Journey to Zero Waste: Convert Beauty & Skin Products To These!

In mid of 2017 there was a huge changes i made regarding to things i use to my body.

When i turn thirty last June i feel more conscious about things i use and consume, like lotion, toothpaste and also i saw lots of trash wherever i go. I felt bad for contributing more waste to earth, moreover it will caused side effect to our own body.

I just realized so many chemical in our daily products especially for toiletries, like shampoo, soap and toothpaste. If we read the label, most of soap and shampoo has SLS that makes silkier, fairer, brighter and decrease natural moisture in our skin. Or toothpaste has detergent to make bubbles and scents that coming from artificial ingredients. Do you use deodorant or anti-perspirant to make you less sweaty and avoid bad smell? Check the label, most of them have aluminium that repress the sweat production (which natural body process!) and make our armpit smells good. Can you imagine how many artificial things or chemical we put in our body that actually we don't need? That got me thinking!

Throwback a month before that, i was coordinator for Mosaic, a local program In CISV that focusing on local issue and collaborate with community. We did waste management activities. Even though that time we just did very small activities to compost waste and to see how Biomagg, our partner works with their larva, i read quite a lot about waste management and how to reach zero waste life. You can read the coverage in Bahasa about Zero Waste Management Mosaic CISV Indonesia here and look up the video!

At that moment, i feel like do more about that and sustaining Mosaic for myself. FYI, Mosaic is one of local program in CISV Indonesia that earn big succeed through Orang Utan conservation life in Borneo.

So, at first I change my lotion to body oil and change my toothpaste. Also, with high intensity on traveling i think its good thing to convert for less waste and traveling light. It makes your life 80% easier and hassle free! 

Here i’d like to share some stuff i tried which one i use now and where to get it.

Body Oil

Not a big fan of lotion but i can feel my skin getting dry easily especially when i go to the beach or after swimming. I read somewhere that body oil exfoliate and moisturize more than lotion, and since i hit the age three-o i feel i need this more than lotion or body butter. I fell in love with Klen and Kind, and use Blithe and Bonny scents. I also use their product for essential oil, my personal favorite is spearmint. It’s affordable and works well for me. You can check their products here. Unfortunately, they still use plastic for packaging.

      ToothPaste

Split these toothpaste into three parts: daily, travel and storage

This one is my personal favorite! At first i tried the small size just for trial. It was.. SALTY! Of course it is, it made of natural salt, coconut oil, peppermint and stevia. After few times using it, i can feel the difference, it tasteless, it feels cleaner, and it reduces bad breath in the morning. I use it for a month and i forgot to refill it, so i have to use regular toothpaste for a week and i regret every second. This one is detergent free and you can buy it in bulk with glass jar. I bought it in Green Mommy Shop in Malang, its quite far from my town so i dont ‘t want to waste and bought it for 500 ml! I haven’t try any other products since i’m in love with this one since the very beginning.

Deodorant

Deodorant game is pretty challenging for me. Maybe its a bit too late when i realized that alumunium in deodorant can be very dangerous, but its never too late to switch. I tried several products:

* Dimanja Bumi: Its a deo-cream, with scrubby texture and smells pretty good. Its a balm where you have to apply it a small amount to your arm pit. I tried it half jar and the aftermath feels like sometimes it cannot reduce the odor. Also i felt a bit wet after using it. So, after i finished it i didn’t buy anymore. You can check it here.

* Rain Forest Coconut Deodorant: I purchase it on Green Mommy Shop and it has quite a good review. The texture mostly dry with a bit of oily that comes from essential oil. Rub a bit of deo to your arm pit and actually it feels pretty dry just like baby powder. The aftermath? PUURRRFECT! After a whole day i can still feel my armpit dry and not smells at all. Even when i use it to workout, it keeps me dry. Super recommended! Also, it comes with tin packaging so its a zero waste product.

* Dukha Sukha: Basically its a tawas stick from Bali. I got it from my friend who recommend it to me. She has sensitive skin and the only thing that fits her well are baby powder and this deo stick. This deostick has the easiest to apply just like regular deo roll-on. You only need to get it wet a bit with water and apply it.  I just used it few times, because i wasn’t very sure whether it will stay long for a day. But my friend use it for almost a year and its barely finished. Its pretty pricey thou compare to others above.

* Bonus round: Balea. Actually i bought it last year in Berlin when i was quick shopping in DM to finish my Euro. I feel like better to invest in beauty products because its bloody cheap. For 400ml it was only less than 1EUR! I didn’t use it a lot because i thought it has aluminium (its a perspirant spray!) until i read it and translate it from Deutch that this is aluminium free. I will buy for more, for sure!

Face Moisturizer & Cleaner

Thank God i dont have high maintenance kind of skin that require me to visit skin doctor or facial that much. FYI, i only did facial once for the entire life. I used to use commercially known product such as Garnier or Clean and Clear face wash, tried some water sleeping mask from Laneige, and some random products. My face skin is pretty easy to handle despite during period, i can have few acnes. So i think its harmless to try different products.

