Youth Empowerment in Community

Youth and community are two things which related each other. When we talk about youth, we talk about community too, because youth is part of communities. As youth who have a high motivation, we can contribute in some activities actively. As youth engage in more sustained positive relationships with adults, other youth, and community organizations, they would learn that they are valued citizens of their communities. Such collaborations would lead to skill enhancement; confidences building traits and ownership which would help them for prepare their future. By facilitating interaction and developing relationships, these diverse individuals are interacting and begin to mutually understand common needs. Consistent interaction and channels of communication can be established and maintained, increases in local adaptive capacities materialize and community can emerge.

            When you involve in some organizational activities or communities involvement you should give contributions are your knowledge, your energy, your time and your commitment. For community involvement, it does not merely we should contribute our financial, because based on my experience when I did some organizational activities or community involvement, the most important thing that you should have is commitment. When you commit with your decision before, you will go ahead with some problems might come face to you. At young age, youths have power to generate new idea to solve problems of society, so it likes the real contribution which youth can contribute to their society.

            In my campus, Sampoerna School of Education we have the same vision and mission. Some activities which designed by my campus is always related and integrated with each other, we called as “Back to community”. It means our activities should have main purpose toward community, such as those activities that we have done were Tendean and Pancoran Clean-up, Community Service (CS) and Social Activity (SA). For the first activity was activity in my campus to clean up on the street. Why are the name Tendean and Pancoran? Because, at the time my campus located in Tendean, so that is why we were clean up around our campus in Tendean. But now, my campus has already moved to Pancoran, so that is why we have changed the name became Pancoran clean-up with the same activities. We did clean up on the street, we made biopori hole, we did street campaign for earth hour event in last months ago. It made us to have more awareness with our environment, with our earth, because we can start to save our earth with the simplest thing like clean up on the street. So, we can call those activities as a youth empowerment in community and society.

Community Service

The second event was Community Service (CS). CS is an event which designed to community development especially for elementary students to encourage students' interest in reading. So, we tried to give their training how to encourage their interest to reading. We provided trainers who have already got TOT (Training for Trainer) before, we provided some books for them and made mini library in their classes. They were interested and excited.  In this event, we tried to give our spirit and our knowledge to them to keep reading and make a reading as a habit.

The last event was Social Activity (SA). SA is an event which designed to give back to our community and society, it means “back to community” to give and contribute something. Our theme last year was “DICE (Difable Children Empowerment) Workshop and Festival”. So we focused on difable children are Tunadaksa and Celebral Palsy students who school at YPAC (Yayasan Pembinaan Anak Cacat) Jakarta. In this event hold on the 2^nd and 3^rd of December 2011 consist of some sub-events were DICE Workshop: “Karena Kamu dan Aku Bisa”, “Education for all: Special Education for Special Children” and DICE Festival. We also invited some speakers were Leo AFI (UNESCO), Bpk. Saharudin (Perwakilan Komnas HAM) dan Bpk. Boy Siahaan (Annoucer) and some communities engaged there were Komunitas Talang, Komunitas Line Magic Community, Komunitas GCC, Komnitas Youth Health dan Komuitas Dongeng Kanvas. We got sponsor from Koperasi Siswa Bangsa, Pulau Intan, Suara Jakarta, Yayasan Habibie Afsyah, Youth Desk, Komnas HAM, Indonesia Youth Health, Global Citizen Corps dan Forum for Indonesia. So, in this event we gave knowledge about special needs

Social Activity 2011

students (how their education) to others, we gave full motivation and support to special needs students to keep struggle with their life later on and gave them a chance to perform their creativities like singing, dancing, playing music, etc.

            So, I can conclude that when you involved in some organizational activities or community involvement, you will get some things, like personal self-growth, skill enhancement, and leadership development. Allow youth to work with adults in active collaboration toward local community development. Integrating youth into committees with adults as mentors and guides will enable them to build the leadership skills and personal characteristics necessary for their future adult involvement. Finally, activeness in the community is facilitated by youth participation in community-based groups. Interaction between social groups promotes awareness of needs and helps identify volunteer opportunities to caring each other.

Documentation: Writer's collection and oursummerfield.info 

Race in America

Synthesis Writing (Race in America)

by Desri Fitriana

In this synthesis, I will do describe the historical origins and the development of racism and racism in the United States itself, in order to illustrate how racism happened in the world and why racism happened? Actually racism itself is a condition when one ethnic group who have big privilege and power (majorities), sometimes they try to eliminate one ethnic group who different with them (minorities) which do not have a power. Racism has happened in colonial era and slavery era, during the modern period (13^th and 14^th century). Beginning 17^th century laws passed in English North America forbidding marriage between whites and blacks people. Discriminate against the mixed offspring of informal liaison. So, racism has already happened in old era until now. Even in that century, the laws forbidden to marriage with another different skin color. I think that rule it was inhuman, because it belongs to humans’ right to decide their decision. In 18^th century, began to subdivide human beings into 3 to 5 races, usually considered as varieties of single human species. Early 19^th was an age of emancipation, nationalism and imperialism – all of which contributed to the growth and intensification of ideological racism in Europe and US, because of emancipation of blocks from slavery and Jews from the ghettoes helped by secular, so it made these reforms was to intensify rather than diminish racism.

