Senin, 05 September 2011

GALAU BERAT SAMA BEM UI 2010








Melihat dinamika kampus dua bulan terakhir yang menghangat karena >biasalah pergerakan mahasiswa penuh gesekan dan intrik< dan yang terbaru munculnya gerakan untuk mengkoreksi pak rektor UI, tiba-tiba membuat gw bener-bener kangen sama suasana Pusgiwa lantai 2. Kangen ngobrol sama-sama temen-temen. Kangen maen PS bareng ketika "jam kerja" BEM selesai. Kangen pulang malam karena keasyikan diskusi. Kangen rapat-rapat kesmalink. Kangen ceng-cengan sama  yang lain. Kangen "diintrikkin" sama pihak yang ga suka sama BEM UI hehe.. Kangen aksi ke jalanan bareng,,, Kangen nongkrong-nongkrong ga jelas di Pusgiwa. Pokoknya kangen segalanya deh. Sejujurnya kenangan di BEM UI 2010 itu mahal harganya. Ternyata apa yang dikatakan bang Edwin eks ketua BEM UI 2008 itu benar, ia sempat bilang bahwa ia sama sekali ga mau ngulang masa-masa berat di BEM tapi di sisi lain ga ada pengalaman yang lebih ia rindukan selain pengalaman di BEM UI 2008.

Bersyukurlah teman-teman yang pernah gabung BEM UI dan ga gabut (Kalo gabut jelas ga bakal terasa bekasnya). Lewat BEM UI kalian berkesempatan kenal dengan temen-temen dari hampir semua fakultas. Lewat BEM UI kalian bisa kenal orang-orang dari pelbagai karakter. Lewat BEM UI kalian bisa ngerasain riweuhnya jadi event organizer dan pusingnya mikirin gerakan. Lewat BEM UI kalian akan merasa rektorat tega bener menempatkan pusgiwa pada lokasi terasing yang ga dilewatin bis kuning. Pokoknya buat anak 2009,2010,2011, dan seterusnya yang ga sengaja nemu tulisan ini, saran gw cobain deh seumur hiduplo gabung BEM UI gw jamin lo ga bakal nyesel hehe,,,

Jumat, 02 September 2011

Dream: A Pathway to Change (Part II)


 
Delivered by Iman Usman (19) from Indonesia at the 9th UN Youth Assembly in New York before receiving The Youth Assembly Recognition for Excellence

People have told to me that “serving humanity is like giving life to the lifeless”, but for me, it is not only for the lifeless, but also for ourselves. We can make our life bigger than we can think.
People often say that volunteering and activism only waste time, energy, and even money. But what I learned is this: you will not lose anything by being a giver; instead you will received many things that you never expected.

It is in my wildest dream to be invited to various international forums and have the opportunity to speak on behalf young people. I never expected to earn trust as a consultant for various government projects and United Nation agencies at the age of 19. I never expected have a privilege of invitations by vice presidents, ministers, parliaments in my country due to what my team and I have done. And the most important thing, I never expected to see people smiling because of what I do. It is a blessing to make people feel blessed and happy as they are with you. And finally, I could do something. Each one of us can do something.

In last 3 years, I had the opportunity to travel to dozens of countries, speak, share, and learn from one person to thousands. I am inspired by thousands of children’s dreams around the world and help them to realize their potential, to make the impossible possible, and the unexpected happen.

And one of them is We Are Family Foundation’s Three Dot Dash – Just Peace Summit. I have a priceless honor as one of 31 Global Teen Leader representing 12 different countries and five continents this past March. I meet bright minds with other 30 teen leaders at the Summit in New York. It was great to meet and be connected with these amazing youth, where we collaborate together to amplify our work and encourage millions of people to replicate our positive messages and get involved.

We share best practices, and support each other, even after the Summit has passed. With this global network, all Global Teen Leader alumni have already made a direct impact to more than 4 million people globally, and the numbers keep growing. It is interesting and enlightening to see the power of youths, and how their passion can impact mother earth. We connected because of our same hopes, compassion, courage, and passion.

We are so blessed to be part of Generation21, to be the generation who lives in 21st century, with all technology supports around us, that make it easier for us to do something collectively and globally. A borderless world But it also provides various challenges that we have to overcome. We can convert challenges into opportunities.

Being part of these movement brought me many surprises in life. I do believe that there are still more surprises ahead, but that’s not the point. The point is, the more people appreciate youth involvement, the better a sign it is for youth to be heard and get the opportunity to be a part of the solution. What I believe is that opportunity itself is not ascribed, it is not something that we have to wait for – we can create our own opportunities. Just keep your eyes open.

