Award opened doors for 2008 Young Leaders’ winner

Link nya bisa dibuka di http://www.unicef.org/indonesia/reallives_10928.html

Thanks banget buat Mbak Devi dari UNICEF yang udah wawancara.

By Devi Asmarani

Jakarta, Indonesia 23 July, 2009 -It has been a very busy year for M. Iman Usman since he was named an Indonesian Young Leader in 2008. Asides from leading his own organizations at home in Padang, West Sumatra, he has represented his peer at various world conferences, took part in international competitions and volunteered in more social projects. On top of that, he managed to come out top in his class at the National Exam and get accepted at the prestigious University of Indonesia.

“Doors have definitely opened for me since the Indonesian Youth Leader Award,” he told UNICEF in an interview. “And it’s a way to inspire other kids to do more for the world.”

In the interview below, he talked more of his passion to participate and what inspires him:

Q: So what has been happening since you won last year’s award?
A: Since the award I continued as the secretary of Children’s Forum in West Sumatra, but I have now left my position (he has moved to Jakarta ahead of university). And through the organization I founded, the Community of Critical Children of Indonesia, we held the event Stand Up campaign MDGs Millenium Development Goals With The Children in October. I am still active in training other friends who are interested in becoming volunteers in the organization and also I’m trying to find a new generation of leader to replace me there.
I also took part in a one-month exchange student program in Japan with Bina Antar Budaya.

Last Ramadhan month, I had the opportunity to become one of the finalists for Mondialogo World School Contest in China. This is a competition for collaborative projects around the world organized by UNESCO and Daimler. Out of 36,000 kids from 3,200 schools, I was in the top 25 and was named a junior ambassador to promote intercultural dialogue.

I also represented Indonesia in various international conferences. One of them is the Microsoft Regional Innovative Student Forum in May 2009 in Malaysia. In the project competition I won USD 1,000 in funding from Microsoft Asia Pacific to start up a pilot project for kids. The pilot project will focus on education for kids in slum areas, and it will be executed in a few months.

In June, I participated in the World Leadership Conference in Singapore on the environment and economy. And recently I became the UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel. We are the second generation of such panel. The UNFPA chose some teenagers from all over Indonesia to take part in this teen panel, which will give them feedbacks and evaluations on their programs to help make the projects more teen-friendly.

And, of course, I also had to prepare for the National Exam.

Iman as a jury for 2009 with Purwanta Iskandar from UNICEF, Pardina Pudiastuti From KPP, Maria Hartingsih from Kompas and Budi Harjono from Impact Indonesia.

Q:  With all these activities you still had time to study?

A: Well, I did get the highest NEM (National Examination Score) in Padang, maybe I was just lucky (laughs).

Q: What are you studying in University of Indonesia?
A: I am taking International Relations. Since I was in 6th grade, I have always wanted to be a diplomat. I think that is where my talent lies and, Alhamdulilah, I got in. But lately I’ve also thought about doing other things like being a social worker. Right now, though, I want to focus on the academic part.  We’ll see whether I end up becoming a diplomat or working for multinational companies or a child rights organization.

Q: Has winning the award helped you in your effort to promote children’s rights?
A lot. The Young Leader award really opens a lot of doors for us. People listen to us, and they don’t just see as ordinary kids. It gives us easier access to advocacy. And it is really a medium to inspire other kids in West Sumatra to do something for the world. It makes them more motivated and driven. I also got a scholarship for my university studies from the West Sumatra governor because of this award.

Q: Have you ever had any disappointments?
Of course there are some disappointments. The government have made policies to observe children’s rights, but we have not seen the impacts directly on the plights of all children. However, I still appreciate what they have done because this is not an easy task. And I would continue to support the government and the community to become better, because the last thing we need to do (when we’re disappointed in something) is to become apathetic.

Q: How do you feel about becoming a judge for the Indonesian Young Leader this year?
I think the biggest difficulty was that I had to judge my own friends. Many of them I had known from participating in National Children’s Forum, and some I had sort of known from my own friends. So I tried to be objective and looked at them from leadership and innovation aspects. I really appreciate what they have accomplished, but I think that many of them had not really presented their leadership enough, that is what I tried to dig from them. I also think that (in order to stand out) they could have packaged themselves better.

New experience as the judge

Sebelumnya sorry kalo tulisan ini bakalan English (amburadul). soalnya.. ada pesanan khusus. hehe

It was an honour for me to be a judge in the 2009 Indonesian Young Leaders Award.  A UNICEF Staff contacted me last week and it made me very happy after I went through a period of sadness. The call came two days after my sister had passed away. “ Iman, are you available to be one of the judges to interview the final ten candidates next week? You’ll be the children representative on the judges forum as you were the winner of the 2008 award,” he said. 

Without missing a beat, I replied, “Yes, Mas. Insya Allah, I’ll be available. Thanks for the offer”.

It came as such a big surprise for me. I had always dreamed of being one of the judges. Last year, I was on the other side of the teleconference. At that time I was in Malaysia for an international conference in Melacca, and the judges phoned me from Jakarta. I’d been curious about the process. Being one of the judges and being named as the representative of all children in Indonesia, of course, it’s like a great source of pride. But more than that, there was a big responsibility that I had to bear. I had to be objective, committed and I had to help choose the best three among ten good candidates.

Three days before the day, I received the documents of all the top ten finalists. I tried to make time to analyze all the finalists and make some notes. As I read their writings and the supporting documents, I admired all the progress they made. I really understood how difficult it is for a child to separate their time, for studying, playing with friends and organizing many organizations and events.

What they have done for their community was also so amazing. Some of them have been actively involved in many activities to promote children rights since more than five years ago. You can imagine how young they were at the time.

