Member News
SD Indonesia brings relief to victims of collapsed dam
When the dam broke, a wall of water burst through the city, leaving a trail of destruction.
March 27, a dam broke and a wall of water cascaded through Cirendeu, Ciputat in Java, overturning cars, rushing through homes and destroying livelihoods. Over a hundred people lost their lives and many more were left homeless and struggling to support loved ones after their livelihoods were destroyed. More than a month later, 468 people still lived in temporary shelters.
SD Indonesia (SDI) continues to evaluate the situation in the community and is currently providing support in the form of an economic recovery program. This includes the distribution of grants to local small business owners to help them rebuild their livelihoods. Beneficiaries include food and drink stall operators, a welder and a t-shirt printer – all of whom lost their liveli¬hoods in the tragedy. The grants from SDI are invaluable in helping these small business owners reopen their busi¬nesses and begin the tasks of rebuilding their lives and supporting their families.
The Jakarta Post published an article regarding SD Indonesia activity in Situ Gintung.
The Jakarta Post journalist, Andra Wisnu also interviewed SD Indonesia’s chair Ariana Susanti the article was published on May 4, 2009. You can read it here.
You can also see the two SDI newsletters about this emergency relief project on the SDIA website. Donations are still being accepted for this relief work.
Canada and Holland have new National Chairs
SD Canada has appointed Ramsey Oren to be their chairperson. Ramsey takes over from Atisah Moreau.
SD Netherlands has appointed Sabrina Castillo, who has been serving as their international liaison, as their new chairperson.
Ramsey Oren
Sabrina Castillo chair of SD Netherlands (L) and Farah Czwiertnia, International Helper.
Congratulations Sabrina and Ramsey!
Subud Ecuador Meeting explores Susila Dharma
Uraida Vacacela from Ecuador is a Director of SDIA.
Uraida Vacacela, an SDIA Director, recently attended the Subud Ecuador meeting and shares this news:
I attended the Subud meeting in Quito and worked with Subud members to raise awareness of Susila Dharma. For me SD is the Subud wing that attends to its members in the fulfillment of Subud's goals of facilitating, fortifying and promoting the sustainable development of humanitarian initiatives that promote a positive human, social, cultural, environmental, economic and political transformation. After our discussions some members felt that they have been working with SD, without being connected to SD within Subud. I shared my ideas in the Subud Ecuador Congress and they felt interested in organizing another Subud meeting just to work on Susila Dharma.
YUM officially opens newly renovated Children’s Village buildings
One of the dormitories at
YUM’s Children's Village.
On May 20th, Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM) officially launched four newly renovated buildings in their Children’s Village, a home for destitute children in Cipanas, West Java. This was possible thanks to the generous contribution of the Priscilla hall Memorial Foundation (PHMF), which has enabled YUM to renovate two dormitories, a dining hall and a library/study hall.
Today the Children’s Village can care for up to 50 children. Its goal is to raise, nurture and educate orphans or financially destitute children so that they will become self-reliant and self-disciplined young adults. Over the years, the physical condition of the orphanage had deteriorated to the point where it needed assistance to upgrade the living facilities of the children.
SD Network helps rebuild homes in Cuba
Members of the Subud group in Camaguay, Cuba.
Last year, the deadly hurricanes Ike and Paloma ripped across the Caribbean, causing devastation in many countries. In November, Cuba was particularly badly hit by hurricane Paloma. According to the Cuban government, it destroyed more than 1,400 homes. Damage sustained by the storms included blown-off roofs and collapsed walls. Utensils, mattresses, clothes and other belongings were blown away or ruined by flooding. Around 10 Subud families were affected, mainly in the east of the island. Relief efforts to those in the east were hampered by the fact that the hurricane that most affected them had been preceded by another major storm in the west of the country 10 days previously. This meant that resources mobilised by the government to help victims had already been targeted elsewhere.
The SD Network, responding to the dire situation of many Subud members who were left with their houses in ruins, sent the families money for repairs and emergency items, as well as packages of food and other goods. . Funds from the Susila Dharma Network took some time to arrive where they were needed because money has to be transported in person and considerable distances were involved. The reconstruction process was further hampered because food and materials were scarce and expensive.