Moisturizer:

After few trial and error, i made some mixture of rosehip oil and grapeseed oil, rosehip oil and cucumber extract for daily use. I use Organic Supply oils. I also switch to coconut oil just for exchange and using virgin coconut oil its better with no other additional ingredients. I bought my VCO from Bali Country Side in Sidemen.

Cleaner:

Still exchanging between Rainforest Cream, which actually pretty good and leave your skin smooth, and sometimes micellar water. For me, after those two i still need to wash it with water just to feel cleaner because my skin is quite oily. In exchange i also use virgin coconut oil for cleaner. However, all those products come with plastic bottle and have no replacement yet.

4.       

         Shampoo:

Shampoo from Artesana

Another challenge is to switch from liquid shampoo (because they comes in plastic bottle) to shampoo bar. Not so easy to find, but Rainforest has shampoo bar that you can choose whether for anti-dandruff, colored, or even two in one shampoo. The problem for me, it stills leave me tangled and pretty dry. Actually Rainforest has creamy conditioner that sold in bulk but i haven’t try it. Recently, i tried Artesana liquid natural shampoo. I feel much better but it comes in a plastic so i don’t know if i wanna continue to use it.

  

          Soap:

I tried several products as well, but apparently i don’t really need specific product when it comes to bar soap. Back then we use a lot of bar but i cannot recall the ingredients. So now, what’s more important for me, it is consists of natural ingredients and packed in paper or cloth. I tried Kinanthi Soap, which coffee variant is pretty nice smell and useful for both body and face soap. Unfortunately they packed it in plastic wrap. Then, once i fell for this artisan soap with a very nice packaging, smells so good and even has glitter on top of it. Until it arrived, i read it has palm oil on it. It broke my heart. I use it but promised won’t buy it anymore. Then, i got milky bar soap from Artesana that i bought in Via Via Jogja. Most important actually to avoid SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) & Parabens in both shampoo and soap that has bad impact for skins. So far i enjoy it with my Gambas loofah to switch my previous nylon loofah.

My soap traveling kit with Gambas loofah

So, here it is! I’m still trying and switching every now and then but try so hard to consider whether its plastic free packaging, fair-trade, local made and most important thing less chemical that might cause bad effect to your body. I think the next step will be, cloth pads to replace cotton to clean your face, laundry soap, and maybe woman cup for menstrual. Anyone ever try it all those stuff? Do you have any recommendation or your other personal favorite? Please do share!

Tri Hita Karana, Intro to International People's Project in Sidemen, Karangasem, Bali

Sebelum memulai salah satu program CISV yang saya ikutin tahun ini, International People's Project (IPP) di Bali, kami para staff mencari tema dan berembuk soal nama camp. Tujuannya tentu supaya bisa sejalan dengan kegiatan di lokasi Sidemen dan juga tema besar CISV.

Kilas balik bagaimana akhirnya ditemukan tema 'Tri Hita Karana' ada beberapa temuan menarik yang ingin saya bagi di sini. Ilmu baru soal perjalanan manusia, sifatnya spiritual tetapi masih terkait dengan duniawi.

Ada empat tahapan pencarian manusia yang saya coba pahami dan saya coba bahasakan ulang.


1. Mencari materi.
Mereka yang ada di tahap ini adalah para pencari pegangan secara finansial untuk keberlangsungan hidup. Akan ada di sini terus sampai kebutuhannya terpuaskan.

2. Mencari ilmu
Tahap ini mencari bentuk aksi yang tidak lagi dinilai dengan uang atau materi. Di sini manusia mencoba meraih ilmu atau yang sifatnya keahlian atau pengetahuan.

3. Mencari masyarakat
Setelah ilmu didapat tentu sebaikbaiknya ilmu adalah yang diamalkan, maka temukanlah mereka yang membutuhkan. Tujuannya supaya ada rotasi ilmu pengetahuan dan juga regenarasi perguruan.

4. Mencari nibanna/kedekatan pada Tuhan
Ketika tahapan duniawi telah dilewati tidak ada yang lebih penting lagi daripada hubungan dengan Pemilik Semesta dan ketenangan hakiki. Tahapan ini juga yang saya percaya tidak bisa ada campur tangan mahluk lainnya.

Berdasar empat tahap di atas, elemen-elemen manusia dengan semesta dan pencipta plus dengan diri sendiri jadi penting. Keseimbangan tersebut disimbolkan lewat tri hita karana.

Kisah lebih detail dan panjangnya, nanti di postingan terpisah ya :)

Lets Make Harmony and Empathy Great Again

Tahun 2017, terlalu banyak pematik yang membuat hubungan antar ras dan agama cukup mengalami gesekan. Lewat diskusi yang panas atau bahkan hujat menghujat di area publik. Beberapa dari mereka nampaknya resah dan mencoba menggali bagaimana kembali membangun harmoni bersisian antar agama. Salah satunya Wisata Rumah Ibadah yang diadakan oleh Komunitas Bhinneka bulan puasa lalu.

