Living the Dream in Indonesia
For Jennifer Donnelly, the third Dream International Students Summer Programme offered a chance to explore a new country and culture, as well as extend her knowledge of ‘social entrepreneurship’ – the theme of this year’s programme.
Jennifer, a third-year law/arts student at the University of Auckland, explains that social entrepreneurship involves using entrepreneurial principles to improve social problems. “It makes sense to extrapolate these principles and apply to them to social enterprises as a means of achieving social change to benefit the world.
“I wanted to go on the programme because it resonated with the direction I wish my career to head in over the long run, and I have a lot of passion for, and some experience in, social enterprise.
“It was advertised as an opportunity for 'inter-faith dialogue', which particularly appealed to me as I have always been fascinated with religious interaction and how we can maximise religious harmony.”
The Dream programme, held in late June/early July, was organised by the Indonesian Office of International Affairs. About 100 students from around the world attended the programme, which included lectures, community service, short internships and a field trip.
Jennifer, who has a keen personal and academic interest in women’s rights and equal opportunities, did her internship at Rifka Annisa, a women’s domestic violence crisis centre. “The internship really drove home the universality of many social problems, but also how they occur in such diverse settings and how the responses vary hugely.
“The Indonesian approach to stopping domestic violence is premised on the same values as the efforts in New Zealand. But gender norms are different to New Zealand and thus our views on what 'female empowerment' really means and how it can be achieved were very different.”
Though based in Jogjarkarta, Jennifer also spent two days doing community service in a village. The local chief/elders also performed a “terrifying and amazing” dance that involved “the eating of glass, lashing of skin and setting fire to each other as a demonstration of their immense strength and untouchability when possessed with the spirits of the tribe”.
“In terms of learning about different cultures, Indonesia is an ideal destination,” said Jennifer, “because it combines the pace and dynamism of other Asian destinations with an intense Islamic undercurrent. The result is a society vastly different from New Zealand.”
That difference contributed to the strong culture shock Jennifer experienced on the trip. “Out of any overseas experience I have ever had, this was certainly the most candid and had a huge impact on my general outlook. For example, it was fascinating to share a room with Kharisa, a fantastic Muslim girl. She was so candid and honest about her religion, and had no qualms about getting up at 5am every morning to pray while I slept on beside her.”
While these cultural differences “provided an unprecedented educational challenge” for Jennifer, she found the Indonesian people to be extremely accommodating and respectful. She was also well-supported by the Australian delegation and other Dream participants. Jennifer would highly recommend this experience to other young leaders.
Jennifer’s travel to Indonesia was financially supported by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
Images:
1. Jennifer’s community services involved helping villagers dig up rice plants at the end of the rice season
2. Jennifer with two other interns at the Riffka Annisa women’s refuge.