The Cuban Subud members' most urgent needs were met because of the various donations and support from the SD Network. Aneesah, from the Camaguey Subud group is happy to report that the last roof replacement has finally been accomplished and all major repairs have now been finished. She says:
We have felt the love, generosity and solidarity of so many people we have never met, but who, on hearing about our predicament, were able to stretch out a friendly and brotherly hand... We have all felt supported by you all, not only financially but spiritually too. Thank you.
Serious strategic planning at Fundación Amanecer
During the Gathering of the Americas 2008, and in part as the result of SDIA's project management capacity building initiative, the meeting recognised that Fundación Amanecer needs a strategic plan to increase its effectiveness as a social foundation working in education and community development. With the financial support of MSF, Fundación Amanecer invited a professional team of facilitators from the Universidad EAN in Bogotá to accompany a two-day strategic planning process May 15–17.
Participants came from the local community around Amanecer, the municipality of La Tebaida, the foundation's board of directors and Subud Colombia. Group representatives from across the country also attended. International guests included Sharif Horthy of Guerrand Hermes Foundation for Peace, Garrett Thomson, Chairman of ISC, and Virginia Thomas, Executive Director of SDIA. The meeting was opened by the Mayor of La Tebaida and the Rector of the Universidad de Gran Colombia, who stated their interest and commitment to working with Fundación Amanecer to achieve important social and educational objectives. With new clarity from this planning exercise, Fundación Amanecer will be able to define more effectively programs and focus activities in line with a clearer sense of its mission and objectives in the field of education and social development.
SUN for LIFE plants moringa trees
Moringa trees bring numerous benefits.
On the cover of SDIA's 2008 Annual Report is a photo of Zoy Horthy’s project called SUN for LIFE. This French NGO works in Madagascar to educate local people about the cultivation and use of moringa oliefera trees. The moringa oliefera provides many benefits including nutrition for humans and livestock, a plant spray for discouraging infestations of insects, for purifying water and for making biogas. Learn more about moringa with this PowerPoint presentation from the Trees For Life website.
If you are interested in supporting this important environmental work of SUN for LIFE, you can make a donation through the SDIA website.
Al Jazeera news story on mercury poisoning features YTS and Bardolf Paul
Al Jazeera interviewed Bardolf Paul about the work of YTS to combat the effects of mercury poisoning.
Through several internationally funded projects, Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS) has been tackling the issues of mercury poisoning with artisanal miners in Kalimantan. Al Jazeera News Network recently featured YTS in a report about mercury poisoning. The 12 minute report can be found on YouTube by typing ‘Al Jazeera mercury poisoning 101 east’ or go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzus0Q9lEfM
More information can be found at www.tambuhaksinta.com and www.borneomercury.com.
Yoga class at Mithra's summer camp.
Mithra summer camp with children winds up
Bella from the Mithra Foundation in Bangalore India wrote:
Last week we completed our summer camp and the children enjoyed it thoroughly. There were children from five slums and they managed to do a lot of their activities. Five teachers and two volunteers managed the program.
News from the United Nations
Nine years after the 2001 Durban Anti-Racism Conference
Subud delegation to Durban Conference in 2001.
The idea of a world conference on racism took root in the late ‘nineties in a small NGO sub-committee on racism in Geneva of which SDIA was a member. It all sounded very exciting and many of us really believed it could lead to changes in racist and xenophobic attitudes. Just the fact it was going to be held in South Africa, the country that had suffered so long under apartheid and had got rid of it, seemed to augur well.
Katherine Carré attended the Durban Review Conference, which was held April 20–24 in Geneva. In 2001, ten Subud members participated in the Anti Racism Conference in Durban, South Africa. Katherine reviews the intention behind the original conference, summarizes the implementation of the recommendations that were made and describes the events she attended in Geneva.
Artwork on healing from the World Conference on Anti‑Racism 2001.
The Durban Review Conference formally adopted the final outcome document by a consensus of 182 countries (all but 10) after which High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay and the President of the Conference, greatly relieved by the happy end after a chaotic start, made their closing speeches.
