Focus on SD Nationals
To demonstrate the different ways in which we work as a network, last time we gave you news of an exciting new partnership between Susila Dharma Nationals, SDIA and a private foundation. In this issue we look at two SD Nationals, Indonesia and Germany, each very successful, but with contrasting approaches to their work.
Home and away: how SD Nationals support projects
Susila Dharma Germany has a shining record of raising sizeable amounts of money for projects, often from sources outside Subud.
The latest example is a grant they applied for in 2011 to BMZ, the German government’s development agency, in order to fund Phase II of a sustainable rural development project run by SD Network member, Anisha, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The grant was to cover one quarter of a total budget of €106,461, of which the remainder is being provided by members of the Susila Dharma Network, including SD Germany itself.
How do they do it? On a practical level, SDG seems to have a very organised team, with board members who are each responsible for liaising with particular project partners. It also has a paid part-time office clerk. Team meetings happen four to six times a year in varying locations, which makes visiting different Subud groups easier. There is also a retreat in the autumn to enable planning for the following year. Publications are an important part of SDG’s activities, with online and printed newsletters and magazines; then, at the end of each year, a fundraising campaign is carried out. Equally important, however, is the team’s philosophy. This is how board member Romina Vianden-Prudent puts it:
Our personal conviction is the basis of our work.
For us cooperation with partners does not start with large financial transfers. We feel it is more important to start with encouragement and small-scale support. We attach great importance to getting to know each other first, building up confidence, communication and cooperation. Mutual respect is the basis for this so that we can bridge our differences.
Development work requires the readiness of all involved—project people and SD project advisors—to keep learning. It requires an enormous amount of patience to accept setbacks and to start at the beginning again and again. It is not always easy to have this patience when confronted with great need; but deep insights into the worlds of our partners are the payback.
We also have the responsibility, as project partners, to express our requirements as our relationship with a project develops and to explain clearly our possibilities and limits. Money can also have a destructive effect; therefore, it is important to find out the right amount for each situation. Susila Dharma Germany is not always an easygoing partner, but it is one which others can rely on. Transparency on both sides is key.
We have had the experience time and again that, in addition to comprehensive information and sound specialized knowledge, we also need our intuition—to listen to our inner voice, and to trust it.
A Susila Dharma Germany team meeting.
Susila Dharma Indonesia (SDI) has quite a different role, acting as an umbrella organisation to projects on the ground in its own country. Cooperation is essential. In the words of Purnama Widjajakusumah who became SD Indonesia Chair in early 2011 after having spent six years as treasurer:
The aim is to cooperate with all institutions, religions, government agencies and groups of people who share the objective of “one united humanity” to provide services in the areas of health, education, children’s care, emergency relief, and community development.
SD Indonesia and Planet Water bring clean water to a school in Java.
SD Indonesia is an affiliate of the National Committee of Subud Indonesia as well as an umbrella organisation for projects founded by Subud members for social purposes. Thus, members of SD Indonesia include Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM), Yayasan Harkat, Saudara Yayasan Sejiwa, Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS), Bina Cita Utama School, Wlingi Cooperative, Cita Buana School and Ibu Peduli. Some of these projects are already well-established and familiar to the SD Network, whereas others are newer and less well-known.
SD Indonesia supports projects in the country by making requests to the SD Network. Current requests can be seen on the SDIA website in SD Indonesia ‘s name, one for a Women’s Capacity Training Programme to be run by Saudara Sejiwa Foundation Family Consultation Learning Center in Ujung Berung, Bandung, West Java. Another request is for a Youth Training Programme in Blitar, East Java, run by Susila Bhakti Cooperative, which started as an internal initiative of the local Subud group in 2006 to serve 25 members, but is now an organisation with its own members—enterprises and non-profits.
Apart from helping projects raise funds, SD Indonesia also has a hands-on approach best illustrated by its collaboration last year with the Planet Water Foundation. After the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010, JP Morgan and SD Norway helped SD Indonesia and Planet Water to deliver clean water to five locations in Central Java. This was known as the Clean Water Programme and installed water purification equipment such as pumps and water tanks in schools. They were enthusiastically received by the local people, who also worked to prepare the foundations for the equipment, and the Planet Water Foundation spoke very highly of the working relationship with SD Indonesia.
SD Indonesia’s future plans are to involve more young people in its activities and to be sustainable as an umbrella organisation for social development projects.
