Tomorrow Today

Two women – both ardently committed to bringing hope to those forcibly made hopeless – have returned time and time again to Bogor, a city 60km south of Jakarta in Indonesia, to hear the real stories. Not the stories which trickle through our mainstream media channels with filters and agendas, but the actual on-the-ground stories of the people living a life in limbo.

Bogor is a hub for some 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers who have fled danger in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Approximately 500 are children and youth.

While families wait to hear of their application status - which can often take up to several years - life is put on pause. Everything comes to a complete stop. With no rights to work or access education, families live in very basic conditions with no certainty regarding their future on a day-to-day basis.

Meet Laura O’Neill and Julia Frei from Australia who have worked extensively with displaced people over the last decade all around the world. Connected not only by their passion, but their deep compassion for refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, Laura and Julia are raising essential funds to establish a learning centre in the area of Cisarua for the displaced children and youth of Bogor.

I speak with Laura who shares why her and Julia are devoted to their project.

But before we begin, take a moment to watch this video Tomorrow Today. Meet the people of Bogor.

Laura, can you explain to me the situation for refugees and asylum seekers who find themselves in Indonesia? What rights – or more accurately, lack of rights - do they have access to? What is life like on-the-ground?

“Many asylum seekers have traditionally come to Indonesia with the intention to find a people smuggler to aid their journey to Australia by boat. Since the introduction of the current government's deterrence policy, many individuals and families are no longer choosing to take this journey. Therefore, thousands of asylum seekers are waiting in Indonesia for their refugee status determination outcomes. During this waiting period, adults are unable to work which means that it is incredibly difficult for people to support themselves and their families. Children do not attend local school and spend their days without purpose in small rented rooms.”

I know you have both have recently visited Bogor to meet families who have been displaced from their homelands. Tell me, what took you to Bogor?

“I first went to the Bogor area because I knew this area is a migration hub where many asylum seekers lived. After arriving to Jakarta, I met a young Hazara man who invited me into his community. I was a total stranger to these people yet I was hosted in absolute warmth and hospitality, sharing food, shelter, stories and tears with individuals, families and children. Their situation and stories moved me deeply and since then, Julia and I have both returned a number of times to develop our project – a learning centre for children in the area known as Cisarua - so we can find ways to give back to these people who deserve so much more.”

During your conversations with the community, what stories were shared? What were you shocked to learn?

“I learnt a lot about people who have been displaced from their homelands. People, who like you and me, have tapestries of history and dreams for their futures. I heard stories that force people to flee from war, terror, kidnappings, bomb blasts, persecutions, missing family members and the heartache of often leaving alone and carrying a burden of worry for the wellbeing and safety of remaining relatives.”

Paving the way to peace

The conflict in Gaza has once again escalated among the Israeli and Palestinian community, taking the historical struggle to new heights.  

Zenat Kabbani is a 21-year-old Palestinian young woman who has lived her life in Kofar-Yasif; a town in the north of Israeli – a territory, which is also debatably Palestine.

She is tired and confused by the endless tension. But despite all this, upon meeting Zenat, you cannot help but be struck by her infectious passion to create change, and her all-embracing openness and her youthfulness, all of which drive her to unite people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Outside of studying medicine, Zenat volunteers for the Haifa Shelter for Women in Crisis in Israel’s north, which is a mixed shelter for both Arab and Jewish women and their children who have experienced domestic violence. Women have borne the brunt of the conflict over the decades, subjected to laws and norms, which treat them as unequal members of society. The centre provides some reprieve from this reality, offering protection and legal aid, as well as opportunities to lead a non-violent life when they return to their community.

She also sheds light on two other groups making waves of change by engaging the youth of Palestine and Israel: ‘Moving for the sake of Palestine;’ a Palestinian, independent youth group which is working to seek justice by advocating for the human and political right to freedom of movement and ‘Refuse, your people will protect you’, which is a political group fighting the mandatory military recruitment of Palestinian youth to the Israeli army.

It is the commitment and relentless support of such groups, which is paving the way to peace.

Can you tell me some more of these youth groups you talk of Zenat?

Certainly. ‘Moving for the sake of Palestine’ is central to allowing the free movement of Palestinians. The Israeli occupation has physically divided our lands and nation into different areas that the Palestinian people as whole cannot access. The Palestinians of the Gaza strip are under siege, the Palestinians of the West Bank cannot go to areas belonging to the Israeli territories, and the Palestinians in Israeli territories cannot go to the Gaza Strip or other parts of the Arab World, which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. This youth movement in fact recently held their first event – a virtual gathering for Palestinians living in these three restricted areas – to build a stronger connection and leverage the voices of these groups.

‘Refuse, your people will protect you’, is working to put an end to forced recruitment of people belonging to the religious and social group known as the Palestinian Druze. Recently, following the introduction of a new law, Palestinian Christians now have the right to volitional recruitment, which means they have the right to choose. If a Druze refuses however, the penalty is imprisonment.

Monsters, young people and stories

Monsters need supplies if they’re to properly scare their victims. Whether that be a bottle of ‘Escalating Panic’ to instill an increasing sensation of pure fear among a crowd. Or maybe if you’re a monster, you’re shopping for ‘Fang Floss’, to remove all common forms of fang-matter, including: brains, gore, bones, viscera, entrails, seaweed, toffee, and much more. Or possibly a bottle of ‘Salt made from Tears of Laughter’ is what you’re after. Made from a century-old craft with the freshest human tears, which are gently boiled, crystallised, then harvested by hand and finally rinsed in brine.

These are some of the supplies you can purchase in the Hoxton Street Monster Supplies store – an ordinary looking shop, which upon expectation, is actually far from ordinary, unless you are in fact a monster. Different bottles and capsules hold normal household items including salt, olive oil, lollies and jam, but it is the stories on the labels that introduce you to a whole new world of imagination and creativity.

This is where storytelling comes to life.

“Behind a secret door accessed through the shop you will find us – the Ministry of Stories. We are a creative writing and mentoring centre for young people in east London. We use storytelling to inspire young people aged 8-18 years because it is our belief that writing unleashes their imaginations and builds confidence, self-respect and communication,” shared Lucy Macnab, the co-director.

Through workshops, publishing projects and one-to-one coaching - services which are provided by local writers, artists and teachers who volunteer their time and talent - young people are supported to express themselves through story.

But what really sets the MoS apart is the way the treat the young people in their care.

“We see each as a young creative professional,” said Lucy.

Life without limits (as featured on Renegade Collective)

Huge heart. Vision-setter. Transverses the impossible.

Meet Erin Gough. Leading disability rights advocate and lawyer-in-training from Christchurch, New Zealand. 

Photo by Laura McKinley

Her view on life will lift you and shake you, reminding you that we've got one chance at this life thing and we might as well do a damn good job at it! 

She is a change maker and her disability has been the antidote to indifference. In Erin's words, "Using a wheelchair is the most convenient way of getting around, just as walking is to most people – nothing more, nothing less. To me, my impairment is simply one of many characteristics that make me unique – just as everyone else has features that make them different from everyone else.”

She navigates the world sitting, but from her perspective, the view is vast and limitless. The obstacles act only to fuel her desire to radically demystify all that’s been misinformed, misunderstood and misinterpreted.

Her sense of humour, down-to-earth nature and infectious desire to make landmark change draws you in and raps you in hope.

Enter Erin's world and read her story, which was published in the May edition of Renegade Collective. PDF available for your viewing pleasure below :)