Jadi awalnya tahu acara ini pas kalo gak salah bulan April lalu diadakan di Bandung, pesertanya anak-anak usia SD. Penasaran, gak kebayang anak usia village itu ikut acara kaya gitu, gimana kontennya? Gimana fasilitasinya? Lebih utama lagi, gimana pemuka agama menjelaskannya?

Terus gak lama banyak bermunculan acara serupa dengan peserta orang dewasa, tapi udah kelewat jadwalnya. Awal puasa dapet info acara ini ada lagi dan pesertanya anak remaja. Ngirim email, intinya mau ikut acara kalo boleh jadi observer atau fasilitator (kalo ada posisinya.) Sempat dikira ortu yang mau mendampingi anak.,terus ditolak-tolakin, karena kapasitas penuh. Maksa sih gue, intinya gue mau bantu juga. Jelasin panjang lebar objektifnya dan organisasi yang gue ikuti seperti apa latar belakangnya.

Akhirnya diajak ikut techmeet hari itu juga. Ngepas-pasin jadwal biar tetep bisa nongolin muka. Alhasil, boleh ikut bantuin panitia karena mereka kurang voluntir juga.

Acara mulai jam 08.30an di Immanuel, lanjut ke Katedral dan Istiqlal sampai break makan siang. Alokasi waktu cukup molor karena di Istiqlal lama diskusi dan tanya jawab sm imam besar. Lanjut ke Kuil Houseji, kuil Buddha Nichiren yang super megah dan ditutup buka puasa di Pura Aditya Jaya. Secara keseluruhan acara ini memang soal mengenal agama lain, bukan mengajarkan agama lain. Tujuannya, respect dalam perbedaan.

ini sangat smooth, terlalu smooth malah. Peserta memang dari sekolah swasta (mostly Islam dan Kristen). Mereka sudah ada bekal tentang latar belakang agama2 ini dan terekspos dengan perbedaan. Menariknya, pertanyaan ke Islam sangat kontekstual sedangkan mostly yg ke Kristen Katolik Hindu berkisar historis atau ritual walaupun yang nanya dari agama itu sendiri. Hal yang bikin gue degdegan sebenernya gimana ketika ulama Istiqlal jelasin soal Islam dan pertanyaan-pertanyaan soal Kafir atau Jihad. Ternyata jawabannya adem banget!

Kalo dr obrolan insider, mereka pengen banget bisa ngelibatin rohis anak sekolah negeri karena tentu akan sangat berbeda. Trs juga masih degdegan pas denger abis kunjungan kuil ada anak yang bilang "Wah abis ini mau ikut REACH (camp retreat Buddhis) ah!". Gemes pas tau fasilitator ada yang cuek sama anak-anak padahal mereka udah seru dipancing diskusi. Plus bully dari orangtua/netizen yang mencerca acara ini dengan dalil ayat tertentu.

Fix mau ikutan lagi, pengen tau gimana kalo anak-anak usia lebih muda yang ikutan. Mereka tentu lebih kosong kanvasnya atau bisa jadi lebih kritis!

Pertanyaannya: Apakah kalian akan mengizinkan anak-anakmu ikutan acara semacam ini di luar agamamu?

The Most Terrifying Thing That Could Happen To Human Being, What's Yours?

Apa hal yang terburuk yang bisa terjadi pada manusia?

Kematian, mungkin salah satu jawabannya.

Sejak lima tahun lalu, persepsi kematian bagi saya berubah-ubah. Tepatnya saat Bapak meninggal.

Yang saya pikirkan karena sakit berkepanjangan atau kritis, tetapi tidak dengan Bapak saya. Meskipun beberapa kali dirawat sampai ICCU, Ia 'memilih' pergi di rumahnya sendiri. Menyusul ibunya setelah jeda 7 tahun.

Lalu dalam dua tiga tahun, bertubi-tubi orang terdekat saya pergi dengan cara yang hampir sama dengan Bapak. Ada juga yang memang sudah sakit.

Sampai kemarin, eyang kakung, ayahnya Bapak saya, menyusul istri dan anak ketiganya. Tidak dirawat rumah sakit, tetapi di rumah Yogyakarta. Setelah sore dan malamnya masih mengaji di mesjid dekat rumah dan makan di kamarnya sendiri.

Kaget tentu! Tetapi melihat umurnya yang sudah 83 tahun, ia sudah diberi cukup umur panjang sama Tuhan.

Dengan beberapa tahun membuat persepsi soal kematian, saya percaya kalau tugas di dunianya sudah (hampir) selesai maka Tuhan memanggilnya. Selanjutnya tugas yang hidup buat melanjutkan apapun perjuangan yang ditinggalkan.