            Climax of racism happened in 20^th century, racist regimes. The passage of racial segregation law and restrictions on black voting. A key point of the racist regime was a fear of sexual contamination through rape or intermarriage. The one racist regime that survived the Second World War and the Cold War was the South African in 1984. The laws passed banning all marriage and sexual relations between areas for people of mixed race (colored). Formal racial discrimination in the USA happened in mid-20^th century. Discrimination permeates all aspects of life in the USA and extends to all communities of color. Discrimination against African American, Latin American, Asian Americans and Muslim were widely acknowledged.

            Actually racism in America happened on black people who get unfair from whites people even from government. Black people have a low income rather than white people, black children also did not school in good quality. The biggest era that racism is slavery era. Most of slaveries ware black people. Black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. To answer to the slavery question was already embedded with our constitution. Constitution that promised it is people liberty, justice and a union that could be and should be perfected overtime. Reverend Wright is one of person who talked about racism in our society. He made in his offending sermons about America, to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distort reality. He spoke America society was static, as if no progress has been made.

            Barack Obama has amazing thought about his country. He put his though on his desire to change America became The United States. "There is not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America - There is the United States of America" (Obama, 2006). I love his quote. Through his quote, he delivered the unity of country. I mean not only America who has a big dream like that, but other countries should have dream like that too. Obama’s quote simple but meaningful to prevent racism in America and to reach their big dream.

            Obama is a son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. Obama’s families scattered across three continents. Obama was born in the racial melting pot of Hawaii. So that is why, in his blood consist of mixed blood from other origins. I really agree with his though, his suggestion and his modernity to change America. Obama has a big potential to change the whole things, because she was born from multicolored family. So, Obama respect to all of color skin, even black people, because his and his wife also black people. Even for the first time, Obama as a candidate president of America, most of people humiliated him, underestimated him and mocked him. But, he still believes his self about racism in America.

            Actually the big impact about racism has felt by black people. Few minorities can isolate themselves entirely from white society, certainly not in the way that whites can successfully avoid contact with members of other races. But it is possible for minorities to pull down the shutters psychologically, to protect themselves by assuming the worst.

            In my opinion, the responsibility to close the gap in racism cannot come only from the government alone. Minorities, individually and collectively have responsibilities as well. People should have mindset that does not judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our characters. With that way, we can see crystal clear and more objective rather than only see by color of skin. Most white Americans figure that they have not engaged in discrimination themselves and have plenty of their own problems to worry about. So that is why, make white people has felt privilege in their country.

In conclusion, based on my opinion racism is cannot be lost easily in the world, because when we talk about that issue, we talk about other races too. It depends on humans’ mindset about racism itself. If they have negative mindset about racism, they tend to pro about racism, and vice versa. In myself, I very respect to the other races, faith, and different background with me. I do not care about what different between us, but I prefer to united with others, even we are different, because together we can make a different. I mean different about something good. In Indonesia I tend see some of people does not consider about different color of skin, because I never have felt about racism itself  J   

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Religion (Writing Synthesis 2)

By Desri Fitriana

            According to religion rights in United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) that everyone has the right to determine their own faith and creed according to conscience. Everyone has the right to the privacy of his belief, to express his religious beliefs in worship, teaching, and practice, and to proclaim the implications of his beliefs for relationships in a social or political community. So, actually in this synthesis I will focus towards faith or religion in the United States, in order to explain, illustrate, compare and contrast between religion in The United States and in Indonesia.

            I have recently known that in The United States religion separates from states, because freedom of religion in The United States as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, consist of two important components. The first is a prohibition on the "establishment of religion" by government - the separation of Church and State; and the second, ensures that the government allows for the practice of religion (Perry, 10). The Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (Constitution). Also, the Fourteenth Amendment supports freedom of religion as it includes a provision protecting the rights of individuals from the encroachment of state law (Constitution). Many important court cases throughout American history have further helped to refine the limits of freedom of religion as laid out in the Constitution (ACLU).

            At the first time I thought that religion in The United States properly arranged by states like in Indonesia, but my assumption is wrong. I recently heard that religion separates from states in The United State. Actually I really quite shock, because the super power country like American, the states has not been privileged to getting involved too much towards their citizen’s faith. Actually faith does not mean that you do not have doubts or that you relinquish your hold on this world. It means, that is why American did not arrange religious commitment towards their citizen, because it relates as a matter of individual conscience, so we may be tolerant of other people’s religious beliefs.

