The Time is NOW

So.. Day 1 finally ends.

Back in room thinking about how Nairobi been treating us with good weather and fresh breeze. Also about how today I met tens of new people, fellow anti-corruption activists working in the youth sector.

Anyway since I am quite exhausted, my comment for today’s event is.. for a forum that has the word ‘youth’ in it, I feel I expect too much. Participants showing up wearing suits, presenting ICT works depending on powerpoint mostly, people sitting down entire time. It’s not that ICT’s not interesting, it’s the way ICT represented. If only there are more demonstration tools, more interactive ways.. Where are the dance, the singing, the moves? Presentations mostly showing problems instead of potentials. Pictures of problems being shoved to my head again and again. Depressing. 

Two things that I found interesting.. Presentations about Check My School from Philippines friends (Jecel, Gibby, Gaddy, you all rock!) and their derivations (Check My University, Check My Peace). And the group session. I was in the group with most fun theme in it.. “Using of culture music in campaign”. We shared stories and ways to collaborate arts in anti-corruption campaign, the importance to send messages of hope out there.

Expecting more for tomorrow. 

Seminggu ini saya akan mengikuti Global Youth Anti-Corruption (GYAC) Forum (http://voices-against-corruption.ning.com/), pertemuan tahunan anggota jaringan anti korupsi dari berbagai negara yang terjun langsung di sektor anak muda. Tahun lalu GYAC Forum di selenggarakan di Brussels Belgia. Tahun ini di Nairobi, Kenya, dengan peserta lebih dari 30 negara. Dari TI sendiri akan ada 6 perwakilan chapter: Hungaria, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Lebanon, TI-S, dan saya dari TI Indonesia.

 Jadi bisa dibilang, pergi ke GYAC untuk woro-woro juga bahwa TI Indonesia sudah resmi aktif di sektor anak muda. Di sana saya akan presentasi singkat tentang pendekatan yang saya pakai  dan kembangkan selama ini untuk mengajak anak muda masuk dalam gerakan anti korupsi. Pecha-kucha style :0)

Akan sangat seru karena saya dapat kesempatan pergi bareng Bunga, sahabat seperjuangan beda ranah (dia di industri berita). Can’t wait to spend 15 hours trip sharing whatever’s been going on with SPEAK! Asik juga karena jadi ada teman sparing buat konsep presentasi..  

Gotta go pack (termasuk ngecharge iPod yang baterainya udah agak payah itu, dan benahin playlist..terakhir update sepertinya 3 tahun yg lalu). Flight’s not until tonight, but I have to find sweaters.. I heard it’s pretty cool there, 20’C.

Will post more from Africa!

Adrenaline rush.

When I had to go deliver an uplifting speech in front of more than 3000 new students.

When I had to have my say in a forum attended by life heroes.

When I found out the view tags has more than hundreds in just few minutes.

When my point of view was being broadcasted nationally. Word by word. 

When I know he was somewhere in the room but just for the sake of the moment I had to supress the excitement.

When my hero acknowledged me, by name.

When I got something most wonderful to share to everyone that I know will be as ecstatic.

When messages coming in asking to participate.

When I had to make the first backflip jump out of the boat. 

When I know exactly how things would turn out and all it takes is just a small stunt.

When they played intro of my favorite song.

When I had to be in a place but the taxi in front of me took ages to go above 40kmh.

When I knew how things going to be published and couldn’t predict how things going to unravel. 

Adrenaline rush is exactly now. When I know what I want but I don’t know how I will get it but somehow opportunity presents itself, again on a gold plate. 

Chain of events. 

January 2010. Still going places finding the right form. Plan was to develop Youth Integrity Program, brainstorming everyday with Hugh. Weird process, all words - so left brain, no picture - but somehow we understand each other. We were poking at budgets too, with that ugly ass looking LFA format (I still don’t really get it, how can people work with that?) Did lots of browsing, lotsa reading, lots of downloads, making sure I got the ‘feel’ back into the youth world and remembering how the industry works. Then suddenly my eyes bumped into something most attracting. free Digital Advertising Seminar. Prasetiya Mulya Business School. Provoke Magz. Interesting. Sign up immediately. 

That Saturday, January 30th, historical day. Not only that was the day we moved to now our lovely crampy room in Senopati, first time ever in Jakarta, but also because of the free seminar at Prasetiya Mulya. Was excited going there. Even met Satria before entering seminar venue. The event went super interesting. Inspiring. Made me want to design my own website and execute the communication strategy right away (didn’t exactly have in mind what the website going to look like though that time). After the seminar, bumped to a nicely prepared table with big writings on it “Indonesian Youth Conference”. There were button pins, stickers, t-shirts, and books as well.. but what caught my eyes was a form with the most wonderful writings on it “Sign-up as Volunteer”. Didn’t hesitate a bit to ask more of this conference.  What’s in it, the purpose, who’s organizing, who are the targeted participants.. surely making the IYC committee who was attending the tables overwhelmed. They led me to sit on IYC’s promotion session in the student hall where PM students have their business venture showcase. There were Alanda, and Ghian. Interesting promotion. Conference and Festival. Volunteer recruitment. And they didn’t have anti-corruption yet in the program :0)) Anyway, in the next month IYC secured an anti-corruption session in the Festival for us.

