Cultural Interaction 

Among Bengkulu, Indonesia and The World

The blessing of bread for the world is also felt by the youth of Bengkulu. The activists of Stube-HEMAT Bengkulu were invited to an international student meeting in Yogyakarta. Stube-HEMAT Indonesia welcome a visit of international youth studying in Germany and they had one opportunity to experience training atmosphere in Stube Indonesia. On this occasion, Hosani Ramos Hutapea became a youth representative from Stube HEMAT Bengkulu.

The training of Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta entitled "Hand in Hand For A Better World" striving to introduce cultures among countries from various parts of the world. For three days started on 27 till 29 July 2018, participants were given the opportunity to interact both formally and informally. Information exchanges took place there. Hosani claimed to be awkward when she was dealing with international students. It might also be experienced by other friends. However, the atmosphere did not dampen the enthusiasm of friends to know and greet each other.

The first day began and Stube Indonesia's friends introduced themselves. They can use English and Indonesian. Yohanes Dian Alpasa from Stube HEMAT Bengkulu Multiplication program found a language gap. International student friends were flexible in English and German. While Indonesian friends use Indonesian-style English with a very typical local accent. From the many students participated, one third of them was still unable to speak English. This gap must be reduced, said Yohanes, therefore Bengkulu should have an English language training facility in the future. On that occasion, Yohanes also conveyed the achievements that had been achieved by Bengkulu and several things that still had to be fixed.

The second day was used entirely by international students. Hannah shared Nationalism and things related to the dynamics of German history. Prapti Maharjan, a participant from Nepal, spoke about the Indonesian palm oil industry which was claimed to be "unsustainable" and there must be new varieties that can guarantee the sustainability of Indonesian agriculture. Carlos from Cuba talked about global communication and cultural adjustment, a competency that must be possessed in global era. While Onno Hofmann spoke about interreligious dialogue, an important factor to maintain mutual understanding towards a peaceful life.

The second day in the program went smoothly. Indonesian friends show hospitality in amid language awkwardness. On the second day, it turned out that the International Student friends tended to observe the situation first and then tried to build communication. Perhaps that was the reason why they seemd to be silent and observed the situation on the first day and then reactd on the second day.

For Bengkulu youth, it takes efforts to reach language fluency. English is rarely used. Indonesian language only applies to formal events. Moreover, even in the dialogue of government agencies, we use local languages. To be able to interact with foreign world or out of the region, we still need more efforts.

The values of each country are certainly valuable and should be respected. Everyone should be proud of the noble values giving prosperity to the community.  Returning from Yogyakarta, fresh ideas come to encourage young people to learn their own culture while to be able to understand the challenging world outside.

Stube-HEMAT Bengkulu Multiplication Program is intended to assist youth recognizing potencies and problems in Bengkulu. So far, the current program has involved church youth. In 2018, the program will involve many more young people and students. Hopefully Bengkulu youth can feel the same blessings so that they can be leaders of their community. (YDA).