EM Society Care: sharing and giving back to the community. Initiative of the Indonesian alumni
A group of EM Indonesian alumni have organized a society care group which aims to share their experiences and knowledge acquired in Europe with the community, especially with the less fortunate ones. Their first activity was a visit to an orphange.
In early 2010, twelve EMA members from Indonesia initiated a new social activity called EM Society Care (EMSC), aiming to impart the community in a positive way based on the knowledge and experience which they obtained during their study in Europe. This social activity is wholly funded by donation from Delegation of the European Union to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, EM alumni, and private parties.
"I have a dream. My dream is to study in Europe when I grow up" - from a little orphan in Indonesia. However, the power of change for a bright future should not be undermined.
In January, two EMSC events were held in Bandung (2nd January) and Jakarta (10th January). The alumni visited an orphanage (for children and teenagers, age level from elementary school to senior high school) to introduce Europe, share how to study abroad, their study program, give tips and short guidance on how to become a successful student. In the Introduction to Europe session, the alumni shared about the countries from where they studied. During the session, the children were very excited and spontaneously shouting the things that they knew about that particular country, for example “MU” (Manchester United) for England, “Eiffel” for France, “Pizza” for Italy, etc. It is funny to watch how their faces suddenly turned puzzled when the mentioned country was not familiar for them.
In other session, the children were also very enthusiastic to see the Europe Map that was prepared by Mrs. Destriani Nugroho (Delegation of the European Union). To test the knowledge of the children, the alumni prepared a small quiz about Europe such as flag color, currency, capital name, location on map, etc. For those who can answer the question, we gave out a 2010 mini calendar containing the drawings from the winners of EU drawing competition in November 2009, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
During the after-lunch break, Ms. Irmanda, an alumna of ME3 (European Joint Masters in Management and Engineering of Environment and Energy), class of 2007, who is active in environment activities, shared her knowledge about climate change, global warming, and practical tips about garbage handling to keep the environments clean. Ms Rythia (Erit), an alumna of QEM (Models and Methods of Quantitative Economics), class of 2007, also shared her study experience in Sorbonne University.
The main event of EMSC is watching together a new, just-released Indonesian blockbuster movie Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer) in a nearby cinema. The movie, created based on a novel, and the continuation of the previous - also a blockbuster movie - Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops) depicts three high-school close friends from Belitung, a remote island in Indonesia. In school, they met with a literature teacher who inspired them of the beauty and miracle of knowledge and life. This teacher gave them the courage to dream of studying in Europe, specifically at Sorbonne University Paris.
Having the dream doesn’t necessarily mean that the dream will come true eventually. The movie clearly pictured how these three students struggled to reach their dream. Lacking of study facilities (since they live in remote area) while having to get good grades as the entry requirement for university is one hurdle. Having to work after school to find living cost and save for the future (since they come from financially less-fortunate family) is another hurdle. Some difficult moments almost tore them down to back-off from their dreams. However, it is the strength of the dream and the solid bond of friendship that put them back on the track of reaching their dream to study at Sorbonne.
After graduating from high-school, two of the three decided to go to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, to continue their study at University of Indonesia, a very prestigious state university, especially during that moment. After getting their Bachelor degree, they were separated, but somehow they met again when applying for European Union scholarship to study at Sorbonne University.
The alumni view this movie as an excellent movie to motivate and inspire the less-fortunate children to realize that they can have a bright future if they decide to take the necessary steps onto it. If they start from having the dream, think big, always move forward, persevere in facing various hurdles/challenges, and do not easily give up, then the condition under which they currently live can not block them to reach great success in their life.
Pictures on the left:
1. Children: opening their eyes for their curiosity for Europe atBandung Event
2. Boys looking at their favourite football club on a brochure
3. Attentive girls and boys at Jakarta Event
4. Iqbal Akbar, President of EMA SEA Chapter symbolically handling out donations to the orphanage
5. Posing together in front of the Cinema (Jakarta Event)