Ully Sigar Rusady -- mother of the disaffected<\/p>\n
By Chris Ashton<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For someone who has achieved national
\nrecognition in a number of different fields, the ability to avoid
\nthe limelight is a skill that Ully Sigar Rusady has worked hard
\nto develop.<\/p>\n
However, the presentation of the Bintang Jasa Pratama award
\nfor her efforts to preserve the environment by Vice President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri on behalf of President Abdurrahman Wahid
\nin August, brought the 48-year-old woman back into the news
\nagain.<\/p>\n
She is known mainly for two things, her folk music -- which
\nmakes her dubbed as the Indonesian Joan Baez -- and her
\nenvironmental work. And, though her contributions to the latter
\nare not widely publicized internationally, they would, if they
\ncould get a wider airing, make a good counterbalance to some of
\nthe environmental bashing that Indonesia has had over the last
\nfew years. Perhaps even less well-known is the way in which much
\nof her work in the forests is carried out and that it directly
\nbenefits people as much as nature.<\/p>\n
It was as a result of a chance encounter on the street in
\nJakarta's Blok M that her youth work first began. There, she made
\ncontact with the dropouts (sic), who would later form the core
\ngroup of the Garuda Nusantara Foundation (YGN), which she chairs.<\/p>\n
\"Everyday when I left my house in Blok M, a group would be
\nsitting right outside, talking. When I returned home they'd still
\nbe there, still talking, still playing cards. I used to feel sad
\njust seeing these people with no home, no parents, no education.
\nThey had nothing. Worst of all they had no ambition, and not much
\nof a future. They lived a hand to mouth existence and if they ate
\nat all they only ate once a day,\" said Ully, whose real name is
\nRulany Indra Gartika Rusady Wirahaditenaya.<\/p>\n
Conversations began with the street people and it soon turned
\nout that they were as bored as they appeared to be.<\/p>\n
It was from this initial encounter that the idea of forming a
\ngroup for young disaffected people came about.<\/p>\n
\"When I first stared working with the dropouts everyone
\nthought we were nuts. We only planted chilli bushes and tomatoes!
\nBut the important thing was the experience of planting the seeds
\nand seeing the plants grow. There's a spiritual lesson in seeing
\nthis process. It made a big impression on the street people.\"<\/p>\n
They have come a long way from planting tomatoes and chillies.
\nThe YGN, which became a formal body recognized by the government
\nin 1985, now propagates endangered species and medicinal plants.<\/p>\n
\"The members call me Bunda, which means mother. So that's a
\nvery big family with a lot of responsibility\", she says of the
\nfoundation's 25,000 formal members and more informal ones.<\/p>\n
And like any good mother she cares about how her family is
\ngrowing up. A training center called Hutan Rumah Kita (The Forest
\nis Our Home) was then set up in the Badui forests in West Java.
\nThere, the members are taught forestry skills and jungle survival
\nskills.<\/p>\n
\"A lot of the young people who join us are real urbanites,
\nthey have never been to a forest before. I tell them 'This is
\nyour home, I want you to feel what it is like. Feel the forest!'
\nI make sure they get direct experiences of nature. I don't say,
\n'Oh, isn't the river pretty?' I make them jump into the water so
\nthey can actually feel what a river is like. Wet, real and alive,
\nright?\"<\/p>\n
A sense of discipline underlies all the instruction that takes
\nplace in YGN. Members must be responsible for their actions.<\/p>\n
And discipline is not just imposed from outside. She believes
\nthat the inner person must be developed together with the outer.<\/p>\n
\"We don't just teach them how to plant trees, we teach ethics
\nand morals here as well. We teach them silat (martial arts), we
\ndo sports and we have lots of other activities. We also teach
\nthem concentration techniques to improve their mental vitality.
