourful outfits of local which is named as Hijab and Abaya. They bear the meaning and responsibility to protect muslim women from external threats and the exposure from strange and unexpexted men, moreover, they bring to mulism women a hidden and unique beauty.

Life was simple there.

I lost the impulse to check my phone every five seconds. When we felt like not buying, we fished for fish, They were enough for dinner. We ate when the meal was served, we worked as much as our health letting us do that. We enjoyed such a sharing environment there

 I was teachers for more than 15 days in a low-income. Low performing school in Pulau Halang , shortly after i walked in the school that i would teach there, at there i met some students , i tried all my efforts to communicate with them but they barely could not understand.Their main problem is English. Kids there who barely had dream but the only thing came up to their mind was they had no ideas of the lives out of the island, They seemed to live for now. Our only responsibilities were to be a window to the world, convice kids that there is life beyond these ports,  show them that they can do more, show them there is a future because they are the future.

We did discuss and talk about how to solve the proplems that we observed. But then when everything went implementing, it turned out to be different from our expectations. We found out the truth that what considered as basic necessities may not cease a problem for people living in Pulau Halang island. We learned that we needed to be their shoes under any circumstances.

8^th day . Visiting a farm and implementing plantation ideas.

After Indonesia trip , i already found for myself a new chance, new hope to develop myself. I have learned a lot of useful things from those young people. I hope that in the near future, the young generation of Tan Trao unviversity can bring one program like this one back to disvantaged areas in Tuyen Quang.