“We will be leaving this hall tonight with a sure sense of accomplishment, with renewed and reenergized determination and purpose,” said Pillay. …the Conference proved to be “a celebration of tolerance and dignity for all”, and that it produced a “meaningful outcome, enshrining a common aspiration: to defy racism in all its manifestations and work to stamp it out wherever it may occur.”
International Mother Earth Day declared on April 22
Mother Earth and her Moon.
On April 22, 2009, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution designating April 22 each year as International Mother Earth Day. Bolivia and 50 other countries sponsored this move. The Earth Day Observance was started in 1970 in the United States and many other countries as a way to bring awareness to the environmental problems facing the planet.
In adopting the resolution, the General Assembly invited all member states, the U.N. system, regional bodies and non-government organizations to "observe and raise awareness of International Mother Earth Day, as appropriate".
General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto called on nations to “cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystems.” D'Escoto emphasised the important role indigenous peoples have to play in protecting local ecosystems. “States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and enable the effective participation of indigenous peoples in the achievement of sustainable development," he said.
Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous President, said, "Sixty years after adopting the [Universal Declaration of Human Rights], Mother Earth is now finally having the rights recognized."
Here are links to two articles: Environmental News Service — UN General Assembly Dept. of Public Information
UN announces launch of world’s first tuition-free, online university
A leading arm of the United Nations working to spread the benefits of information technology today announced the launch of the first ever tuition-free online university.
University of the People Website: http://www.uopeople.org/
SDIA Office Update
SDIA’s 2008 Annual Report published
SDIA • Annual Report • Reporte Anual • Rapport Annuel • 2008
This year we have tried something new and combine English, French and Spanish into one publication. The 28–page report has been printed and will be distributed at conferences and gatherings and can be read on-line. We have also created three shorter (12-page) on-line versions in English, French and Spanish for those who want to email or print the report for their local community. The Annual Report is on the SDIA web site in all three languages.
As SDIA’s report to its members, donors and the public, the Annual Report includes the message from our chairman Sharifin Gardiner; the report on our progress towards goals set forth by our members; SDIA Membership in 2008 (47 development projects and 23 SD national organizations); our financial report and acknowledgement of our donors and volunteers.
Thanks to you all! Got any questions? Please send them to info@susiladharma.org
SDIA Annual General Meeting at Loudwater Farm UK in July
From July 3–5, 2009 SDIA will be holding its Annual Members’ Meeting and AGM at Loudwater Farm, in Rickmansworth, UK. A two-day SDIA Board meeting will be held July 6 and 7 and is open to members as observers.
All SD national organisations, project leaders and others who are interested are welcome to join us for the weekend to consider the needs of the SD International Network and its members, and to identify our goals for the coming four-year period (2010–2014). We hope representatives from the SD national organisations will prepare by holding preliminary discussions about the SD Network Goals at the national level with their boards and projects leaders. For information about registration for the Loudwater meeting, contact Cassidy Sterling at cassidy@susiladharma.org
Thank You Harlinah!
Harlinah Hamer (right) was part of the SDIA leadership 2001-2005 seen here with Kumari Beck, Ariana Susanti, and Rosanna Hille in Kalimantan in 2004.
Harlinah Hamer was an active member of the SDIA Board from 2001 until 2005. She was much loved for her dedication and contribution to the development of social and humanitarian actions of Subud members, especially in Asia. Sadly Harlinah passed away last year in Australia. We thank Harlinah immensely for her generous bequest of approximately $38,000 US to SDIA’s Endowment Fund. Harlinah was always very interested in enterprises and Susila Dharma work and dedicated her life to both. After her term as Director, Harlinah went on to form a non-profit organization that provided trauma counselling to victims of violence in places such as East Timor. Thank you Harlinah for all you have given to Susila Dharma and God Bless!
With this new bequest, the SDIA Endowment Fund is now approximately $365,000. The Fund is invested with Morgan Stanley and managed by the Board of SDIA.
The SDIA Network eNews is published once a month from information sent in to the office.
We welcome news items. Deadline for submissions is the middle of each month.