Opening my eyes and seeing the world from both sides now<\/p>\n
Azwar Hasan, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In Aceh, the land of my birth and where I lived until high
\nschool, I grew up in a traditional environment full of religious
\nvalues.<\/p>\n
These values were so rooted in my consciousness I often
\nfantasized about what my father, a religious teacher, told me
\nabout heaven. The image of heaven engraved in my consciousness
\nfrom childhood was of a place full of trees and rivers flowing
\nwith clean, clear water, where everybody lived in peace and
\nharmony and nobody wanted for anything.<\/p>\n
And, of course, everybody in heaven was Muslim.<\/p>\n
I lived for many years comfortable in my understanding of
\nheaven until that cozy concept came under fire in a small town
\ncalled Bairnsdale, three hours from Melbourne in Australia. I
\nlived in a homestay in that rural town for approximately three
\nweeks with my \"adopted\" family.<\/p>\n
It had taken a lot for me to be chosen for the Australia
\nIndonesia Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP). First, I lacked
\nconfidence sending in my application, believing that as a student
\nfrom an undeveloped village I would be an unlikely choice. I had
\nalso come to believe that any selection process in my country
\nwould involve favoritism or graft, but I pushed on anyway and was
\npicked.<\/p>\n
When I arrived in the town, I experienced something that
\nsurprised me, impressed me, even made me feel dizzy, as I
\nstruggled to understand what I saw and felt every day of my stay.<\/p>\n
It started out when I asked my host father about his religion
\nand he replied, \"I have no religion.\"<\/p>\n
That answer did not exist in the set of beliefs I grew up
\nwith, because I \"knew\" that every human being must have a
\nreligion, be it Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism or
\nBuddhism. I no longer knew how to position this man in my life:
\nAs a freak, an enemy or perhaps one of the infidels we often
\nheard about in our religious classes.<\/p>\n
I was confused, not least because these people were so kind to
\nme, full of attention, both for me and my family back home. They
\nworried if it was OK for me to eat what they ate, asked about my
\npocket money -- they behaved like the benevolent people I
\nimagined populated heaven.<\/p>\n
I did not have it in my heart to think of them as infidels. I
\nreally hoped that I had been wrong in my understanding and
\ninterpretation of the religious instruction imparted to me back
\nin the village. I wanted so much for them to be my adopted
\nparents with whom I could talk about many things.<\/p>\n
My confusion deepened when an Australian friend from the
\nexchange program introduced me to his family. Without a care in
\nthe world, he said, \"Azwar, meet my mum and this is my mum's
\nboyfriend.\"<\/p>\n
How was it possible that his mother had a boyfriend? Where was
\nhis father? Was this allowed, or was it a sin! She would go to
\nhell forever.<\/p>\n
Good grief! I was scared to even think of hell -- a place of
\nsuch cruelty and suffering where, as far as I knew, people who
\nhad illicit relationships were doomed to spend eternity. I was
\nonly a teenager and this woman was the mother of a teenage boy --
\nand she had a boyfriend! My world, or my concept of it, was
\nfalling apart.<\/p>\n
These people were living in the same house as husband and wife
\nand from the way they behaved, they seemed to be very much in
\nlove.<\/p>\n
In my host family's household, the father cooked and served
\ndinner. Then he cleared up and did the dishes -- the sort of
\nthings that are a woman's duty in my village.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, my host mother, dressed in man's boots, drove a
\ntractor to cut the grass and after dinner would return to the
\nfield and do some weeding while the father eased himself into an
\narmchair to watch television.<\/p>\n
In my home village, I saw families who lived under the strict
\nrule of law; the man would order the woman around to do his
\nbidding and neglect the children so that they did not even know
\nwhat -- if anything -- they would eat that day.<\/p>\n
What sort of world was this? What was right and what was
\nwrong? I felt feverish with confusion, wrestling with the
\nthousands of questions flashing in my mind. I told myself that
\none day I would have a wiser view of all this because I was sure
\nthere was no easy or perfect answer to what was happening.<\/p>\n
Bairnsdale really was like heaven on earth for me because I
\nactually experienced and felt all the things that I had only
\nimagined in my view of heaven. Clean, clear water flowing down a
\nriver free of garbage and discarded plastic bags, trees and
\nfertile land all around me, fresh air, good roads, no pollution,
\nclear skies.<\/p>\n
Houses were left unlocked although they were full of
\nvaluables. Horses and cows looked so healthy; all the animals had
\na name and every member of the family knew it. What sort of
\ncountry is this? Is this what heaven is like?<\/p>\n
And if the answer is yes, how come these people, including
\natheists, are in the sort of heaven that was described to me by
\nthe clerics in my village? What should I do to bring this heaven
\nto my village or my country?<\/p>\n
Looking back on my experience now, I am grateful to the AIYEP
\nprogram because it allowed me to see another side of the world
\nand to experience life from a different angle. I have learned how
\nto appreciate diversity and how to walk together to face all
\nfuture challenges.<\/p>\n
If more of my people could see and experience life from
\nanother angle through a similar program, maybe conflict and war
\nwould no longer be part of our lives.<\/p>",
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