How I Found GREAT!

Hi Vols, my name is Meita Efendy, a student of UIN Salatiga. I would say that I am quite active in organizational activities within the campus. This story began one day when I was participating in one of the activities of the Student Activity Unit. This is where I met someone who introduced me to a volunteering community-based in the town namely GREAT of Salatiga. Coincidentally, there was an international youth exchange program at that time. The exchange program was under the auspices of and funded by the Erasmus Plus of the European Union.

Listening to the stories sparked my curiosity to learn more about the GREAT organization. Even though the recruitment of new members has not been carried out, I have already participated in various routine activities conducted by GREAT of Salatiga such as volunteering as a teacher of English and Arabic language for a local elementary school at MI Pulutan and volunteering at inclusion school in Musuk, Boyolali, the PAUD Inklusi Tersenyum.

Throughout that year of 2020, I was told many stories about wonderful experiences from other GREAT members. I was well aware that GREAT Indonesia opens up opportunities for anyone to have extraordinary experiences by volunteering internationally. And yet, all the stories of my friends going to other countries for international volunteering weren’t enough to raise my confidence to follow their path. Fear keeps me from starting and trying new things even though it makes me curious. Until July of that year, when I truly feel connected deeply with my fellows in GREAT Indonesia, I dared myself to apply for Youth Exchange Erasmus Plus, YiOW (Youth in One World) program held in Salatiga.

Salatiga, an unusual story with Erasmus Plus Program

To be precise, on August 2, 2022, I had the courage to get out of my comfort zone and jumped into a new space that I had never known before. Joining young people from various countries encouraged me to learn many things in this Erasmus Plus activity. Adapting myself to interact and having a decent relationship with my peers are things that I keep in mind at all times. The differences in culture, manner of speaking, and habits were also a challenge for me to get into an immersion.

For a whole week, we went through various activities together. At first, I thought there was nothing to look at. But surprisingly, the bonding between the participants was very good even on the first day. The tight schedule of events was not noticeable thanks to the closer ties we had. Imagine, the program kicked off at 09.00 am and would end at 10.00 pm. It may be true that our schedule stops at 10:00 p.m., but did we all get to rest then? BIG NO!!

We still have a bunch of other activities to do together. Basically, most of the games we play aimed to get to know each other. Yet those activities normally would stop at 1 am. How could we? Well, once the main activities are over, we would always come up with our own activities for the night! Whether it’s swimming in the pool, playing various games, singing, or dancing traditional dances, which for ourselves, absorb lots of energy. All of those activities were really fun for us. Tired but paid off with friendship built between one another.

Learning New Things are The Goal

Moreover, the centerpiece of the exchange program was very memorable for me. I have often thought that being an Indonesian citizen and living in the country was something to look down upon. A nation of poor legal treatment, undervalued education, poverty, and misfortune, are sometimes the things that make me fantasize about how lucky other people are, especially those who are born in Europe. However, that mindset has now been thrown away. We never have a choice to be born in which family, in which country, or in which social status, but we know exactly how much we can do as young people to start doing small changes in an effort to make the world a better place.

I learned a lot about the SDGs in this activity. How important the 17 goals have an impact on the planet makes me think more and more. More than that, I also have new knowledge to improve myself. As an added bonus, having international friends who still keep in touch with each other is incredible. We have a plan to meet again next year which hopefully will happen.

Many things I was afraid of had happened during this time, the things that happened beyond my expectancy became. But now I know for sure, those that who are out of control often have a hidden meaningful message for us. Better to do it and after that we know if is it good for us to continue with that or stop.

I will no longer close myself to opportunities that I can achieve and have!

Thank you to GREAT friends who have convinced me that my fears are meaningless. I will share experiences like these at a later date. And for those of you who want to have a similar experience with the Erasmus Plus program, especially with GREAT, you can frequently update announcements of the GREAT-funded program here.

Writer: Meita Efendy of GREAT of Salatiga.