Jelas, tidak mudah jadi orang yang ditinggalkan. Menata kembali hidup setelah sekian lama ada orang yang melakukan 'tugas' itu buat kita. Banyak PR. Tapi jadi banyak belajar. Apalagi dalam kasus saya adik semua masih sekolah dan selang beberapa bulan, Yangkung, bapaknya Ibu saya menyusul bapak saya. Dua tahun kemudian om saya, adik laki-laki Ibu satu-satunya juga dipanggil. Nggak kebayang rasanya Ibu kehilangan tiga laki-laki dalam hidupnya. PR makin menumpuk.

Kembali lagi, soal ketakutan tadi. Mungkin kalau ditelusuri lagi, ketakutan bukan soal mati-tidak bernyawa lagi. Tapi soal perpisahan dan keberlangsungan.

Bagaimana bisa berpisah dan melepaskan dengan ikhlas orang terdekat? Bagaimana cara bertahan dan yang hidup masih bisa melanjutkan perjalanannya sekaligus perjuangan pendahulunya?

PR bukan melulu soal beban tanggungan finansial atau moril saja tetapi bagi saya seperti meditasi. Berdiam sejenak, memindai keseluruhan badan dan pikiran, hubungan dengan yang ditinggalkan, apa yang bisa diperbaiki, apa yang memang harus dilepaskan. Tetap harus bernafas, membiarkan energi baik masuk dan melepas energi negatif. Pada akhirnya, ini soal acceptance (dan saya gak tau padanan kata paling pas untuk ini.

Foto dari pemakaman kemarin di Jogja. Saya tidak pernah tahu kalau Eyang Kakung ini masih veteran perang dulu. Yang saya tahu, almarhum memberi saya kenangan baik dan manis selama saya kecil di rumahnya dan menurunkan dalam hubungan dia ke Bapak dan tentunya saya ke Bapak.

Yang tenang di sana yang, salam buat Bapak, Eyang Uti, Yangkung, Momo dan Doni ya!

                               Foto terakhir bersama Eyang Kakung pas Lebaran 2017 di Jogja.
                                                                         ❤❤❤❤❤❤

PS: I try to move some of my writings (that scattered in another social media) to blog, just to keep it on track and archived.

First Time for Everything: Staffing Internationally

Since i fell in love with the original CISV program, Village, last year in China i again drown myself for another camp this summer. It was my 3rd Village since last year and this time i tried to restore my faith in CISV camp after what happened last year. Flashnews, i wasn’t so content the last time. I was so surprised as well, since i always happy and gain my knowledge everytime i’ve done CISV program locally and internationally. Not only knowledge, but also my confidence in general and gain the experience of educational content itself. Last year was sucks, not only some friction in between camp but also my personal life. But, hell yeah, i get over it and move on. Hence, it wasn’t about the organization or the way of living the experience. Maybe it was a bad timing, in the bad situation with several bad luck-ness. Anyway, as i said, Let’s move on!

In April i got a confirmation that i will be staff in Kiel for Village. Wait, where the hell on earth Kiel is? Oh, it’s the Northern part Germany near the border with Denmark. Never thought i will be staffing that far away. Then, i met the staffies, all girls. Woohoo! I had a feeling of having these catfight with them later. LOL. But thank God it never happed. Our campdirector is from US and two others are Germans, none from Kiel chapter. We finally a complete stuff when two male junior staffs come along. One of very shy Mexican boy who live in the US-yeah he was shy, trapped in the middle of four loud girls who talk a lot during 20 minutes of Skype meeting. And another one who ACTUALLY live (nearby) and belong to Kiel Chapter.

And it comes July! Flying across Asia to Europe with one huge luggage contains most of CISV t-shirt for 7 weeks– but apparently not big enough for some people- and landed in Berlin. Then, we have to take 4hrs train ride to Kiel. I met Mariann, the CISV virgin, who picked me up somewhere in front Starbucks. We hugged! Yes, WE HUGGED. We never met but we DID hug each other. Feels like i know her for years. Then rushing to the platform and catch our breath as the train start moving. With our huge luggage and Mariann’s guitar, we have to switch train in Hamburg and meet the other two girls. Then Nora comes along. Then WE HUGGED again! Three of us finally got in to the train, which BTW was the silent car- i dont know how people in Germany can stay quiet for that long, LOL.

When we prepare ourselves for quite a short one hour train ride, i slightly take a look on other people. Then i saw this blue shirt with CISV logo on it. Wait, dont you have like a week later for delegation to arrive? Because we arrived a week earlier to prepare stuffs. So, it can’t be leader, it can’t be JC and of course there’s some random people from the chapter nearby roamingg around with CISV t-shirt for no reason at all. Then she turn her back around, and...there’s Kathleen, our director! And we SCREAMED, oh yeaah, in the silent car.