News from the Network
ICDP unites and expands
The International Child Development Programme’s new chair Lailah Armstrong writes:
After Rukman’s passing I became chair of the ICDP (International Child Development Programme) Foundation, and since then we have been focusing on continuing his great work by uniting and expanding the ICDP worldwide network, restructuring the tasks of the central office and improving our fundraising capacity.
Highlights of the new developments include: an ICDP international network conference to be held in September to celebrate 20 years of ICDP in the world; the production of a fundraising brochure donated by Snohetta, the best designer/architect bureau in Norway; the grateful reception of a grant from the GHFP which is paying for the salary for a marketing manager; and the fact that ICDP now has ambassadors for the first time, who have signed a contract with ICDP. One ambassador is a famous author, teacher and public lecturer whose TV programs are well known in Norway; another is the fastest runner in Norway. In addition, Rukman’s book has been edited and is ready for publishing and will be sold in Norway and internationally.
Perhaps most excitingly, ICDP was selected from 475 applications when it applied for funds to the Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund for a randomised study to evaluate the ICDP project in Chocó, Colombia, as mentioned in our last issue. The evaluation will be carried out by a PhD student, supervised by professors from London and from Oslo University.
Keep up the good work!
Virtual volunteer needed for Usaha Mulia Abadi
Nutrition work at Usaha Mulia Abadi.
Do you have experience with graphic design? SD member Usaha Mulia Abadi in Mexico is looking for someone to help them create a new visual identity (logo etc.) and refresh their publications (flyers, newsletters). You don’t have to be in Mexico to do this. All you need is a computer, an internet connection and — ideally — desktop publishing software.
If you´re interested in helping out, please contact Mariamah Flores at usahamuliabadi@gmail.com. For more information about the project, see its web page on the SDIA website.
Read all about it — the latest from YTS
The latest issue of Kabar Itah, the quarterly newsletter from Yayasan Tambukah Sinta (YTS) in Kalimantan, Indonesia, is now online. It features stories about a new media campaign on the prevention of mercury poisoning, the involvement of YTS in a UNEP film on the reduction of mercury use, and a glimpse of how YTS programme officers learn to be open-minded and to listen when they work in communities. And you can even find out what biochar is...
From D.R. Congo to Canada: Dianteza Dimpiokia’s busy schedule
Dianteza Dimpioka (in the middle).
From June 9 to July 6 2012 SD DRC Chairman Dianteza Dimpiokia will travel to Canada. Unfortunately this will not be a holiday! The main purpose of his trip is to meet with a group of SDIA and SD Nationals working together to support projects in the DRC. SD France Chairman Arnaud Delune, SD Canada Board member Raphaelle Chapleau and SDIA’s Virginia Thomas and Samuel Chapleau will work on a number of important points. The priorities are to finalise a manual for the development of up to 18 community co-managed health centres (CSCOMs) across the country and to strengthen the capacity of SD DRC to monitor and implement a range of health and educational projects.
Between 2009 and 2011, SD funding to the DRC has multiplied more than 10 times, so the demands on the SD DRC team are continually growing. “This level of activity is a great thing, as the DRC is officially the poorest country in the world and the human suffering there is very great,” says Virginia Thomas of the SDIA office team. “In such a poor country, it also means many daily difficulties in achieving our results, so our SD teams need to be ready to face a lot of obstacles, challenges and delays.”
In addition to internal SD meetings, Dianteza and the SD working group will meet with the Buchan Family Foundation, which has become a major donor for sustainable health and agriculture initiatives in the DRC. The Buchan Family Foundation has invited three other NGOs active in the DRC —Working Villages International, the George Malaika Foundation and Canada Gives—to learn about our plans for the CSCOMs.
Dianteza will also make a number of presentations to others interested in promoting improved health care in the DRC. He will make a presentation on progress to date to Subud Quebec, which has supported the Pilot CSCOM in Lemba Imbu as well as at the Americas Gathering in Vancouver. Among other things, he has been asked to speak at an adult education centre where special needs and nursing students are enthusiastic to support improved healthcare in the DRC.
Anisha hands over its urban project
Anisha Urban, circa 2005.
For those who might not be aware of changes at Anisha, we’d like to inform you that the project has successfully turned over its urban project in the centre of Bangalore to a government programme called “Anganawadi”. This programme is managed by the Women and Child Welfare Department of the Government of Karnataka and is a pre-school programme for children between 3-6 years old.