            According to United States Demographics profile 2012 about religions, 95% of Americans believe in God. So, let me to illustrate the percentage of religions in The United States. This is the percentages:

Protestant 51,3 %, Roman Catholic 23,9%, Mormon 1,7%, Other Christian 1,6%, Jewish 1,7%, Buddhist 0,7%, Muslim 0,6%, other or unspecified 2,5%, unaffiliated 12,1%, none 4% (2007 est.).

So can you imagined in The United States actually consist of various religions that you free to choose based on your conscience? Unfortunately, beyond those religions that I already explained, actually in The United Sates also has another religious, such as The Pilgrims, Evangelical Revivalism and Mormon. “The Pilgrim is religion to escape persecution and practice without impediment to their brand of strict Calvinism” (Obama, 2006). “Evangelical Revivalism has repeatedly swept across the nation and waves of successive immigrants have used their faith to anchor their lives in a strange new world” (Obama, 2006). Meanwhile, Mormon is an ideology which diverges of Christian, but they pretend as a Christian, but actually the real an adherent of Christian assume that their ideology is wrong. Mormon profess they are different from Catholic and Protestant churches. Mormons reject traditional Christian beliefs about God, Jesus and the Trinity. So, they have their own way to pray and believe in God.

            Actually is really quite the same with Indonesia’s condition nowadays about some an ideology which diverge towards the real religions. Let us take a look toward Ahmadiyah which pretend from Muslim. Ahmadiyah is one of another religions that assume their as a Muslim, but actually their way to believe in God really different from the real an adherent of Muslim, such as the way of their prayer (Shalat) and the way believe in Prophet Muhammad, etc. So that is why, the problem religions in The United States also face in Indonesia. The difference is religions in Indonesia are one of the responsibilities of the government to properly arrange that rights. For example in our residence identification card (KTP) also available column for religions, but in The United States there is no column for religions only for your races.

            I agree with Obama’s statement on The Audacity of Hope Book that he were able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death; rather it was an achieve palpable agent in the world. I think if we discuss about religion is a something that relates toward superstition. As a Muslim in Indonesia, I believe in my religion and not the slightest doubt that I profess the religion now. Though all religions are basically good, but for me, I cling to my religion is Islam. I believe in god in my heart. So, you can believe whatever you believe, as long as you do not disturb others. Religion it is our rights, it relates our private matter. So, whether you want to believe in God or not, it is your choice. No one can encourage you.

 Sources:        

American Civil Liberties Union: Freedom Network News. (1998). NY Times Op-Ed Advertisement.

Obama, Barack. (2006). The Audacity of Hope. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Perry, Michael J. (1997). Religion in Politics: Constitutional and Moral Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press,

Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601704.html On 26 May 2012.

           

Technology Language Learning in the Netherlands

 By Desri Fitriana

Technology in the Netherlands is growing fast, because that country has good human resources. Technology is a tool can make our life easier. Everyone can uses technology for their own businesses. As students, we are using technology for support our businesses like doing assignments. For teachers, technology also helping them for makes a learning process interesting. Even for all occupation in the world, technology has a role important for their life. Technology is developing superbly fast in the Netherlands. Every years, all of scientists always founded invention from each them sector.

Basically, technology in the classroom develops step by step according to Language Teaching Methodologies in 20^th century. In the Netherlands for the first time, English was learnt for commercial purposes, like trading. In the first half of 19^th century, more and more people already interested in reading English literature and mastering the language. English Language Teaching in the 19^th century in the Netherlands was dominated by Grammar Translation method on the one hand and the Direct Method on the other. Actually Language Teaching Methodologies has five methods are Grammar Translation, Audio-Lingualism, Direct Method, Total Physical Response and Suggestopedia. The first is Grammar Translation. In this step tends to explaining about grammatical rules, giving practice in translation in both directions. Consisted of explaining grammar of the target language using the student’s first language (L1) is Dutch. The grammar-translation method was a reaction to the more natural, communicative ways of language teaching that were practiced in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, in which students were meant to learn mainly through direct contact with tutors who were native speakers of the target language. Although the grammar-translation method lacks a unifying theory, it is based on the assumption that acquiring structural knowledge of a language leads to acquiring skills in that language.

The other movement in this period was the direct method, which gained momentum at the end of the 19^th  century and in which language is regarded first and foremost as a means of communication and used both as language of instruction and as target language, resulting in an emphasis on oral skills. The teachers have more interactions with their students, like asking those questions and telling them to do things. Direct method is more interactive rather than grammar translation method; because the teachers use examples of language to inductively teach grammar and encourage students to be more active and interactive.

So, that is why in the Netherlands or Holland, education system is growing fast and the Netherlands has been became one of countries that have good higher education and an international study environment. Not only in education sector, but in technology the Netherlands also has been a good improvement, such as a windmill. Windmills are one the most famous the Netherlands’ icons, as a characteristic of the Netherlands landscape and a symbol of the Netherlands struggle with water. So that is why, nowadays international students are interested to being a part of the Netherlands with studying in the Netherlands.