We spent three days just the for of us, cooking, talking, eating, working until Alex, the Mexican who just finished his Europe trip join us calmly – and still very shy. Then we canoeing, swimming, working, ‘til we have to move to campsite in Kronshagen, Kiel. The day of preparing the whole campsite was one hell of craziest things for us. We saw huge truck carried tons of beds and other stuff for 70-ish people. All those people from chapter hand in hand helped each other. What so crazy about that? They just asked the staff to point which to go where, while they – mostly parents, mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, and ofcourse, their kids – working their ass off to make sure everything were in the right place. At noon, 90% of work almost done!!

Two and half day left before all adults group arrive, and it was only four of us in the HUGE building. We prepare dinner, and finally, Arvid arrived!! He has long hair!!! and i wasn’t prepare for that. Then we HUGGED again. That was whole fun week of getting to know each other. We did it through trainings, chatting, serious chatting-sometimes, and mostly cooking. So, when we welcome leaders and JCs, we hope we were all well prepared. The rest is history. Well, not really a history for whom wasn’t part of the camp itself. That was a slight behind the scene story about us, the staffs.

Eventhough i was a staff before, this one completely different stories and challenges as well. What i enjoy the most when i was staffing in my own country, i could share EVERYTHING about my own country and even the cities itself. I like to show them around, tell them a very local perspective as citizen or as CISVer. Also, i know most of everything around so we are the right people to ask for. It could be about your day off, custom, food or anything else if you want to know more about the culture. BUTTE..here’s the deal, you are in Germany and don’t speak German. At all. Oh no, its a lie, i can say Danke Schoen. Oh well. 

The way we support each other and make each other’s tasks easier also challenging part. At the end of the day, what’s our goal and my personal goal mostly achieved. No one dies. And for me, no clash between adults group. We support each other and no gap between Staff, Leaders and JCs. So, it doesn’t matter whether you came from the local chapter or not, it’s all about team work and hard work.

As much as culture gap always arise, i think that one also the big part of being in CISV as well. And, the learning process is still going on...

When ‘How Are You?” Is Not An Easy Thing to Answer.

Most of people say how are you? or Apa Kabar? to greet each other when the 1st time they met.Mostly, people (in Indonesia) will just answer briefly, i’m good even though they were not. It was just fatigue answer. In the past two months, i was getting used to say those words to most of the people in the camp to actually ask how they feel. First of all, we use that to actually check on each other, mostly staffs, in case something happen during the day. Since a whole month camp become very intense day by day, it changed very fast and it’s important to check on each other everyday. One day, i told one of the staff (i forget whom), i suddenly become very bored everytime everyone ask me those question. I don’t feel like i really needed to answer to those five times a day. But then, when there was a breakdown, kids cried, adults cried (too), someone is sick or anyone really stress, i feel like we really need to express on those question.

I wasn’t really open to my feeling to random people, or people i don’t feel really close. That’s why, i usually just answer “oh yeah, i’m fine. I’m good.” or anything else sounds fine to those who asked. Then i realized, what if they really do care and want to know what i feel that time? I actually kind of person who very explicit about something, but when it comes to feeling, it depends. Then, i try to put on those situation to some of my relatives and friends. It’s not only about greetings, i actually care about some people and i really want to know how they feeling, or is everything okay with their life, but yet some of them didn’t take me seriously. Or maybe, they just don’t want to open up with me. Or they just not ready to open up yet. Maybe.

Another things i learnt from my previous camp, about how we can support others. It came up during the preparation of the staffs before everyone arrived. Then, we put all those words in our staff office a.k.a aquarium. It was right next to me and i can see it every second i sat there. It means a lot that time. How can we support you? By listening to you, by giving advice, by holding your hands or simply quiet time together side by side? Those all the possibilities. And then, if the quiet time together is the way we can support each other, why we have to force someone to talk? or simply force them to answer exactly about the how-are-you question? Well, it’s such an inception moment, but yet it got me thinking, aren’t we all human that once in a while want to hide from those how-are-you question by answer it by those fake smiles or answer?

Tiga Jam Untuk Selamanya

Local Work Bantul!

Lima dukuh dalam satu kabupaten di Bantul, Yogyakarta menjadi taman bermain kami bersama tujuh puluhan anak-anak desa sekitar hari Minggu pagi. Hamoir empat puluh menit dari pusat kota Yogyakarta, kami bertemu dengan mbak Wiwid, yang menyambungkan kami dengan teman-teman di Desa Canden, Bantul. Awalnya, tiga tahun lalu program International People’s Project dari CISV menghasilkan mobile library yang menunjang kebutuhan membaca masyarakat di Bantul. Tahun 2016, keinginan untuk mengunjungi kembali sekaligus melanjutkan program MOSAIC CISV x KIJP yang Juni lalu diadakan di Pulau Klapa – Harapan, Kepulauan Seribu.