Anisha was started in 1998 by Mrs. Valli Rajan with the aim of improving the lives of people living in harsh conditions in the market area of central Bangalore (the capital of the State of Karnataka in the south of India). After its inception, the project grew into an urban and a rural program, “Anisha Urban” and “Anisha Rural.”
Valli made the decision to hand over the urban project when it became obvious that her responsibilities for the rural programme Anisha runs to assist farmers and their families in the south of Karnataka would require her full-time attention and participation.
News from Bina Cita Utama
BCU school’s latest newsletter is hot off the virtual press. You can read it here.
Volunteering
Human Force ready for (lights, camera ...) action
It’s that time of the year again. The Human Force organising team is ready to spring into action on the ground at Anisha, India, as the dates of the camp (8th to 22nd July) fast approach. The participation of six volunteers hailing from Australia, Colombia, France and Indonesia is now confirmed, and they will be working alongside an as-yet unknown number of Indian volunteers.
Human Force volunteers and camp coordinators at Cipanas.
Our two seasoned camp coordinators, Alexandra Woodward and Osanna Favre will also be there, as well as participatory film-maker Myra Margolin, who will be giving her time to make a documentary about the project with the help of volunteers, as outlined in April’s eNews.
Please consider helping us out. We are going to need more equipment than we currently have for this project and so are soliciting donations of media equipment that you are no longer using that we can bring to India and leave with Anisha.
Have you recently upgraded your digital camera? Have a digital camcorder that you don’t use anymore? An extra external hard drive that has been replaced by a bigger drive? A laptop that is fast enough to handle basic photo editing?
All of these things and more are most welcome. Items may be taken to the Americas gathering where they can be given to Alexandra Woodward.
You can also donate money to help pay Myra’s expenses. If you’re interested, you can find out more or write to getinvolved@susiladharma.org.
United Nations and Global Networking
Countdown to Rio +20
Our three delegates (see Issue 76) to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro are on their way. The summit, whose official name is the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, will be held between 20th and 22nd June with preparatory meetings from 13th to 15th June. Apart from the official plenary sessions, there will also be a wide array of side events or parallel meetings in which our team will be taking part. This will give our team members a chance to make new contacts, network and make their presence felt.
In the run-up to the conference, a team that includes SDIA staff members, a volunteer and two of the delegates has carried out a survey among eight SD member projects. The survey’s aim was to find out what environmental problems the projects are trying to address, what their activities are in this area, what challenges they face and how effective they are being. We also asked them questions about environmental awareness in their daily operational practices, covering subjects such as energy consumption, transportation, recycling, food and nutrition, and the power structure in their organisations.
Here is a glimpse at the projects’ responses.
In A Child’s Garden of Peace, Brazil, the children involved in the project participate in making their own nutritious snacks. As much as possible these are made from ingredients harvested from the garden and from neighbouring fruit trees.
Anisha in India has a bottom-up power structure whereby all discussion and planning is done jointly by all the project staff.
CEDERI-Madimba in D.R. Congo only uses electricity — produced by a petrol-powered generator — in their Health Centre between 6.30 and 9.30 pm.
The Centre for Culture and Development (CCD) in India teaches people about the bad effects of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilisers on humans and on the whole environment and encourages them to adopt green and organic inputs in their farming practices.
The members of Fundación Trópico in Colombia try to be consistent in what they do on a daily basis. The foundation has ecological principles, and they say to new people — if you can’t abide by them, this isn’t the place for you.
In Kalimantan the destruction of the rainforest over the last 35 years has been chiefly caused by clear-cutting by farmers and the use of mercury to extract gold.
Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS) in Indonesia has identified both the lack of recycling facilities and the lack of awareness, particularly concerning the disposal of plastic, as major issues, and is considering the introduction of a training package for staff on environmental impact.
Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM) in Indonesia carries out environmental education, especially in Kalimantan, as part of its health and agricultural projects.
At its volunteer camps Usaha Mulia Abadi in Mexico gives talks about being environmentally aware, and usually integrates a message about protecting the environment in workshops for children.
Women’s Worldwide Initiative featured on TV
SDIA’s representative to the United Nations, Uraidah Hassani, appeared on TV at the end of May to promote Young Women Rock!, the mentoring programme of the project she founded in 2009 — the Women Worldwide Initiative.
The Women Worldwide Initiative was featured on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC TV (USA) on Memorial Day weekend (May 26-27, 2012)
Uraidah Hassani
“Their producer was out in East New York [in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City] with us today filming a session of Young Women Rock! and interviewing me, the mentors and the mentees. I’m walking on clouds! So honoured!” Uraidah wrote on her Facebook page.
