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At this point I've given two presentations for work. The first was at Interfidei for about 20-30 people. Most of them were friends of the organization or members of their programs. It was during my second week here and my topic was gay rights in America. With the DOMA decision being handed down the previous week, it seemed like a fitting choice. I discussed the progress the US has made with regards to gay rights, especially during the Obama administration. I then talked about the link between religion and gay rights, explaining that many people are opposed to gay rights or gay marriage because they feel it's against their religion. Before presenting I was extremely nervous. Strictly speaking, Islam is against homosexuality and I didn't know how the audience would react to such a controversial topic. I was pleasantly surprised as I noticed everyone was incredibly engaged in my talk. Afterwards, many people had questions for me. They just simply wanted to understand more about my personal exposure to homosexuality and about how US society treats gays. Everyone was incredibly open-minded.
The second presentation was last night. After people had attended our first presentation, we were asked to present again for young activists an hour outside of Jogja. The venue for the presentation was a church, but we were going to be breaking the fast with all of the participants. Breaking fast in a church was in itself a very interesting interfaith experience. They requested that I talk about Islamophobia in America, which made me even more nervous. It's so hard to present on something that I consider to be one of America's most embarrassing problems. I brought up the obvious point that fear has contributed to Islamophobia due to terrorist attacks, such as 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombing. This paired with an ignorance and misunderstanding of Islam has generated the prevalent climate of Islamophobia. Many people had questions for me; they wanted to know what they could do as Indonesians to counter this negative image. I told them the most important thing is to show Americans that you are just a normal person living your life. Show them that Muslims can also be open-minded, tolerant and non-violent. A woman approached me while we were breaking fast and told me she appreciated my willingness to present on something I don't personally believe in. She said she realizes it is hard for me to present these viewpoints, but that they all really needed to hear about my topic. It was an incredibly rewarding presentation and it was great to attend another breaking of the fast! In total there were almost 90 people who came to watch my presentation.
One interesting aspect of presenting in Indonesia is the translation. My Indonesian is not even close to being good enough to use for presenting, although I did introduce myself in Indonesian both times which the audience appreciated. This means I always have a translator. Having to pause every few sentences and let the translator interpret is very different than any other presentation I've ever given. I often think about what gets lost in translation, but all you can do is hope that the main points shine through.
The most incredible part about these presentations is how much I learned in the process. Through research I learned even more about my topic and through dialogue with the people attending I leaned a lot about the Indonesian perspective. I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to share more about American society and meet so many new people!
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| The sign outside announcing the multicultural dialogue for youth. |
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| The church in Klaten where we presented. It is considered one of the most architecturally unique and beautiful churches in Indonesia. It was influenced by Japanese and German architecture. |
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| Some of the group from Interfidei. Misato and I were accompanied by Reta, our supervisor, and Wening, a volunteer at Interfidei. My buddy Bila also came and so did Enggar! |
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| Giving my presentation. People are always sitting on the floor for these types of meetings. |
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| Praying before breaking the fast. |
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| Enjoying hot, sweet tea at the break fast. |
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At this point I've given two presentations for work. The first was at Interfidei for about 20-30 people. Most of them were friends of the organization or members of their programs. It was during my second week here and my topic was gay rights in America. With the DOMA decision being handed down the previous week, it seemed like a fitting choice. I discussed the progress the US has made with regards to gay rights, especially during the Obama administration. I then talked about the link between religion and gay rights, explaining that many people are opposed to gay rights or gay marriage because they feel it's against their religion. Before presenting I was extremely nervous. Strictly speaking, Islam is against homosexuality and I didn't know how the audience would react to such a controversial topic. I was pleasantly surprised as I noticed everyone was incredibly engaged in my talk. Afterwards, many people had questions for me. They just simply wanted to understand more about my personal exposure to homosexuality and about how US society treats gays. Everyone was incredibly open-minded. 
The second presentation was last night. After people had attended our first presentation, we were asked to present again for young activists an hour outside of Jogja. The venue for the presentation was a church, but we were going to be breaking the fast with all of the participants. Breaking fast in a church was in itself a very interesting interfaith experience. They requested that I talk about Islamophobia in America, which made me even more nervous. It's so hard to present on something that I consider to be one of America's most embarrassing problems. I brought up the obvious point that fear has contributed to Islamophobia due to terrorist attacks, such as 9/11 and the Boston Marathon Bombing. This paired with an ignorance and misunderstanding of Islam has generated the prevalent climate of Islamophobia. Many people had questions for me; they wanted to know what they could do as Indonesians to counter this negative image. I told them the most important thing is to show Americans that you are just a normal person living your life. Show them that Muslims can also be open-minded, tolerant and non-violent. A woman approached me while we were breaking fast and told me she appreciated my willingness to present on something I don't personally believe in. She said she realizes it is hard for me to present these viewpoints, but that they all really needed to hear about my topic. It was an incredibly rewarding presentation and it was great to attend another breaking of the fast! In total there were almost 90 people who came to watch my presentation. 
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