Energizer, Pemanasan Di Bawah Matahari Bantul yang Panas

Kami mengadaptasi kegiatan teman-teman Kelas Inspirasi, mengenalkan tentang profesi sekaligus kemampuan lain seperti tari, arts & craft, dan juga kegiatan menonton bersama. Kali ini, ada empat belas relawan yang terlibat untuk berinteraksi soft skill.

dengan warga Bantul. Anak-anak dibagi menjadi tujuh kelompok dengan anggota  9-10 orang tiap kelompoknya. Awalnya, kami berharap usia anak-anak berkisar 10-15 tahun tetapi yang akhirnya datang sangat beragam bahkan mulai usia sembilan tahun. Setelah permainan untuk saling berkenalan, tiap kelompok memulai perjalanannya yang diberi nama “Anak Bantul Keliling Dunia”. Konsep awalnya mengenalkan dunia luar dengan berkunjung ke ‘negara’ yang menjadi nama pos-pos. Setiap pos memiliki pengalaman yang berbeda-beda, ada yang pengenalan profesi ada juga yang mengasah

Kak Dayat Beraksi, Kak Ina Sampai Terlena

Nonton Film Boncengan

Selama lebih kurang tiga jam, ada tujuh pos yang bisa didatangi oleh tiap kelompok. Di pos profesi ada Thailand bersama kak Didi yang mengenalkan profesi bidang humas, ada Belanda yang diisi kak Irma sebagai pengamat burung, mengasah kreativitas di Mesir dengan berkreasi lewat gambar daun bersama kak Dayat, lalu saya sendiri di Brazil mencoba membuka imajinasi sebagai filmmaker. Di pos selain profesi, banyak permainan dan kegiatan yang tak kalah seru. Mulai dari arts & craft bersama kak Uke yang membuat boneka dari benang wool, keliling dunia dan Indonesia bersama kak Novi, atau permainan berdasarkan nilai-nilai kejujuran dan kepercayaan bersama kak Dini. Waktu selama 20 menit pun terasa begitu cepat dan tidak cukup untuk menjabarkan semuanya sampai detail.

 Keliling Dunia dan Indonesia bersama Kak Novi

Setelah makan siang, acara berlanjut dengan menonton film pendek Boncengan dari sutradara Senoaji Julius. Menariknya, film berbahasa Jawa ini ternyata diproduksi masih di wilayah Bantul. Tidak sedikit anak-anak yang menonton bereaksi ketika melihat dan merasa latar film tersebut begitu dekat dengan keseharian mereka. Setelah menonton, rangkaian terakhir dari acara Local Work Bantul ini adalah sharing session bersama kak Made. Ia adalah seorang penari yang besar di Bantul dan kini melanglang buana dan berkarier sebagai penari. Tidak hanya itu, kak Made mengajarkan gerakan-gerakan tari dasar dan juga menantang adik-adik untuk membuat koreografinya sendiri. Tak terasa hari makin petang, saatnya berpisah dengan Desa Canden dan anak-anak yang sebenarnya masih bersemangat.

Dalam waktu yang begitu singkat, mungkin perlu waktu lebih lama untuk akhirnya memahami apa yang kami coba sampaikan pada mereka. Kebanyakan dari adik-adik hanya mengenal dokter, polisi atau astronot sebagai cita-cita. Tidak banyak dari mereka yang pernah menjejakan kaki di luar Yogyakarta, apalagi melihat Tugu Monas. Bisa juga Indonesia hanyalah satu-satunya negara yang ada dalam bayangan mereka. Saya sempat kebingungan ketika kelompok pertama yang datang ke pos saya, segerombolan anak-anak usia 9-10 tahun. Ketika ditanya, apakah pernah menonton film, jawabannya hanya geleng kepala. Ketika dipancing dengan tontonan TV – saya menghindari menyebut judul sinetron – seperti Upin Ipin atau Naruto barulah mereka mulai ngeh. Akhirnya perjalanan menyusun bagaimana film itu dibuat baru bisa muncul di kepala mereka. 

Pos Kak Uke yang Paling Populer

Gengs, You Guys Rocks! Kalian Batu!

Kegiatannya pun saya ubah lebih sederhana. Saya sudah siapkan beberapa kartu dengan tulisan satu buah kata, mereka harus ambil dua-tiga kartu dan mencoba merangkai menjadi sebuah cerita. Kata-kata yang dipilih sudah saya coba pilihkan yang dekat dengan mereka, misalnya Borobudur, sepeda motor atau jadah tempe. Namun, mereka masih kesulitan menyusunnya bahkan untuk memahami kata tersebut masuk dalam kategori apa. Senang akhirnya ada anak-anak yang membuat kisah dari tentang Monas, Borobudur dan bahkan bisa memikirkan ada kejadian menarik (konflik), siapa saja yang memerankan dalam cerita (aktor) sampai menentukan tema (genre) dari cerita yang mereka buat itu apa. Rasanya ada kesenangan sendiri saat mereka tertawa geli akan cerita yang dikarang sendiri atau terperangah dengan gaya kawannya berlakon layaknya aktor jenaka.