The Women Worldwide Initiative’s mission is to connect, inspire, and educate women and girls on a global scale through mentorship programs, social change projects, and an information- and inspiration-based social network. It is dedicated to youth development, and cultural and economic empowerment of women and girls in low-income communities in New York City and developing countries, and is a fiscally sponsored organisation of Subud International Cultural Association (SICA).
Many congratulations to Uraidah and her team!
For more information, visit the Women Worldwide Facebook page and website.
SDIA board member launches book
On May 30th Dr Livingston Armytage, specialist in judicial and legal reform and SDIA board member, launched his new book, Reforming Justice: A Journey to Fairness in Asia, at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
He argues that the core problem in social and economic development has been a failure to embrace the central role of justice in legal and judicial reform efforts. Justice is the basis of an individual's wellbeing within society and it cannot be trumped by economics. For this reason, advancing justice, however locally conceived and however achieved, is a central concern of all human beings.
Livingston has worked in senior roles for major development agencies in more than 30 countries, is Founding Director of the Centre for Judicial Studies and an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Sydney. Find out more and read an abstract of his book.
From the Office
2011 Annual Report has a new look!
The members of SDIA agreed at their Annual Meeting in Greece last year to invest resources and create a new visual identity for the Association. Work started in July 2011 and, after a lengthy process, we are proud to announce that a new logo has been adopted.
SDIA's new logo.
We want to specially thank Latif Vogel of Sydney Australia for his help with the challenging task of capturing the essence of what we do. Mardiyah Miller and Suzanna Dayne, of Begin Design in Jakarta Indonesia, are assisting us to apply our new visual identity in all our publications including a new website that will be launched later this year. Many thanks for the fresh insights this team is bringing to our awareness of how to present ourselves to a wider audience.
You can see the elements of our new visual identify applied for the first time in the just-published SDIA 2011 Annual Report. We are very happy with this new look that reflects who we are and what we do. Thank you to all those who assisted us in this process and, of course, all those who support the work of SDIA. You can find out who they are on the Thank You page of the Annual Report.
Remembering Hasijah Rosefield
Hasijah with some of the "Market Boys" in the early days.
Hasijah Rosefield, who was active at the very beginning of YUM in Indonesia, passed away on May 25, 2012.
According to “The YUM Story”, an account of the beginnings of the organisation, Hasijah was a qualified social worker from the US who established a training programme for street children in Jakarta in 1978. With the use of a donated house, she trained three young Indonesian men who worked with around 40 boys, two afternoons a week. The boys were taught reading, writing and arithmetic plus a little English. When the boys in Hasijah’s care were moved to a new location, she renamed the project The Market Boys, and was able to care for between 15 to 20 boys. They were provided not only with basic education and health care, but a safe place to stay, away from the dangers and hardships of life on the streets. The boys often underwent a transformation within a few months from fearful and distrustful to open and smiling children.
YUM’s Olvia Reksodipoetro writes
I met 3 of [Hasijah’s] Market Boys some years ago (around 2000). They were already grown up, married with children. Everyone at my office was very impressed with them!
Our own Rosanna Hille writes:
Hasijah in Jakarta.
I went to the village where the Market Boys came from after it was well on its way to economic recovery. People didn’t have to leave to find work. Hasijah had essentially looked after these kids in Jakarta and provided some stability in their lives until she was able to help them get back to their village by creating economic opportunities for families there. Some of these boys were now young men running enterprises in their village. I asked the woman who was showing us around how they thought about Hasijah today, so many years later, and without hesitation she said, “Oh, but to us she is an angel.” She was astonished that I did not seem to know that. I was deeply touched by this example of the impact on poverty reduction by our Susila Dharma initiatives. Hasjiah was such an important pioneer for Susila Dharma.
Some heartfelt feedback
And finally, we would like to share with you an email received recently from our newest associate member, CORMUDEPAZ:
We received the information letter from SDIA and we could not believe it, it was marvellous — a surprise charged with emotion. In the name of CORMUDEPAZ, let me say a big THANK YOU because you have shown so much interest in our corporation and for everything we do. In truth we did not think it would go so far.
And as “dreaming doesn’t cost anything”, it would be great if you could come to Colombia and in passing get to know our city, our Subud house and our work with marginal communities. [...]
A big hug and may God be with you on this path which is for the good of all.
Luz Esmeralda
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