By Ellen Nugroho | Project Leader
Dear generous donors,
Thanks to you, ten young people from different islands of Indonesia can learn together about how to live with differences but without prejudice in Lasem last October 12-15, 2017. The journey is fun as well as inspiring. They visit historical and cultural places, meet local figures and listening to their personal stories, and listen to scholars explaining the root of religious conflicts, stereotypes and prejudices, and models of reconciliation.
"Before this I thought tolerance was already dead in Indonesia," said Antonio (21), a Chinese Buddhist from North Sumatra currently studying in Bandung, West Java. "I and my family suffered so many discriminations, we are afraid of the so-called pribumi, 'native' Indonesians. I and my Buddhist friends in Bandung constantly live under fear out of the hatred campaigned against Chinese descendants and Buddhists because of the Ahok and Rohingya cases. We really don't know what to do." One lesson he gets from this Trail is: the fearful situation bred from intolerance will not change unless there are persons who are willing to fight to change it.
"This Trail really opens my mind," said Lintang (19) from Purwokerto, Central Java. "In the past I have joined rallies in the name of my religion to urge people choosing only Moslems to lead Indonesia. Now I realize how ignorant I am about the big picture." This Trail also became Lintang's first experience going far from home alone without her parents' companion, an exciting thing for her, makes her feel more self-confident in herself.
How serious and joyful this Trail for the 10 participants are recorded in many, many pictures. Here are some of them. Enjoy!
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