Semoga akan ada kesempatan buat bertemu lagi dengan mereka, semoga ada kesempatan untuk mereka bertemu hal-hal asing yang menggugah pikiran mereka, semoga ada kesempatan bertemu dan berbagi dengan teman-teman lain di tempat berbeda, ide-ide yang berbeda.

At The Beginning - Amazing Journey of Evergreen Village CISV China (Part 1)

In 2013, I didn’t finished my stories about my very 1^st CISV experience in The US for Step Up program. It was one hell of life changing experience. Since then, I promised myself that it was not my last program in CISV. So here I am now, five days after finishing my 2^nd program (as a leader) in China and yes, it’s Village.

Two years ago, I met this US Delegation who were attractive, knows CISV well and very outspoken who told me that, “Village is magical for me, it’s wonderful life changing experience”. I was thinking, how come a 14 years-old kid understand some part of their life has been changed when they were 11? That’s how I encourage myself to be village leader. So, in January 2015 – a week after I finished staffing on Youth Meeting in Jakarta- I joined the selection to be leader in Summer 2015. I was submitting to be village leader. And in February (or March, I forgot) I got announcement from chapter leader coordinator that I was selected as village leader and appointed to go to China. Woohoo!

Even tough I have around 4-5 months preparation, the challenge wasn’t become easier. 1^st of all, I have to manage to get leave from my office. Apparently, the camp will held on Eid holiday but I still need 21 days in total so I took 17 days unpaid leave. 2^nd, to prepare the visa, dance and all knick-knacks for open day etc was not so easy while involving four pairs of parents. As time goes by, I managed all the preparation between my working schedule and personal life. It reminds me, two years ago the US visa really got on my nerves and I almost gave up. Thank God, this year way much easier :D

3rd, We sent 5 village delegation this year but we still missed out delegates to complete the rest. So my delegation was the last to formed and none of them ever joined CISV pre-camp. My work getting harder because we only had one pre-camp and one delegation time. Also, not to mention Razzaa quite busy with his football club so he sometimes has to skip dance rehearsal and meet other delegates.

As the last delegation to depart from our 

chapter, I had a chance to gain story and inputs from my seniors. How to handle 11-sometimes-spoiled-brats-kids, when the best time to have national night and day off, how to deal with staffies, and other adult groups. Even though I myself had CISV experiences, it was still new to me.

Finally, the D-Day is coming! And yes, our departure day was on the exact same day on Eid celebration. It means, most of us had to skip the prayer and miss the chance to meet our big family. Fortunately, it wasn’t a biggie for the parents. We took Garuda Indonesia from Jakarta to Guangzhou for 5,5 hours straight and I don’t have to worry about transit or missing 1-2 kid during travel time. Right after we arrived, there’s bunch of kiddos try to call us and shout “CISV..CISV?” I wasn’t ready for any conversation that ti

me, but then I realized they might be delegations to the same camp. It was Italian and Germany delegations who arrived at almost the same time like us. Saw some friendly faces and my delegates started to be curious. After that, gotta to say bye to them because their host family ready to picked them and we will meet in three days. The boys, Jantara & Razzaa, went to same hostfamily while Marsya & Andari went to the other one. Apparently, leaders duty already started as we landed. We took most of delegates luggage to the bus and go to the campsite in Cang’an, two hours ride by bus.

After we had dinner, take a look at our campsite, Cang’an Center Kindergarden, we meet (almost everyone) of leaders, JC and some staffies and had some rest. The next day, Carlos, our beloved camp-director started the training and getting to know each other. We sit in couple, and we have to draw about our pair’s family, their daily activity, dreams and fears. As I remember I have to draw about Chore’s (Mexican leader) activity as computer programmer. Maddy’s (The US JC) family, Ilja (Germany leader) and WInson (local staff) future dream. We had quite fun training

and know each other then we wrapped up the first 3 days with dinner feast in Parkway Hotel as welcoming dinner from CISV China.

So, the beginning of our Evergreen Camp went pretty well, as we also passed the Evergreen Street which the inspiration of the camp theme itself. I will continue the complete story of the journey, the ups and down, the la

ughter and tears..

See you in the next posting! 

Jakarta dan Hangatnya yang Alpa.