\nWe do this because we believe that if they want to work
\neffectively with nature they must have a well disciplined mind
\nand a good mental attitude. In essence, what I'm really trying to
\ndo is develop spiritual values.\"<\/p>\n
Top class teachers who come from both the government and from
\nNGO's are invited to work on YGN training programs. Now, members
\ndo not just include dropouts, but also older school children.<\/p>\n
Leadership<\/p>\n
Ully's approach to leadership is pragmatic, fair and honest.<\/p>\n
\"In my kind of organization I believe that a good leader
\nshould to be able to do everything that the members are expected
\nto do. I'm not just a leader of this organization. I'm also a
\nmember of it.... My concept of leadership is this: lead from the
\nfront and be aware of the level of difficulty and danger of the
\nactivities of the membership. I don't ask people to do things
\nthat I wouldn't be prepared to do myself.\"<\/p>\n
The stress of modern urban life can zap you of your vitality
\nand make you feel prematurely old. Ully has a day-to-day strategy
\nfor dealing with this which has little to do with modern fads. It
\nis inner directed and again, is based on a sense of self-
\ndiscipline.<\/p>\n
\"Self-control is paramount, we must learn to find that balance
\ninside ourselves where we are in control of ourselves and our
\nemotions. To be able to do this you must have a certain level of
\nself-awareness. Second, we have to learn to forgive people. The
\nharboring of old resentments will make us old quickly.... Third,
\nthink positively about anything and everything.\"<\/p>\n
The YGN experience aims to instill a sense of confidence in
\nits members. \"Self-confidence\", she says, \"is fundamental. You
\ncan't achieve anything without confidence. Unless you believe in
\nyourself no one else will believe in you. We must always love
\nourselves. If you don't love yourself you can't love other
\npeople.\"<\/p>\n
She won the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Global
\n500 Award in 1986 and her consequent work as a UNEP roving
\nambassador was helped a lot by her musical talent.<\/p>\n
\"The UNEP work has also enabled me to form networks with
\nenvironmental groups in other countries. My colleagues there are
\naware of the YGN re-greening and tree diversity project in the
\nforest. They call us The Children of the Wind, or the Silent
\nMovement, because we don't seek publicity and our activities are
\nrarely covered by the Indonesian mass media.\"<\/p>\n
Nature Therapy Center<\/p>\n
Some time ago Ully and a group of like minded friends started
\nworking on a nature therapy center in the mountains in West Java.
\nIt's called Sindan Gahuripan, a Sundanese name which translates
\nas The Lake of Life. The site has hot mineral springs which will
\nbe used in natural cures. Herbs have been planted and they will
\nbe used in medicines produced at the center.<\/p>\n
The project has two main aims. One is to establish a natural
\nhealing center and conservation area.<\/p>\n
\"We want to contribute to the local economy and to the quality
\nof life. We have been buying the land from the local people and
\nsaying, 'OK you can live here and work the land as you and your
\nancestors did and we'll add to it by increasing the quality of
\nthe natural environment here.' We are buying the land from them
\nand letting them use it within the context of our natural center.
\nThey continue to do their wet rice farming here.\"<\/p>\n
The second aim is to provide paid employment for YGN members,
\nwho have been putting in medicinal plants, fruit trees and
\nmaintaining the site. They will sell the produce later on.<\/p>\n
The Natural Therapy Center would be coordinated by the YGN.<\/p>\n
Education is another element of the Sindan Gahuripan project.
\nBut quite distinct from Hutan Rumah Kita, the YGN training
\ncenter, the courses offered at Sindan Gahuripan will be open to
\nthe public. The planned program include a conservation program,
\nan eco-tourism program and a natural therapy program, a
\nmeditation program aimed at controlling stress, a beauty
\nprogram based on the use of traditional herbs, jamu.<\/p>\n
\"I shall include music therapy and there will be an adventure
\ncourse,\" Ully said.<\/p>\n
Traditional healing techniques learned from the Badui will be
\nused. The Badui of West Java are a direct and living link with
\nthe ancient Sundanese culture. They are very close to nature.<\/p>\n
\"They protect the forest and the life of the land. I learned a
\nlot from them,\" she says.<\/p>\n
Accommodation is being built in the Badui style with only
\nnatural forest materials being employed. No metal is being used
\nin the buildings. Those wanting to go and stay at the center will
\nbe able to rent these small houses from the owners.<\/p>\n
-- The writer has been working on a project called Meetings With
\nRemarkable Asian Women since 1996. The project has as its focus
\nthe promotion of Asian women as very positive role models.<\/p>",
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