A SUSI Summer 2022 Reflection: Ricky Adityanto

What is human?

This was my simple question when I flew to the USA for my SUSI Summer 2022 program. As a multilevel minority in Indonesia (Catholic, Chinese mixed descent, queer) I experienced many discriminations in my life. I tried my best to contribute to society as a good person so people won’t question my identity as a problem anymore just like Gus Dur (the 4th Indonesia’s president) said: “If you are a good person, no one will ask your religion”.

But still, I questioned my identity at that time. Yes, I believe that God created us differently and each one’s unique identity is a hidden gem. But in reality, those differences are often seen as problems. What if I, for once, proudly show my identity without any social pressure? Would I grasp a deeper meaning of being a human?

Who is human?

“We the people”. That part of the preamble of the US Constitution was one of the major points of my reflection. Who are the people? We are all! No matter your religion, skin color, gender, etc. We are all the people. We are all human!

I was really touched when for once I could be proud and accepted for my identity during the SUSI Summer program. And in turn, I was blessed to know my friends’ unique identity in SUSI that I never met before in Indonesia. Unknowingly, I become blessed precisely because of the unique identity that molds me into a unique person. I was there, I met them, had conversations with them, and helped them as a unique color called “me”. No one can replace me and my color.

At that point, I understood that being human is being me with all my identity, and giving that “me” as a whole in my relation with others. And having identity means having struggle. So, I must be open to the others’ and my own struggle in my relation.

Why human?

"If the church stays silent, who will speak for the poor and discriminated?”. This speech I got in Bethel Church, Philadelphia, still gives me goosebumps now and that is also the answer to the next question: why human?

We are all blessed through our unique identity and struggle! Our identity and struggle shape us as a person with our own lessons that we learned from our struggles. And our mission in this world is simply to be truthful to ourselves, to our “color”, learn from the struggle, and share what we’ve learned from the struggle to inspire a better society. Be a unique blessing for others that can’t be replaced.

So, here I am, sharing with you what I’ve learned so far. If I stay silent, who will speak for people who are in the same identity group as me?

How to be human?

I can’t mention one by one all the beautiful quotes I got from all the beautiful-hearted people I met during SUSI. I can say that I met big people with even bigger hearts there. But, one important thing I can say is they showed me how to be human: embrace the identity, and the struggle, and share and care for others.

And they showed how to do it in the simplest way: through friendship. Through friendship, we open to others’ struggles, we try to understand and respect others’ identities, and we learn how to share and care with kindness. We also respect ourselves by staying true to our identity and giving it as a gift to others. And together, we paint this world with our combined colors, creating new colors that we never thought could exist before. This is exactly what dialogue is all about.

A SUSI 2022 Alumni Story: Arshad Khan

"Growing up in a traditional business-oriented joint family in a drought-prone district of Telangana, I have been perceiving what it takes for a multicultural society to exist in the present-day world.

I graduated from St.Mary`s College with BBA. Since the day I moved to Hyderabad for my higher education, I have always been seeking a platform to nurture my idea of multicultural coexistence, and that's where I found Rubaroo NGO based out of the city who is relentlessly working on education and human rights advocacy. A 3-day workshop on interfaith included playful activities on values, perceptions, conflict management, and the social action project we conducted in a women`s degree college in Mahabubnagar has brought me a proper understanding of how to resolve conflicts among smaller groups and avoidance of communal violence.

Over time, Rubaroo NGO nominated a few youth champions of the previous workshop for a US exchange program called SUSI, Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSIs) for Scholars.

Among them, I was selected for the cohort Religious Freedom and Pluralism. Unfortunately, the pandemic began the year in which we were supposed to fly to the United States for the 6 weeks of the study tour. So we had to go through the sessions virtually for two months and the community action project in further time and then eventually things were getting better. Finally, in Oct 2022, we flew to the United States for a 10-day capstone program on religious freedom and pluralism which included round table meetings on democracy, lectures by Temple university professors on Religious freedom, walking around historical monuments and worship places in Philadelphia city, an interfaith community center in Baltimore and the Washington DC.

My whole journey at SUSI consisted of challenges and surprises but I must say it's truly a remarkable and worthwhile experience on the whole as meeting new people beyond the border with similar thought processes has truly nurtured my idea of multi-cultural coexistence."

- Arshad Khan, SUSI Alumni 2021/2022

A SUSI 2018 Alumni Story: Amira AbdelTawab

“Be the change you want to see in the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Although the chaos I have been through now in all aspects of my life, I still remember when I was 16 years old, I was dreaming of having a good future and becoming a successful young woman, and changing the world when I grew up. It wouldn’t happen until I traveled to study abroad not in any country, but only in the United States of America.

I was obsessed with traveling to the USA, it was my biggest dream since my childhood to be in the wonderland living the American dream, so during my university year, I studied hard and participated in many student and community service activities. After this hard work, I was lucky enough to receive one of the most difficult scholarships from the U.S. embassy in Cairo and the Department of State. My dream came true and I finally traveled to my dream land, or as I thought at this time.

When I was in the USA I studied for a few short weeks with the Dialogue Institute at Temple University, but it was a turning point in my life. I studied religious pluralism, diversity of cultures, and policy, and learned more about American society close up. I studied Islam from a Western perspective, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. I discovered new religions that I have never heard about before - like the Quakers - and I lived with them in the heart of the Philadelphia forest to study more about them and their leader William Penn, and how they made a significant impact in the foundation of the principles of the American constitution and the American policy.

This heavy experience shifted me from a closed-minded person to a person who is always eager to learn about themself, not only from the difficult experiences of life, but also from others, and let me accept not only different ideas than mine but also the ideas that are completely against mine.

Now I believe in humanity and believe that everyone in this life has their own journey in which they wake up to themself, then to their shadow, and then to their potential. I have to respect every human being on the earth - as life is not a straight path - it is a trial and error and trying different things by figuring yourself out who you are and who you are not.

And finally, I accept the fact that I can change the world by changing myself, and by being kind to myself and everyone.

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This blog post was written by a Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) Alumni - a program that the Dialogue Institute implements in partnership with Meridian International and the United States State Department. To find out more about the SUSI program, click here.

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