Once more, I would like to say, that this moment is very meaningful for me. Thank you to everyone who has supported me since the beginning. Thanks to my mom, my dad, my family, my coaches, and my friends who always believe in me. I would like to thank and receive this recognition on behalf of other undiscovered young people around the world who did something to change their life. You all are my greatest inspiration.

I enjoy my pathway to making a difference and this is the way I want to be remembered.  You may also have your own pathway, because there is no rigid template in change. Let’s start by dreaming, exploring our talents, doing something small, then trying to reach further, reach more people, and eventually it will be not only your movement, but also a social movement, a global movement. I do believe that any exploration of talent and passion can contribute to social changes. A small action that is conducted by a single individual will consistently make other people follow it, and then it has real impact. Never limit yourself. Never underestimate yourself because we are young. We can change the world.

If a 10 year-old boy with nothing attached to him could ignite something, why can’t you. He had a dream, and you have a dream. Think Big, Make it Happen! I will wait for another story from YOU! Thank you.

Dream: A Pathway to Change (Part I)

It's been a long time since my last article in this blog despite I have several things in my mind from my latest experiences. The problem is not time, indeed. But surely my laziness to update this blog >.<. By the way either for those who visits my blog or the one who is looking for inspiration, please let me share inspiring speech from Iman Usman. If you know nothing about this guy, just check his website or googling. Okay I think is enough from me, and feel free to read the rest.

Delivered by Iman Usman (19) from Indonesia at the 9th UN Youth Assembly in New York before receiving The Youth Assembly Recognition for Excellence

Good afternoon everyone, it is indeed an honor for me to be here with you all today. Thank you for the UN Youth Assembly for inviting me. I feel the excitement of passionate young leaders in this room, and it makes me more than excited.

I’d like to begin with a story of a kid, a 10 year-old boy, living in a small town in Indonesia. He was a normal kid, not a child prodigy, who found himself powerless and talentless. But the one thing he had – he had a dream. Since he was child, he was the one who believed in dreams. For him, a life without dreams was just like driving without a destination. Dreams became the stepping stones and foundation of enjoying his life – making it valuable to the world. His dream was simple, but most people thought that it was too big, or even too idealistic. But he believed that there is no dream too big, because it is not a dream if it is not big.

He just wanted a better world, a better place for every single child in the world to live, to survive, and to develop. When he was a child, he was treated unjustly. His opinion was dismissed. His voice was deemed meaningless by society. He had nowhere to speak his ideas, and bring them to action. He also saw that many kids felt the same as he did. He did not come from a wealthy or well-educated family. But, he believed these challenges should not be justifications to undermine or discriminate against him. That 10-year-old kid insisted, and reminds me every day: that no matter what your background is, no matter how old you are, you are a human being with rights and liberty.
 
The painful realities he endured led him to embark the journey in improving his own quality of life, and step-by-step, try to improve the quality of human beings around him. He believed that he couldn’t wait for someone to come and fix his life – he was the one to fix it. He was very passionate about the struggle to empower children, the future generation.

His story of movement began with a blackboard. When he was 10 he found that many kids in the neighborhood couldn’t access books and other sources of information.  So, he established a free course for underprivileged children. Later on, he established a small library in front of his house. It’s His hope that this small action would lead him to a larger action with a bigger impact. He became involved in various communities, journalism, entrepreneurship programs, and active in advocating for child rights issues when he was elected as Secretary General for a children’s forum in his province. He conducted various campaigns, initiated and coached various brands on social activism, particularly on the promotion of the achievement of the MDGs. Until he moved to the capital town for study, and the study could not stop his momentum of change as he thought that he need to do a bigger action.

Then, he founded a youth-led NGO concerning youth empowerment for social change. With his team, he went from school to school, campus to campus, to deliver capacity building and inspire youths to believe and achieve their dreams. He conducted various community development projects to achieve the MDGs, as well as advocacy on youth-related issues by mobilizing thousands members and more than 500 volunteers who impacted thousands lives.

The story of this kid is really meaningful and has a lot of correlation to myself. That kid is in front of you all right now, that’s the story of me.
I share this story not for the sake of mentioning my achievement. It is because I just want to tell you that when I started to “do something”, I was nothing compared to you all today but I know I holding the part of the bright future of my country.
I couldn’t speak any language beside my mother tongue but I know I can speak the word of change.
I couldn’t play any musical instrument, sing, dance, or anything else that I can be proud of but I listened to the tune in my heart.
I knew my dream and my past experiences that lead me to make a difference. I had the courage. Even today, I am still that 10 year-old boy, with a bigger vision, with a bigger dream to achieve, with more friends at my back for support.