Next, February came. Was hospitalized for an unclear sickness. March, celebrated birthday with Dr Parnassuss and Kings of Convenience - *ehm* Cayman Islands always work like a charm.. “If only they could see, If only they had been here, They would understand, How someone could have chosen, To go the length I’ve gone, To spend just one day riding, Holding on to you.. I never thought it would be this clear”.

April, prepared trips for the bosses (Dhaka, London, India), and attended big TII Munas in Puncak. Not much for the youth program, just basic touch and go with administrative work.

In May, something ignited me to start running the youth program, even if it’s just a simple FGD. Enough dilly-dally. Went to Gonz and met old time teacher, Pak Is. Talked about having the school as host to a simple small anti-corruption discussion. He went all ecstatic about it. Very good. Set a date in June. With only 1 month to prepare, I boosted up everything. I mean, everything was so well prepared. Registrations, promo channels, place setup. Apparently I wasn’t. Woke up 4 am sick in my stomach. Had an appendectomy surgery just 5 days before D-Day. Doctor said easy recovery. Allright. 2 days bedrest at home, the next day I showed up at Gonz leading the FGD with Afra. Monumental. Participants were craving more time. — this would eventually lead to SPEAK formed, and their first public appearance was, guess what, IYC! 

IYC was in 4th July. SPEAK formed also in July, just 2 days before. The team performed well, I was so proud of them! Ternyata di hari itu banyak yang tertarik dengan penampilan SPEAK. Introduction and long talks with Paku from UNODC would eventually lead to the big anti-corruption campaign on 9th December, with us running the SpeakFest Concert. Boosted up a lot of coverage. Was a good way of intro to public. A phone call also came, also because of seeing us in the program directory, Agni from Ashoka was curious and after a short interview offered a tryout in the Young Intrapreneur program. Was not really sure about it at first, was too busy working on the technical aspects, but a hunch told me to grab it seriously as it offered a space to reflect on what was being developed. And I did. Boy how I did it seriously. Revelation. Turned out figuring steps wasn’t as difficult I thought it would be. Was introduced to wonderful self-assessment tools. Was so happy because finally, yes finally, I had not just one (which was so damn difficult to find in office), but a GROUP of people as brain-boxing sparing partners. How INCREDIBLE that was!

One thing really leads to another, creating chain of strings of event, so interconnected, and interwoven. Doing SpeakFest has led me to meet out-of-the-box admirable creative people, more than I can imagine meeting in the first place. I met film directors, curators, writers, activist cum bandplayers slash jiguja drinkers, brilliant graphic designers, cute smell good managers, new network of more creative people.

Joining in Ashoka also led me to meet even more crazy out of the box social entrepreneurs. Their fuel is simply social empathy. These are the kinds that treating social actions as serious as running multi-national-corporations. Mean it business. People with BROAD visions of how this country should run. Big leagues. The masonries. And my mentor is one of them, creating social changes in remote places using ways I can only imagine happening in movies. I was in so much awe to be presented a rare opportunity, on a gold plate. This is the real deal.. Welcome to the invisible army of hope.

Ordinaries molded into the visionaries for change!  

Got the tools, the team, the energy, the facilities, the networks.. No more holding back, right! 

Anyway, today I signed agreement with IYC commitee, just like I did last year. I’m curious to see what more surprises waiting to unravel afterwards ;0) 

Begitu banyak yang terjadi akhir-akhir ini.

I reconnected with old friends from the past. Remembered them were pictured so difficult to reach. But all I took was just one single phone call. The rest is history.

I also remembered reading cool names back in my heyday life in Bali. Then now I’m a part of their lives. Thriving and beating. We work together creatively towards the same goal.

I remember going inside the world I chose halfheartedly to step out. How I miss that world. And I conquered the studios!

I remembered so much fun holding group bonding sessions. The way those tight brick walls melt, so darn worthy.

Remember the crazy uplifting moments when messages coming in. Sent tickling butterflies and huge smile on my face driving through Kemang.

And the uploaded pictures. And words.

The wonderful clear revelation of joining the army of hope. I belong.

The over the moon process of finding the old self hidden and now wild out and about. 

As well as monthly ride to places.. January to Gunung Putri, February to Amed, March to Badung and Ubud, this April to Africa, and most likely July to Kuala Lumpur.

Past events and experiences now felt more like life puzzles. Some happens for a reason, and some are starting to unravel. I always have hunches, although never a broad see through. Extraordinary how chances and dreams collides in most unexpected ways. 

2011, belum masuk bulan ke-5 sudah banyak kejutan. Tapi sepertinya pikiran ini sudah mengantisipasi. Somehow it felt like John Lennon’s “Happiness is a warm gun”. This past year, we were building a weapon. Now the Gun already fired. It’s warm, and I’m going the distance making sure it stays warm.