[Unpad.ac.id, 21/10/2013] Approximately 200 participants attended the national seminar on women and adventure last Saturday (19/10) at Bale Santika Unpad in Jatinangor, organized by Unpad Mountaineer Unit Palawa. Speaking in the seminar were two women adventurers, Saur Marlina Manurung (Butet Manurung) from the Alternative Education Institution Sokola and Ami Kadarharutami Saragih from Indonesian Lupus Foundation (YLI).
Manurung and Saragih spoke about how their adventures could give benefits to the society. As of today, Manurung has successfully established Sokola schools in almost every region she had been to in the archipelago, to name but a few are Aceh, Pulau Wailago, and Halmahera.
The schools teach locals to read, write and count so that they would be able to independently face global challenges that they may encounter. In addition, they can find ways to fight for their rights, against injustice and protects their natural resources. There is still a lot to be done but solutions are taken one step at a time.
Saragih, together with her friends at YLI, most of whom are middle-aged women, have been doing a lot of mountain expeditions in and out of the country to gather supports for people suffering Lupus in Indonesia. Mount Ciremai, Tambora, Rinjani, and Cartensz Pyramide are some of the 12 mountains that they have conquered in Indonesia. They also succeeded to reach the peak of Mount Kallapathar in Nepal, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Cayambe and Cotopaxi in Ecuador. Their determination to care for people with Lupus defeats age and physical barriers. They routinely organize charity events, educational seminar, and publications.
As part of the active engagement in serving the community, this five hour seminar promoted waste management—encouraging participants to bring their own water bottle and use paper bags instead of plastic.
A musical performance from Mukti Mukti concluded the event. Part of the song lyric that goes “Never let our children overlook the sun, the mount, the rice field, the river, the longing for their brothers. Never let our children live without nothing” stresses the importance of environmental conservation and ecological health.