Hari ini di timeline Path saya mendadak ramai posting pakai pakaian Abang None, atau ondel-ondel. Baru ngeh, hari ini tanggal 22 Juni hari ulangtahun ibukota Jakarta. Sesaat saya sempat berhenti
sejenank dan berpikir,  apa yang bisa saya ucapkan untuk kota tempat saya tinggal 28 tahun terakhir ini? Tidak macet, tidak banjir, jadi tujuan turistik? Ah, rasanya i can live with that. Entah saya mati rasa atau berusaha legowo menerima kekurangan Jakarta ini.Saya jadi ingat, kira-kira obrolan dengan seorang teman yang menghabiskan masa kuliahnya di Jogja. Ia terkaget-kaget ketika tahu saya asli Jogja dan selalu ke Jogja tiap Lebaran. Bukan, bukan karena ternyata kami berasal dari kota yang sama. Keheranan dia muncul karena saya tidak pernah mencicipi kota pelajar tersebut. Bagaimana
tidak heran, saya cuma datang ke Jogja lewat Adi Sutjipto atau Tugu, langsung menuju rumah nenek di Tamsis, melewati 4-5 hari dengan makan gudeg dan ayam goreng yang saya tidak pernah tahu namanya, belanja di Malioboro dan makan Bakmi Kadin. "Yakin orang Jogja? Kok destinasinya turis banget?" Ada nada judgmental di situ, tapi sayangnya saya tidak bisa membantah. Lebih dari 20 tahun hanya  bisa merasakan jadi anak Jakarta dengan segala stereotipenya. Bahkan, tiga tahun lalu plesiran ke Bali, teman dekat saya berkomentar tentang kunjungan saya ke Potato Head dan Nasi Pedas Bu Andika, "Anak Jakarta banget ya jalan-jalannya!"

Saya mencoba menelan kembali, apa yang salah jadi anak Jakarta? Saya memang tidak pernah keluar dari kota ini. Saya lahir, besar, sekolah, kuliah dan bekerja di sini. Hampir penjuru kota ini saya
eksplorasi demi mengabaikan kepenatan atau kebosanan yang dikeluhkan teman seperjuangan yang mencari nafkah di kota ini. Sampai sekitar tiga tahun lalu, saya mencoba cari tahu, ada rasa apa di luar Big Durian ini? Mengapa seolah-olah rasa campur aduk di Jakarta ini masih terasa 'kurang'? Memang sempat saya begitu terobsesinya dengan traveling, jalan ke sana ke mari. Namun,
rasanya lain. Saya berjalan sebagai pendatang, dengan tulisan turis di dahi saya. Sampai akhirnya ada perjalanan hampir dua minggu di Jogja, saya berusaha melebur dengan lokal. Tidak, mereka juga bukan sepenuhnya orang asli. Saya pun coba lagi mampir ke kota-kota dekat yang dulu saya anggap tidak menarik, Solo, Makassar, bahkan Kendari. Saya buang jauh-jauh itinerary panjang tujuan liburan saya. Pilihan duduk di teras rumah atau warung kopi terdekat justru agenda paling menarik. Ini juga akhirnya yang mengurungkan niat saya lebih sering traveling. Saya kehilangan esensi kehangatan perjalanan itu sendiri.

Kembali soal Jakarta, akhirnya saya mulai paham kenapa orang begitu rindu Jogja, sejuknya Bandung atau Malang, nikmatnya Solo atau tenangnya Bali. Saya mulai paham, mengapa warga Jakarta mudah tersulut berkomentar di sosial media atau di lingkungan terdekatnya tentang hal sepele yang justru bikin panas telinga. Bukannya saya menikmati macet atau kekhilafan warganya yang serba seenaknya, mungkin saya sudah mencapai tahap 'nrimo' dengan kondisi ini. Saya percaya, kadang bukan keinginan sendiri untuk mengadu nasib di kota ini. Ada beberapa kejadian yang saya alami akhir-akhir ini juga sempat membuat saya termenung. Bulan Mei lalu, saya main ke Purbalingga untuk menghadiri sebuah festival film. Pagi-pagi, kami main ke pasar. Tiba-tiba ada seorang bapak menegur, "Mbak dari Jakarta?" Saya kaget, tahu darimana dia? Saya pun mengangguk sambil tersenyum, Ya pak. "Saya dulu kerja mbak di Jakarta, mbak Jakartanya mana? Saya dulu jadi teknisi gedung.." Cerita si bapak pun bergulir, saya mencoba mencerna. Saya lihat dia berjualan -
saya lupa, entah batu akik atau perkakas dapur biasa. Nampak senang berbaur dengan ramainya pasar. Terbersit juga, dengan hidupnya yang cukup di Purbalingga, kenapa dia harus ke Jakarta? Apakah Jakarta menjamin hidupnya layak seperti di desa? Apakah Jakarta menjamin ia
bisa tersenyum lebar dan menghirup udara segar tiap pagi tanpa polusi dan macetnya? Lagi-lagi, saya masih alpa mencari eksotisme Jakarta bagi pendatang semacam bapak itu.

Lalu, apakah dengan ini semua saya memutuskan untuk meninggalkan ibukota? Bukan, bukan karena ingin tinggal dan menikmati nyamannya negara lain seperti yang diidam-idamkan kebanyakan orang di sekitar saya. Kalau ya, mungkin saya perlu mengutip omongan Seno Gumira Ajidarma, saya tidak ingin punya memori masa tua tentang kemacetan soal Jakarta dan membesarkan keluarga di dalamnya. Entah itu jadi ucapan yang sederhana bagi kota Jakarta yang baru ulangtahun atau (lagi, mengutip omongan teman saya) hanya akan jadi impian ideal untuk jauh dari Jakarta demi hidup yang lebih tenang.

Selamat ulangtahun!