On 13 July, 2009,  we interviewed the finalists by phone at the UNICEF office. Every child got 30 minutes to answer questions from the five judges: Ibu Pardina Pudiastuti from the government, Pak Purwanta Iskandar from UNICEF, Maria Hartiningsih from Kompas newspaper, Pak Budi Harjono from Impact Indonesia. By interviewing them, we could see how great the finalists are. We tried to measure their leadership capacity, innovations that they made, their impact to the society, and the consistency of their activities in promoting children rights.

It’s really hard to decide the top three. All of them deserve to be appreciated for their contribution. But, we had to decide. Finally, we chose Andi (South East Nusa Tenggara), Tari (Yogyakarta), and Wahyu (Bali). You can see their profile soon. Hopefully … there will be many media publishing their story (like what I experienced. Ha ha ha).

I believe that the winners will benefit a lot from the award. Doors opened for me. I got many access to promote the issues that I had been struggling to promote. People respect you more and they listened more intently to what I said after I won the award. It is a lot of fun to speak in many forums and events. So, to the three winners, let’s see what will happen to you. I believe that Indonesia will welcome you warmly. Congratulations, guys!

UNICEF News surprise..

Well. udah lama ga update berita yah. khususnya sejak saya pindah ke Jakarta. Well. mohon maaf ya udah lama ga update.. padahal sebenernya ada banyak kisah yang mau dibagi dengan teman-teman smua. Well. sebelum gw crita di postingan yang lain, gw mau share nih. Tadi iseng iseng buka web UNICEF Indonesia, dan saya agak sedikit kaget, ternyata ada news dr UNICEF tentang saya. yah.. isinya mengenai ulasan pemenang PMI tahun  lalu gitu. Agak kaget juga, akhirnya ada yang memuat kita (Saya, Suchi, dan Patricia). Well. tadi orang dari Unicef (Mbak Devi) juga udah nelfon sih, kayak mo bikin cerita dari saya setelah jadi Pemimpin Muda Indonesia tahun lalu, nanti kalo udah di publish di Bulletin nya UNICEF, insya Allah saya bagi.

As we wait for the announcement of this year’s winners on 23 July, 2009, here is a flashback of last year’s inspirational winners…

Muhammad Iman Usman
Iman has spent much of his young life promoting children’s rights. The 17-year old  is involved in various organizations and events ranging from campaigning for the awareness of HIV/AIDS to starting a recycling program. He was proposed for the award by the Children Protection Foundation (LPA) in West Sumatra, where he is from. He was also recommended by Ady Djuanda, the Committee head of West Sumatra’s Children Forum, an organization for kids to promotes their rights and act as dialogue partner with the stake holders.

Iman is a secretary for West Sumatra Children Forum and also the head of Indonesia’s Critical Children Community (KAKI) in West Sumatra. Some of his projects in KAKI included encouraging kids to criticize policies and express their views on current issues their their unique talents and skills, creating weblog for the children to give their opinions on global issues, as well as organizing the recycling program at his school and collecting books for children who survived the earthquake in West Sumatra.

He was chosen as the Care Force Ambassador for HIV/AIDS awareness and as Peer Educator Educator for Indonesian Youth Partnership in West Sumatra. He is also a volunteer in the Indonesian Family Planning Agency’s teen organization (Cemara) in Padang.

His academic achievement is equally illustrious, having been named in 2008 the most accomplished student in all high schools in Padang. In 2007, he was selected for a short program of the international youth exchange organization, AFS Intercultural Programs.

Iman enjoys reading, browsing the Internet, debating, writing and honing his organizational skills. He aspires to be a diplomat or a public relation official, and dreams of owning his own event organizing company. The youngest of six kids was born in Padang in 1991 to father H. M. Hayan and mother Hj. Yanzimar.

The Minister of Women’s Empowerment, Meuthia Hatta, meets Muhammad Iman

Patricia Miranda Wattimena

Patricia likes to talk and debate, which explains why she is studying to be a lawyer at the Pattimura University in Ambon. She hopes to become a human rights lawyer especially for children when she graduates.

She was endorsed for the award by the provincial government of Maluku and also recommended by Maluku’s Interfaith Agency for Humanity.

Patricia has used her persuasion skill to spread information on the danger of HIV/AIDS and narcotics or addictive drugs. She has also led an organization for children and by children: Saniri Anak Maluku. In this organization she actively spoke against violence and promoted the Law on Children Protection, as well as the importance of kids’ involvement in fighting for their rights.

She displayed her acting skills by playing in a production of the play “Throwing Start and Black and White” by Bengkel Teater Kreatif Embun. And she participated in the program to register and develop activities for street kids in Ambon. In addition, she heads the Children Forum in Maluku.

Patricia was born 18 years ago to father Pieter Wattimena and mother Mariana Lekahena. She lives by the principle: “Theory is a big zero if it is not realised.”

Suci Lestari
Having survived the tsunami in Aceh, Tari has been putting her energy and efforts into helping other children like her. The disaster left her orphaned, but the 16-year old has kept her spirit and those surround her strong, actively speaking against violence and promoting kids’ rights.

She was endorsed by the Centre for Study and Protection of Children (PKPA) in Aceh, a non-governmental organization that promotes the rights of children and work to protect them, especially the tsunami orphans.

The eldest of three children has represented PKPA to organize various events to develop talent, help rehabilitate children who survived the tsunami, and hold regular discussions on children’s rights.

She is a peer educator for reproductive health for teenagers in secondary schools, and an editorial staff for Ceudah, a publication for teenagers. She is also the deputy head for Children Committee in Jantho Aceh Besar, where she, among other, campaigned for the protection of children from violence. In addition, she is the deputy head for Children Forum in Aceh Besar.

Born in Banda Aceh to Ali Amran and mother Sri Muliati, Tari hopes to become a flight attendant.